Did Your Camino Plan Work?

[Robo]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

 

[Anhalter]

I planned rather careful:


And found out i prefer to walk longer days:


not much more to say about it.
edit: second pic does not show rest days! So i was only 5 days "faster"

 

[Roland49]

Hello!

This could develop to be an interesting thread.

I had marked all the favorite albergues, some special sites and the main transport-locations (trainstations, airports) on a private google map, so I just walked and did know I can find a spot to lay for rest, if I need to.
But I did know how far it is to the next favorite albergue, too.

After Puente de la Reina I let go and walked with the flow, starting early (not as early as Koreans do) and had fun walking for hours not knowing where to stay at the end of th day.

I am, in fact, a dedicated planner, but it was very liberating just to walk and see how long I can manage until I really do need to rest. Lesson learnt: you do not need to plan intensively to achieve great success! The best experiences I made in albergues that I didn't had planned to stay at (Grañon, Carrion).

End of story: I planned a lot beforehand and in result I only followed the yellow arrows as far as I can walk for the day. So I changed my plan for a not given reason, but through the knowledge I gained just by walking.

BC
Roland

 

[John Sikora]

I planned out each stage and pretty much kept to those stages but found that I had to deviate due to weather (heavy rain or extreme heat). Didn't see that on the list.

 

[Tincatinker]

Its a fun question @Robo but I'm sure that there are more answers than there are stars in the skies. As we are all aware you can plan the Frances almost down to the millimetre and book every bed and even restaurant table and your plan will work perfectly right up to the moment you trip over your own boot-laces and face-plant some of that hard rock of ages. The Salvador is a dead easy plan too, 5 days, 6 possible accommodations, take lunch. The Primitivo used to be a beaut too, limited stops, tolerable distances between them. Complicated now by expanding choice of accommodations though most are each in their common locations.

All the above qualified by COVID. We have no idea what the infrastructures will look like in the light of a new dawn.

I never planned beyond a starting point and an ultimate destination until age & an increasing disinclination to spend the night in a church porch or a barn made me think that maybe a guidebook or a bit of prior research might be useful. In recent years I've probably been seen with fingers and toes deployed calculating distances to next most likely bed. If I'm walking with the Beloved I'll try and book for that night once I've seen the weather and if we are likely to be in a small town with limited choices.

My, hopefully forthcoming, hike down the Thames Path is planned to the millimetre with every shudderingly expensive bed reserved months in advance. So it goes...

 

[Shalaw]

It’s not on your list, but we both took rest days when we were feeling like we were coming down with something, so maybe I’d put injury/illness for your response? Also, it was waaaay harder than we thought do our days were just longer than anticipated.

 

[sunwanderer]

I had scheduled several rest days, but we found that we really enjoyed the walking and didn't feel that we needed any rests.

 

[Arn]

Its a fun question @Robo but I'm sure that there are more answers than there are stars in the skies. As we are all aware you can plan the Frances almost down to the millimetre and book every bed and even restaurant table and your plan will work perfectly right up to the moment you trip over your own boot-laces and face-plant some of that hard rock of ages. The Salvador is a dead easy plan too, 5 days, 6 possible accommodations, take lunch. The Primitivo used to be a beaut too, limited stops, tolerable distances between them. Complicated now by expanding choice of accommodations though most are each in their common locations.

All the above qualified by COVID. We have no idea what the infrastructures will look like in the light of a new dawn.

I never planned beyond a starting point and an ultimate destination until age & an increasing disinclination to spend the night in a church porch or a barn made me think that maybe a guidebook or a bit of prior research might be useful. In recent years I've probably been seen with fingers and toes deployed calculating distances to next most likely bed. If I'm walking with the Beloved I'll try and book for that night once I've seen the weather and if we are likely to be in a small town with limited choices.

My, hopefully forthcoming, hike down the Thames Path is planned to the millimetre with every shudderingly expensive bed reserved months in advance. So it goes...

I was stationed for a bit at Eastney Barracks (RM) and, on occasion, found myself walking the Thames Path, although I didn't realize it was a National Trail. To be honest, I thought I was on a Pub Crawl and now know that some pubs (The Captain Kidd, Mayflower, Anchor Tap, etc) are often frequented by true walkers on the Path.
Cheers,
Arn

 

[Deleted member 73526]

On the one hand I don't make plans, which ought to preclude all options relating to changing plans. On the other hand, I've certainly made adjustments because of injury, desire to walk with others, feeling like I can handle longer stages, being unable to find a bed, and loving a place enough to dawdle.

Put me down as all and none of the above.

One of the worst feelings is being "five days out" from Santiago with someone who has an itch (which gets stronger with proximity to the "goal") to lock down accommodation for every stage, book flights home, make restaurant reservations, and schedule times to do laundry, get compostelas, see sights, and pick toes... that very nearly persuaded me to slow down or sped up to get out of a Pilgrim 'wave' (a "wave" of one).

 

[trecile]

My last Camino was a short one - the Portuguese from Porto. I went with a friend from home who had limited time, so we planned our stages carefully.

The only thing that didn't go according to plan was that my friend got injured, and I walked the last half alone while she too the train to Santiago.

On my previous Caminos I didn't have a strict plan, and changed things for many of the reasons in the poll.

 

[oursonpolaire]

As travelling from Canada, I was faced with fixed schedules on account of flight reservations and insurance coverage (my union-sponsored plan covered me for up to 40 days). That having been said, my schedule allowed for rest days and short days, as well as getting lost when I felt like it, or hanging out in a pueblo which tickled my fancy. All of these happened, and as I went on further caminos, they happened all the more frequently, giving glee every time.

 

[RRat]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

Planned every day while sharing a bottle of wine with new found friends. And together laughing that yesterday's plan wasn't followed.

 

[Canada Wanders]

While my wife and I were forced into a time deadline due to time off work, we had no plan for each day, other than our goal of 25-30 km a day, which gave us the freedom to walk a nice slow pace, and stop when we found a place that looked good. We were in Sept, but did not find we were in a race for beds, or anything like that. We set out with the thought that had been taught to us by someone we knew that had done a Camino...”the Camino provides...”. With that in mind, we walked, and each day went without issue for us. We generally had good weather, and only found two or three times that the first place we stopped at were full, and the next was fairly close by. So we flew by the seat of our pants, which is easier the younger you are!

 

[Teresa Una Peregrina]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

No deviation because unfortunately we had booked EVERY place before we arrived! I didn’t like that plan, I would prefer a more spontaneous approach. I did however, stopped earlier and took the bus to the next location or to a starting point closer to the destination (I did that 2x) one was due to injury and the other was, I was just done walking for the day.

 

[C clearly]

Put me down as all and none of the above.

Me too. I follow my plan exactly, because my plan has the information needed to be flexible from day to day. I plan to make adjustments!

My written plan is on one sheet of paper. It gives the distances and towns where lodging is available, and shows an option or two for counting stages that will get me to the airport in time for my trip home.

One time I switched from the VDLP to the Frances because my walking partner had problems, but that's the only time I would say that I deviated from the plan. I threw away the piece of paper since it was no longer useful at all.

 

[calmeg]

We walked the norte/primitivo a while ago. The plans were 1) get to San Sebastian from Canada ( a long day!) take a rest day there (we did not- we started immediately) and then went with the flow- if we liked the people we were with we walked together, or met up for lunch or the evening. Took side trips and met up again later. The lack of planning (which I normally do in detail) was so relaxing.

 

[David Tallan]

In 2016, I didn't have a carefully worked out itinerary of the whole Camino worked out in advance, but I did have a general idea of how I expected it to proceed and did have an idea of where I was headed to each day and more or less what I expected for the next few days. We eventually found that we had been too ambitious in that "general idea of how I expected it to proceed" and for the sake of foot and knee health, it was wiser to aim for a somewhat shorter daily average. And there was one day where we had to walk further because the albergue we had expected to stay at was closed Mondays, something not mentioned in any of the guides or apps.

In 2018, walking from Porto to Santiago, I did work out an expected itinerary but was quite prepared to change it. As it turned out, I had no call to.

 

[Marbe2]

Robo, respectfully you seem to periodically send out questionnaires, and I am wondering why? Are not the qualitative responses sufficient? What is the reason for attempting to quantify responses? Are you writing a book?

 

[Robo]

Robo, respectfully you seem to periodically send out questionnaires, and I am wondering why? Are not the qualitative responses sufficient? What is the reason for attempting to quantify responses? Are you writing a book?

LOL. No, not writing a book.
Whilst the qualitative responses are great, I also find it interesting to see the responses quantified.
It's not always easy to see a 'pattern' amongst all the thread replies.

For example, I wondered if injury was in fact major cause of changed plans? That would be my major cuase.
Seems it's quite common.......

I thought this Poll might be of interest to those planning their first Camino, as it should / might highlight, that plans (if you even have one) need to be flexible

 

[Robo]

Its a fun question @Robo but I'm sure that there are more answers than there are stars in the skies. As we are all aware you can plan the Frances almost down to the millimetre and book every bed and even restaurant table and your plan will work perfectly right up to the moment you trip over your own boot-laces and face-plant some of that hard rock of ages. The Salvador is a dead easy plan too, 5 days, 6 possible accommodations, take lunch. The Primitivo used to be a beaut too, limited stops, tolerable distances between them. Complicated now by expanding choice of accommodations though most are each in their common locations.

All the above qualified by COVID. We have no idea what the infrastructures will look like in the light of a new dawn.

I never planned beyond a starting point and an ultimate destination until age & an increasing disinclination to spend the night in a church porch or a barn made me think that maybe a guidebook or a bit of prior research might be useful. In recent years I've probably been seen with fingers and toes deployed calculating distances to next most likely bed. If I'm walking with the Beloved I'll try and book for that night once I've seen the weather and if we are likely to be in a small town with limited choices.

My, hopefully forthcoming, hike down the Thames Path is planned to the millimetre with every shudderingly expensive bed reserved months in advance. So it goes...

Indeed @Tincatinker . Who knows what our next Caminos might be like?
I'm sure we will see a lot of infrastructure 'gaps'.

 

[Robo]

I planned out each stage and pretty much kept to those stages but found that I had to deviate due to weather (heavy rain or extreme heat). Didn't see that on the list.

Just added weather .

 

[tweekes]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

This is a very interesting post. I haven't walked the Camino yet but I'm already curious to know if all my aspirations and meticulous planning will line up with my actual journey once it happens. I've decided (in advance) that all of my best-laid plans are to be subject to the Camino's leading. I can't wait!

 

[Robo]

This is a very interesting post. I haven't walked the Camino yet but I'm already curious to know if all my aspirations and meticulous planning will line up with my actual journey once it happens. I've decided (in advance) that all of my best-laid plans are to be subject to the Camino's leading. I can't wait!

The best approach and attitude I think.
Planning is fun, but the plan often doesn't last long due to lots of factors.
Many of which are very positive of course.

 

[FourSeasons]

Sept ‘13 my first Camino on the Frances. I used the Brierley guide but I deviated from the stages here and there as early as Zibiri. I was new to the trail and really had no plan but to stick to my budget and to finish. I did it in 34 days including my only unplanned rest day, day 21. I woke up and my body said “No, I will rest and you will feed me.” After that I was good to go all the way.

April ‘16 CF: I felt it was worth doing again. My only plan then was to stay in different villages/towns alburgues and have more cafe con letche. Something I didn’t indulge in on my first until the end. Plans changed as I took a train to Santiago from Fromista due to illness and injury. I just wasn’t feeling the deep desire to walk anymore. I was completo. I learned you can never repeat or improve on your first Camino.

July ‘19 del Norte: Why not try something different, more challenging. Little did I know the challenge ahead of me. My plan was to follow Wise Pilgrim guide to get me from here to there and possibly book ahead. It was extremely difficult for me in terms of trail markings, humidity, having to take more rest days, not speaking Spanish. Spending more on accommodations. I wanted out!!! Soon I was on a train from Santander to Fromista (nearly a straight line south) to continue where I left off in ‘16. Not planned but brilliant strategy.

I was so happy to be back on the Frances but as soon as Sahagun I suffered a debilitating injury to my groin. After 3 nights I hobbled to the train station to get to Leon where I spent 8 nights at the amazing Leon Hostel. I nursed my leg until I could walk without sticks. I was going to finish, I just had to get to Santiago by way of my own two feet. And I did.

Leon Hostel was a God send. From the gracious hosts, to the cost, to the elevator, to the grocery store right across the street to many, many, many restaurants and shops right out the door and just around the corner from the beautiful cathedral. A God send.

Icing my leg and my room for 8 nights. Oh the wonderful pilgrims I met and stories we shared. Buen Camino.

 

[AlwynWellington]

know that some pubs ... are often frequented by true walkers on the Path.

And some pubs on the Path are also hostels - two outcomes for one stop!!

 

[Isca-camigo]

Until my last Camino I might have pre-booked accommodation on my previous Caminos for the first few nights-8 being the maximum on the Chemin Arles,but that was only because France can be so expensive if the pilgrim accommodation is full, but after that I have gone with my instincts at any moment and stayed in places or took detours which felt right at that moment, so much so that my arrival time in Santiago on several occasions has been flexible it could have been at any point in sometimes a week long period. On my last Camino after bailing on plans to walk the Camino Geira and Zamarano I decided to make life easy for myself and follow the popular stage start and ends on the CF, it was winter so that was the challenge. I really enjoyed it and the social aspect of that is a big factor, you start to form tight knit Camino families,so much so that the only time I thought I might change my plans was on the penultimate day and stay in Lavacolla, this was to give me a short stage in Santiago, but a lengthy refuelling stop off in Meson Brea in Brea put paid to that change and I didn't get into Pedrouso until after 7, I think, so in the end I walked the standard stages of the CF from Fromista, which was my plan.

 

[Anamiri]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

For my first camino, no plan, no book or map - got to SJPDP and just followed the yellow arrows and only got lost once (caused an additional 3 kms). I bought the little Michelin book about 5 days in. Worked out roughly beforehand how many days it would take (to buy flights) and just winged it. I developed a sore knee walking into Los Arcos and used pack transport for a week, but was able to walk at the same pace and distance without my pack and with a knee brace, and came right by Burgos. Were part of a 6 person Camino family - from Zubiri. We walked at different paces but stayed together each night,

For my second Camino I bought a Brierley. Was interesting reading but didnt actually use it for planning or booking, used the Michelin guide for planning each day (getting a bit tattered though)
Mainly just followed the yellow arrows and got lost only once (this time it was a bit more serious and turned a 31 km walk into a 41km walk). Were only part of a Camino family in the last two weeks. Again didn't walk together but mainly stayed in the same places.

The first two times - mainly albergues, some casa rural, and the odd apartment and hotel (3).

For my third we took a new Brierley (gave my old one to a workmate), bought a new Michelin (the same only newer). This time I was responsible for my husband and grandson so I had to do a bit more forward planning - You may have have noticed that planning is not really my thing.
Although my grandson would be fine to just follow me, my husband likes to know where he is headed each night- not intrepid at all - took me a year to convince him to come, that it would be safe and we would be OK.
My grandson said yes immediately and then took 2 terms of Spanish at school.
So I pre-booked the first 5 days giving us moderate 20-25km days, and then booked a day or 2 ahead after that, once we knew how many kms we could comfortably walk.
We mainly stayed in private rooms this time, in Casa Rural or Albergues. We still didn't use the Brierley, read it at night to find out about each destination but used the Michelin for actual planning. The Michelin has nice maps.
I had allowed some days at the end so we had plenty of time. This time didnt get lost - although we did take a few Varientes by mistake. Kids are great at finding yellow arrows.
This time as we were walking as a family we met and talked with people while we walked, but didnt become part of a Camino family. Not better or worse - just different.
Next time (hopefully there is a next time) I will do that again - prebook a few days and then either wing it or book a day or two ahead.

 

[Robo]

For my third we took a new Brierley (gave my old one to a workmate), bought a new Michelin (the same only newer). This time I was responsible for my husband and grandson so I had to do a bit more forward planning - You may have have noticed that planning is not really my thing.

I love the Brierley guide. Sorry Mr B, but I don't read much of it, I just love the maps. I scan the maps onto my phone. And I use the fold out maps on the cover. Torn Off

I carry that little concertina map of the whole route with my passport and make notes on it.

I'm happy to buy the guide just for the maps. I love them! Easy to read and relevant. No fluff.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.
How about You?

An interesting question!
I've voted, but may be considered partially invalid, as I am a bicigrino.
I was initially shocked to find that over one third of respondents cited injury. That is a very significant statistic (so far). On reflection I should go back and tick that box too, because although I didn't suffer injury my bike did, resulting in me accepting a lift to the next big town to access repairs, bypassing a couple of pre-booked lodgings.
Also, It's appropriate for me that you added weather. I found myself in big trouble coming down off the Massif Central by road from Le Puy. I was hit by head on gale-force winds which made progress downhill insanely dangerous. Another lift, skipping a 'stage'.

 

[Robo]

F
We mainly stayed in private rooms this time, in Casa Rural or Albergues. We still didn't use the Brierley, read it at night to find out about each destination but used the Michelin for actual planning. The Michelin has nice maps.
I had allowed some days at the end so we had plenty of time. This time didnt get lost - although we did take a few Varientes by mistake. Kids are great at finding yellow arrows.

It's interesting how we use the books and maps.
I sometimes look at Brierley in the evenings to see what's coming up.
Though the latest versions are smaller and harder to read......

But also look at sites like Gronze for accommodation options.

But I just love Mr B's maps. More like sketches really aren't they.
It's the simplicity and colour scheme that works so well for me.
No clutter trying to make it look like a 'real' map!

As I look at my other guidebooks here next to me, and their maps.........

The German Guide? (Raimund Joos) Really good content, maps are good colour but a bit small and 'cluttered' for me to use.
WisePilgrim? Colour scheme is hard for me to read, but not too bad. The legend up the side......I just don't get really.
Cicerone. Simple maps, but not much information on them.
Village to Village Guide. not too bad but again the shading and colour scheme detracts from readability.
Gerald Kelly (VdlP) this is great as I have the Kindle version. Who wants to carry a book! The maps are really quite good.
Mr B. Perfect. Clear to read and just the right amount of very relevant information.

 

[David Tallan]

This is a very interesting post. I haven't walked the Camino yet but I'm already curious to know if all my aspirations and meticulous planning will line up with my actual journey once it happens. I've decided (in advance) that all of my best-laid plans are to be subject to the Camino's leading. I can't wait!

My philosophy is always to make plans but hold them in an open hand.

Planning is an educating process. It lets you know what your options are. It lets you start thinking about your priorities and the types of decisions you will be making. I know that there are people who don't want to know what is on the road ahead. They just want to follow the yellow arrows and see what happens. I'm not one of those people. I like to know in advance that if I take the turning here on the Camino Frances I will be able to see the interesting church at Eunate or take the turning there on the Camino Portugues I will see the waterfall. I like to know that if I push on for a few kilometers after Santo Domingo de la Calzada I'll find an albergue that many people have found really special. I may or may not do these things, but I have the opportunity to do so, which I wouldn't if they didn't know that they exist. Some people feel that this kind of planning takes away the surprise and discovery that is so much a part of the Camino. In my experience, no amount of planning can remove discovery and surprises from the Camino.

Planning can give you useful information that goes into decision-making on the Camino: how far to walk for the day, where to stop for the night, what to stop and see, where to eat, etc. But it is just one source of information. There is plenty of other information that is unavailable in advance that is also tremendously useful in making those same decisions: what's the weather like, how are you feeling, who are you walking with and what do they want to do, how have your priorities changed.

So I like to do lots of research and planning. But plans are just that - plans, not decisions. Decisions I make in the moment based on my plans and also on those other factors I listed in the previous paragraph.

 

[Albertagirl]

I have always had to plan, except on the Frances. This is because my comfortable walking limit is 20-25 kms. Except on the VdlP, I have always kept to this, and my longer days on the VdlP were challenging, but predicted by planning. My last camino: Madrid - Frances - Invierno in 2019, was a different type of challenge, because my stint as a hospitalera ended a week early, due to bed bugs. So the places where I had booked a bed/room were not possible, unless I spent a week waiting for my starting date. In the end, I only kept my reservation in Torre Vilarino, about a week's walk before Santiago, and I had already walked most of the remaining distance for the VdlP. It cost me a fair amount of money to miss bookings, as I had to move from inexpensive places to more expensive and in two places I could not get any refund for my bookings. In general, I did not and do not book, but I do plan, especially on the less-walked routes, in order to find places to stay that are not too far apart. I should add that that I always found alternative accommodations so comfortable that I was happy to have missed my planned ones, even on the occasions where I had paid in advance and no refund was possible.

 

[Robo]

My philosophy is always to make plans but hold them in an open hand.

Planning is an educating process. It lets you know what your options are. It lets you start thinking about your priorities and the types of decisions you will be making. I know that there are people who don't want to know what is on the road ahead.

Yes, I look upon it like that.
I missed Eunate and other places on my 1st Camino.
If I ever do the CF again, they will be a lot of places I want to see........

Like the Roman ruins just past Portomarin!

 

[Arn]

My Camino plan didn't work on any of my five Caminos.
The Camino's Plan worked every time!

 

[witsendwv]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

I plan our caminos, because we are both planners. We usually stay in private accommodation so I have found that works for us. I plan for A & B, my husband would prefer that I plan for A through Z, and we have not yet been without a place to stay for the night. I usually plan no more than 20km if possible, and sometimes less if there is a place we want to spend some time. In June 2019 we walked the Camino Vasco, and even though it was only small towns we walked slowly and stayed more than one night in a few of them.

 

[PilgrimPillar]

I think many of Us like to plan out our Camino stages, if only for the fun of it. For me it creates a reason to go over each stage and look for places I might want to visit, stay at, or where I might have trouble with a long stage between accommodation.

Certainly for me the plan doesn't last long, for a variety of reasons.

How about You?

Think of your last Camino, for which you made a plan of stages. i.e. the villages / towns you planned to stay at.

And then tell us if you actually managed to stick to the whole plan. Or you deviated from your plan for what reason.

Recognising that spontaneity is a part of the Camino of course! So only for people who made a plan of any type.

I was just working out my VdlP plan, if only to calculate the number of days I'll be walking. And nice places where I might take rest days.

The Question

If (when) you had to deviate from your initial Camino plan of stages, what were the reasons?

My plan is to have no plan.....taking it day by day....concentrating especially strong on what the body tells me with it’s timid voices....especially the feet....pulling back the first two weeks....live by the fact that restitution is king....whoever, whenever and whatever

 

[Stroller]

My plan worked perfectly, it was to walk from SJPdP to Santiago, take as long as needed, stop where I ended up when I was tired, and stop at places of interest for as long as they were interesting. No bookings, not a huge amount of research just let it flow and enjoy the serendipity of it all. No doubt I missed somethings but it was not a sightseeing trip with a tick list.

 

[David Tallan]

My Camino plans worked because they gave me valuable information that was useful when on Camino. My plans for the Portugues were more detailed then my plans for the Frances which were more nebulous. But neither was followed to a tee. But that was part of the plan, too.

 

[jpflavin1]

The only plans I make prior to leaving are to get to my starting point and my return date.

Upon arrival, I typically just start walking. I find that this usually eliminates jet lag.

Each night I look at gronze.com and make a plan A and B for the next day. This is driven mostly by weather but can be impacted by terrain or limited options.

The easiest route to make adjustments was the Frances. The most difficult, for me to alter, was VdlP.

Rarely, with the exception of my first Camino, is my daily decision, driven by others.

 

[Jamieb]

I learned I was not a fast walker so I got off track of my original plans real quick then felt like I wasted alot of energy and worry to keep myself on track. My next Camino is going to be much slower and I will take my time and not rush.