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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own?

The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Meeting so many people who want to walk with you or you want to walk with!

The idea of starting out on your own is intimidating, but believe me after a few days you will be worrying no longer! You will have the choice of walking in company (many people also starting out alone), or walking by yourself if you choose, or a bit of both. Just go with the flow and do what suits you at the time. Remember, everyone is in the same boat.

Enjoy and Buen Camino!
Davey
 
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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking teh Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.

Nothing really mate. I’ve been twice now and it’s actually all straight forward. Only concern I had was walking out of Lisbon and thought ‘what if I get injured’ as no one else was around.

Relax, have fun, enjoy. And take care of those feet.
 
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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.
@brownowl
I would say this depends on your health, your temperament (eg. extreme introvert in co-ed dormitories) and most of all on your experience in long-distance walking. If you have had this experience, you will know how to face challenges and that there is nothing to be intimidated by. If you do not have this experience, make sure that you have considered your health and given yourself enough time to walk without excess pressure to complete. And just be open to what comes. Maybe whatever you feel intimidated by is your growing edge, what you can learn from your pilgrimage experience. Buen camino.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I was just telling a newbie pilgrim friend today who was asking me a lot of "what if?" questions, that you don't have to figure everything out by yourself, because you will soon have a lot of new friends who are in the same boat, and you can figure things out together
 
Confessing my husband that I'm booked to fly out.......to Spain......Again


Its not like he didn't know, but booking the actual flight makes it quite solid


Edited to add, I didn't find anything about the Camino intimidating, but actually getting to St Jean can be a lengthy mission from NZ.
 
What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.

It is always the fears I generate and project out onto a what is coming. The challenge is to step into the dark, move into the unknown, and grasp it with all we have. With every moment squeeze it until the Camino saturates our being because we have let go and finally submitted to the Way.
 
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Absolutely nothing is really intimidating.
I am maybe a bit concerned that the bigger cities are simply too loud for me. Or that the path is too crowded. But this is just concerns as in how much I will enjoy the trip, not substantial fear.

Spain is a safe country, no war zone, no wilderness (which I would consider safer than large cities though ;-) ), no extreme climate ...
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The challenge is to step into the dark, move into the unknown, and grasp it with all we have. With every moment squeeze it until the Camino saturates our being because we have let go and finally submitted to the Way.
It is easier to say this after the fact than before! Before my first camino or two, I would have found this statement to be extremely intimidating! It just doesn't suit me. However, now that I am more experienced with pilgrims and pilgrimage, I understand better what you mean, and I am more accepting of this sentiment. :)
 
Welcome @brownowl

What's intimidating is a pretty personal thing so I'm not sure how much help can be offered by people essentially making a list of things to potentially worry about...but. For me it was posibility of not making any friends and being alone for a whole month. I needn't have worried, I made my first camino friend before I'd even got off the bus to St. Jean and never worried again.

There are so many people to meet and places to stay and ways you can walk (or bike) the Camino Frances that unless it just fundamentally isn't for you there should be a way to mitigate most worries.

What is it that you find intimidating?

Buen Camino,

Rob.
 
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So I have not walked since 2017 and I just booked my flight to Spain this evening. In doing so, I realized that I have my own concerns (fears) which were leading to my putting off making the booking. Mostly, I guess, trying to get the walk planned so that I would know for sure that I can complete the routes which I chose in the time that I am giving myself. I have to accept that anything can happen and I may have difficulties finishing my walk and getting my flight home. If there are problems, I shall work them out. That is what pilgrims do.
 
My biggest challenge as well as anxiety is how I will able to deal with the daily walks. My physical condition is not the best despite training. It's a bit contradictory, but at the same time that's exactly one of the reasons to walk the Camino. I need and want the time to change, at the same time I'm afraid that it's going to be (too) demanding.

The only way to find out how I'll cope is to get going ...

... and to assure myself over and over again that I do not have to prove anything to anyone, especially not to myself. If it's only 5 or 10 km a day at the beginning, it's o.k.

Step by step, sounds easy but not to me, I'm used to do everything else the fast way, usually quite successfully ...
 
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So I have not walked since 2017 and I just booked my flight to Spain this evening. In doing so, I realized that I have my own concerns (fears) which were leading to my putting off making the booking. Mostly, I guess, trying to get the walk planned so that I would know for sure that I can complete the routes which I chose in the time that I am giving myself. I have to accept that anything can happen and I may have difficulties finishing my walk and getting my flight home. If there are problems, I shall work them out. That is what pilgrims do.
When are you Camino bound, this Ontario girl heading out May 15 to Ireland first aND then Spain late June.
 
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Perhaps the first few steps... walking alone.

My husband walked the first half day with me. I cried for about 10 minutes as I walked away from him but then pilgrims walked by and said hello and that was it... I never felt alone and you can choose how much or how little company you want. Arriving at the first albergue felt like the most natural thing in the world... and by dinner I was eating with friends.

I'm not sure if this is what you meant... but I hope it helps :)
 
Making friendly people understand I like to walk alone. I'm social later but I miss too much around me when I walk with other people.
Helemaal mee eens!
 
I think the most intimidating things are probably more in your imagination and the anticipation rather than the reality on the ground. I walked my first Camino Frances at a time when it was still possible to walk for two or three days at a stretch even in summer without ever seeing another pilgrim. I cannot recall ever being in a situation where I felt that I really needed others with me for my comfort or safety.
 
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2 things for me...Getting to my starting point - never have used public transportation in the USA - so the thought of navigating trains & buses makes me anxious. Close second thing is the actual long walking days, day after day - lots of thoughts run thru my head - am I going to be able to do it?
 
When are you Camino bound, this Ontario girl heading out May 15 to Ireland first aND then Spain late June.
@IngridF
As usual for me, I shall be going on camino in the autumn, leaving Calgary in mid September to fly to Spain and volunteer as a hospitalera in Najera until the end of the month. Then on to Madrid to walk the Madrid, the Frances from Sahagun to Ponferrada, and the Invierno to Santiago. Home again in early November. One of these days, I shall make another trip to Ireland, maybe in 2021, which should be the fiftieth anniversary of my completing my Master's Degree in Dublin. A stopover there on my way to another camino seems like a great idea.
 
Without a doubt having to deal with yourself. You will understand quickly why others think you are annoying. You should walk a really isolated route like Le Puy or The Norte especially after you head south of the coast. You are alone all day!!! All fears are in our heads. Just walk and you will clear all the crap out!
 
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My biggest challenge as well as anxiety is how I will able to deal with the daily walks. My physical condition is not the best despite training. It's a bit contradictory, but at the same time that's exactly one of the reasons to walk the Camino. I need and want the time to change, at the same time I'm afraid that it's going to be (too) demanding.

The only way to find out how I'll cope is to get going ...

... and to assure myself over and over again that I do not have to prove anything to anyone, especially not to myself. If it's only 5 or 10 km a day at the beginning, it's o.k.

Step by step, sounds easy but not to me, I'm used to do everything else the fast way, usually quite successfully ...

You sound like me! Let’s just say: we can do this! 💪🏼 Buen Camino!
 
What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.
Eating on your own in the evening! If you’re only staying in albergues this doesn’t really apply but, especially in the bigger cities where you can’t necessarily recognise fellow pilgrims, eating on your own in a restaurant can feel a little intimidating. However, almost always you start talking to someone. The CF is very friendly and the whole experience wonderfully worthwhile. Buen camino!
 
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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own?
For me its catching the eye of that grizzled veteran, hunched in the corner of the bar, swigging a Copa de Ciento Tres, exuding "been there & done it..", not even checking their Brierley.

Just watch them in the morning, mincing out of their bunk, groping for their boots and wincing in the crashing light of morning...
 
Without a doubt having to deal with yourself. You will understand quickly why others think you are annoying. You should walk a really isolated route like Le Puy or The Norte especially after you head south of the coast. You are alone all day!!! All fears are in our heads. Just walk and you will clear all the crap out!


Yeah, that's my intimidation factor too - basically spending so much uninterrupted time in my own head and getting on my own nerves. I travel a lot by myself, so I am pretty used to being in my own company, but there are usually things to do, see, read, etc. in my travels - and a lot of my solo travels are for work, so that means there is ALWAYS something occupying my brain. Walking for days and weeks with my brain unencumbered is a different story entirely. I walked the Camino with my husband, which worked well because we could spend all the quiet time we wanted, but had each other to talk to when being in our own heads wasn't satisfying.
 
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Well, for me it was dealing with my travel arrangements for the French portion of the journey. For some reason I am ALWAYS having to work around strikes whenever I travel to, or through, France. Next time I vow to go directly to Spain! ;)
 
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Relative to lesser travelled Caminos I think. Unable to speak the language of the country, walking into a bar, handful of tables, a few locals, no written menu, a grizzled up old timer behind the bar giving you the stare. What do you do??? ... Make eye contact, smile, chuckle at the situation, and in your best foreign words say hello, order your coffee / beer, don't take yourself too serious, be in the moment and have fun.
 
Yeah, that's my intimidation factor too - basically spending so much uninterrupted time in my own head and getting on my own nerves. I travel a lot by myself, so I am pretty used to being in my own company, but there are usually things to do, see, read, etc. in my travels - and a lot of my solo travels are for work, so that means there is ALWAYS something occupying my brain. Walking for days and weeks with my brain unencumbered is a different story entirely. I walked the Camino with my husband, which worked well because we could spend all the quiet time we wanted, but had each other to talk to when being in our own heads wasn't satisfying.
When I am walking alone for long stretches I try to clear my head of all thoughts. I try to get my mind to feel like a blank canvass would look. To do this I have relearn on each camino the ability to let thoughts go and not allow one thought to stay with me too long. The way I can achieve this is two fold. First I need to walk longer camino. I try to do at least 800 to 1000K if possible. One year when I walked just the Portuguese it wasn't until the day I got to Santiago that I was able to achieve this. I walked the last 20K or so without stopping and didn't really notice where I was until I saw the twin towers of our Cathedral in the distance. I was pretty sad because I finally got to that place and now I am at that place and it is over and I have to go home. But I digress. The method that works best for me is to clear the stuffed attic of my brain is to just listen to the sounds when I walk. I don't mean all the sounds around me but one specific sound, like my breathing or especially when I am walking on gravel, the sounds of my feet on the gravel. It really helps my body and soul rhythm and I am able to have stillness in my brain. That is when the good stuff happens, like hearing my father's voice in my head and heart reminding me he is still with me. Buen Camino! Oh yea, it is great that you can walk so well with your husband. Not every couple can do that.
 
The snow-covered mountains of Galicia on my first Camino were a daily reminder of having to get over them. They start like a mirage, like a small nagging feeling at the back of the mind, and suddenly you’re in among them, climbing through the sleet and mist, arriving in dream-villages whose wet paving stones reflect the passers by.
Then they’re over.
That feeling remained with me until I was in San Xil, a small place that made me happy as the sun came out.
All the best,
Paul
 
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"I didn't know what I didn't know", I think the saying goes. I didnt read or watch anything about the way before going. I might actually be a little itimidated going back for a second time from some of the physical aspects. I remember some painful and trying days. I will know when they are around the bend. Also I was crazy lucky with weather. Next maybe not?
 
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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.

I walked alone in 2014 determined that it would make me more outgoing and help me meet new people (I walked with a partner in 2012 and we were our own social unit, which was comforting but also a little disappointing.) I will admit I did not do that well with my promise to myself, until a couple weeks in and someone else struck up a conversation with me just by chance- after that it was an amazing journey!
I think it can be completely liberating to go alone, but also challenging. For me personally, it was intimidating to talk to strangers, simply because I have a hard time convincing myself that strangers would want my company. But honestly, my solo Camino was the single best experience of my life thus far. I have walked a couple Caminos with other people, and I doubt anything will ever compare with going solo.
 
I haven't even been on my first Camino yet, going in August for 7 weeks. I am already looking forward to going back to work in an Alburge in the future!
 
What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.
For me, the most intimidating part of going alone was he fear of the unknown and the mind spinning about what could go wrong. The hardest part? G
 
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For me - as a single woman - being alone somewhere isolated when the only other person who turns up is a single man (eg in the country lanes when a farmer turns up in a car or tractor, or in a large dorm when they decide to take the bed right next to you).
 
For me - as a single woman - being alone somewhere isolated when the only other person who turns up is a single man (eg in the country lanes when a farmer turns up in a car or tractor, or in a large dorm when they decide to take the bed right next to you).
Your post reminds of an incident which occurred when I was walking the VdlP. On a dusty country road in the middle of the day, I had an urgent need to relieve myself and retired to a ditch to do so discretely. At the same time, a farmer on a large tractor roared up, drove into the field immediately across from my ditch, turned his tractor so he was facing me just across the country road, and parked there. Then he got out his phone and started to talk on it, all the while keeping an eye on me (or so I thought). So I had to give up on my intention and go on. I cannot remember how long or far it was before I found an opportunity to do the necessary. This was on the VdlP, not on the Frances, which has facilities of all sorts much closer together.
 
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What is the most intimidating aspect of walking the Camino Frances on your own? I'm a man so it might be a different answer compared to a woman's perspective.
Loss of privacy 😐 For me the standout was the 4 bed pod in the albergue at Roncesvalles. I was the only female amongst 3 noisy snoring men and it was the worst, most sleepless night of my camino. Fortunately I gained a better perspective &was able to laugh about it later 😅
 
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The overwhelming number of Catholic bishops and priests, and police doubling as pilgrims I meet on camino. Very intimidating.

Blasphemy, larceny, and other misdeeds are out of my purview.

Camino number two, I met 7 Catholic priests and 1 bishop from Germany.

Camino number four both hospies in Ponferrada were police, one from South America and the other from Spain.

Camino number three, when I also volunteered as a hospie in Rabanal del Camino. So many priests chatted me up, nothing untoward mind, my fellow hospies or wardens as we’re called my UK’s Confraternity of St. James, referred to me as: “a priest magnet”.
 
I felt intimidated that I didn't know enough Spanish in 2014 walking my first Camino. I didn't trust my basic knowledge of the language having lived most of my life in southern California.

My second Camino was abandoned after three gruelling days of heat and isolation of the Camino Mozarabe from Malaga in early September 2016, intending to walk to Santiago by wat if the vdlp. A family emergancy back home gave me the excuse to leave Spain, I was relieved because I was considering it anyway. My OCD tendencies cause me to dislike loose ends and unfinished business. I was a quitter!!

In 2018, I returned in April to walk the entire vdlp from Sevilla. I was intimidated the first week, that I didn't have what it takes to finish this 1000k+ walk. With the help if my "Camino Family" I triumphantly finished the vdlp 42-days later. Intimidation free!
 
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I've been reading this with interest because I thought it a contradictory question with regard to the Camino I've experienced which has been positive and without F.E.A.R, false evidence appearing real. Having thought about it I would have to say that I am the most intimidating. The reason I say this as something changed inside me during the experience. I became more Spiritually aligned to the universal energy. On one occasion I approached two female walkers, one of which was heavily bandaged to enquire if they were OK. Immediately one of the women, without bandage and who turned out to be a holistic practitioner became quite intimidated accusing me of trying to take her energy. She came across as genuinely perturbed so I retreated and went on my way apologising and explaining that it was not my intent and I had no idea what she was implying. The Camino brought us together again some way along the trail and we spent a couple of hours walking and talking and providing revelations that provided us with a valuable lesson. In future walks I've had to be aware of my vibration and my intensity has been curtailed until I make a connection first. I've always thought energy vampires was nonsense but then I was faced with the realisation that to others I may be one. My advice to strong, confident pilgrims is too be gentle on first encounter:)
 
My most worrisome moment was one night I was walking around a small town (by myself) and I came upon about 5 older teenage boys who all stopped talking and stared at me as I walked by. The fear was all in my head. They meant no harm.
 
Most intimidating aspect for me was the thought of all the other humans on the way. As I walked the not very popular Jacobsweg in Austria the weeks before, I was a bit scared to suddenly be accompanied by that many people. It turned out great by the way, most people were amazing and there were enough times I could walk on my own if I wanted to.
 
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Buying the plane ticket. I did it by myself when when I was 26. I felt safe the entire time. The hardest and most intimidating part was actually buying the ticket. Once that was done, it was all excitement!
 
The most intimidating part for me is the actual travel to the place I will start walking. Changing planes and taking the metro in a foreign country is intimidating to me especially since I have never lived in a place where there was even a metro or subway available. Other than that there were many challenges but no intimidation.
 
Your post reminds of an incident which occurred when I was walking the VdlP. On a dusty country road in the middle of the day, I had an urgent need to relieve myself and retired to a ditch to do so discretely. At the same time, a farmer on a large tractor roared up, drove into the field immediately across from my ditch, turned his tractor so he was facing me just across the country road, and parked there. Then he got out his phone and started to talk on it, all the while keeping an eye on me (or so I thought). So I had to give up on my intention and go on. I cannot remember how long or far it was before I found an opportunity to do the necessary. This was on the VdlP, not on the Frances, which has facilities of all sorts much closer together.
Yes, what about bathroom breaks? When I was in the Himalayas we had no choice but to go slightly off the trail and try to be discreet, which was pretty much impossible.
 
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Yes, what about bathroom breaks? When I was in the Himalayas we had no choice but to go slightly off the trail and try to be discreet, which was pretty much impossible.
On the Camino Frances, there are generally villages with bars that you will pass through several times on a day's walk. I think the longest distance between toilets is between Carrión de los Condes and Calzadilla de la Cueza at 17 km. I found that by going before I left in the morning and being aware of how much and when I was eating and drinking, I was generally able to hold it in until I got to proper facilities. There was one time that I will never forget that was pretty close, but I did manage until we got to the albergue and its washroom.

That said, a quick search on these forums will lead you to plenty of complaints about human waste and discarded toilet paper or tissues at any vaguely secluded place off the trail. The preferred approach is to "leave no trace" and have on hand some sort of plastic bag that you can use to remove what you would otherwise leave behind and carry to a proper garbage for disposal.
 
Most intimidating would be knowing I had to return to the day to day drudgery of everyday life once the journey was complete.

Now when I see the negativity of the news I think of the Camino.

Now when I see an advertisement for reality TV I think of the Camino, even more so when I hear others discussing the events of last nights Married at First Sight or Bachelorette.

Now when I see another lying politician I think of the Camino.

Now when I hear whinging of work mates I think of the Camino.

Now when my partner nags me about hanging the washing or mowing the lawn I think of the Camino.

Now when see a bunch of people on public transport looking at their phones obsessively I think of the Camino.

Now when I'm out for dinner and I see another person take a photo of their meal to post on social media I think of doing the Camino.

My next journey can't come quick enough, will I make it ?
 
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