Good advice that I didn't take

[BillW]

I just completed Le Puy to Santiago on October 23. As you would expect, it was an adventure of a lifetime. Before I started my Camino, I got so much great advice on this forum (and in books and podcasts and such), that it was really appreciated.

While the memories are still fresh, I thought I’d write a few thoughts. Rather than rehash all the advice I got, I thought I’d focus on areas where I disregarded advice, and how that turned out. I hope it’s helpful to someone down the line.

Pick a shorter Camino for your first one.

I knew I may only have one bite at this apple, so I wanted to go big. And for some reason, the Camino Frances wasn’t big enough. I researched many longer paths and settled on the Le Puy route. Nearly 1600 km (1000 miles). Now that’s big.​

​

Why I thought doing such a long Camino was so important is lost to me now. Five days into the journey (and with nearly 70 mores days to go), the enormity of my undertaking hit me. This forced me to take things one day at a time. I stopped thinking “how many days left” and instead thought “what do I need to do today?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but day-by-day focus is a great attitude for a pilgrim and enhanced my whole Camino.​

​

Would I recommend the full 1600km route for a new pilgrim? No, but now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did the whole thing. The sense of accomplishment is life-changing, and the many experiences I had were wonderful. A wiser person than me, though, would probably break this up into a couple separate Caminos.​

Stay in dorm-style accommodations to build great relationships.

Let me start by saying, I snore. And I’m also a light sleeper. The worst two characteristics for dorm-style accommodations. My original intention was to stay in lots of dorm-style albergues/gites, and spend a few nights in my own room in hotels/hostals/pension/etc. Ultimately though, I found single rooms worked well for me, so I ended up staying in them for my entire Camino.​

​

And that was a mistake. While I absolutely loved my Camino, I think I would have had a richer experience if I would have mixed in dorm-style albergues/gites a few times during the Camino. Especially at key locations like Orisson or Roncevalles. Just staying in 2-3 of these communal lodging would have helped me get know people in a little different way.​

Don’t book lodging ahead, let the Camino provide.

Given my desire for my own room, and the increased Camino traffic in 2022, I decided to book ahead. At first, I just booked a week ahead. Then, after talking to some other pilgrims that had booked their entire Camino, I did the same.​

​

The biggest downside of this decision was that it made it hard to be spontaneous. Deciding to stay an extra night in one town, would mean a cascading effect on dozens of reservations.​

​

That said, booking ahead was perfect for me. Having my lodging reserved allowed me to relax and take the Camino at my own pace. I tend to be competitive, and I think if I would have not booked ahead, I could have easily fallen into a “race” mentality. Even with all my bookings, I did adjust my plans a couple of times along the way. It required some work, but being spontaneous wasn’t totally impossible.​

​

I also should say that I met many pilgrims who didn’t book ahead at all. Even post-COVID, it’s still very doable, so don’t let my words overly concern you about the need for reservations.​

Learn the language.

Knowing French is especially helpful on the first half of the Le Puy route, since there are so many French pilgrims and English is not always widely spoken.​

​

I actually tried to learn a little French before I left, but didn’t put my heart into it. I don’t think I could have learned enough to be conversational anyway, so I don’t really regret not learning.​

​

If I was to do it again, I’d just focus on the key terms/sayings like: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, please, thank you, your welcome, small, large and some basic counting (1 to 10 and all the multiple of 10’s up to 100 to help with making change).​

Only carry 10% of your body weight in your pack.

I weigh about 170 pounds, and my bag weighed about 18 pounds without food and water. When I added food and water, it was probably about 20-21 pounds.​

​

I strongly recommend keeping bag weight light, so you shouldn’t follow my example. I think the 10% rule is a really good one. That said, my bag never was a problem for me. I’m pretty fit, and I had a bag that fit me well and I had an experienced hiker help me adjust before I left.​

​

FWIW… I used everything in my bag except my sleeping quilt. I thought I might need it when I hiked in late October and into early November, but everywhere I stayed had adequate bedding. It cost so much, I didn’t want to toss it, and I would have shipped it ahead if backpack weight was a problem, but it wasn’t, so I just carried it the whole time.​

Walk out to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

I really wanted to walk to both, and that was my original plan, but after nearly 70 days of hiking, I was just too tired and mentally exhausted.​

​

As an alternative, I stayed in Santiago for 3 days, and on one day, I walked 10km toward Finisterre (20km out and back). Then the next day, I got a ride to 10km from Finisterre and did another out and back hike before returning to Santiago by bus.​

​

As a result, I got to enjoy walking out of Santiago (lovely views of town) and to Finisterre and the lighthouse without having to do a full 5 days of hiking. This was a nice compromise for me, that may work for others as well.​

====

There is a lot of great advice I did take though, and my Camino was better for it. Thanks everyone for your help.

Buen camino and bon chemin!

 

[C clearly]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments!

 

[natefaith]

Yes, wonderful to hear your recap and suggestions.

CONGRATS on finishing the route from Le Puy to Santiago! Hope you can still celebrate well at home.

 

[Maureen Anne]

I just completed Le Puy to Santiago on October 23. As you would expect, it was an adventure of a lifetime. Before I started my Camino, I got so much great advice on this forum (and in books and podcasts and such), that it was really appreciated.

While the memories are still fresh, I thought I’d write a few thoughts. Rather than rehash all the advice I got, I thought I’d focus on areas where I disregarded advice, and how that turned out. I hope it’s helpful to someone down the line.

Pick a shorter Camino for your first one.

I knew I may only have one bite at this apple, so I wanted to go big. And for some reason, the Camino Frances wasn’t big enough. I researched many longer paths and settled on the Le Puy route. Nearly 1600 km (1000 miles). Now that’s big.​

​

Why I thought doing such a long Camino was so important is lost to me now. Five days into the journey (and with nearly 70 mores days to go), the enormity of my undertaking hit me. This forced me to take things one day at a time. I stopped thinking “how many days left” and instead thought “what do I need to do today?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but day-by-day focus is a great attitude for a pilgrim and enhanced my whole Camino.​

​

Would I recommend the full 1600km route for a new pilgrim? No, but now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did the whole thing. The sense of accomplishment is life-changing, and the many experiences I had were wonderful. A wiser person than me, though, would probably break this up into a couple separate Caminos.​

Stay in dorm-style accommodations to build great relationships.

Let me start by saying, I snore. And I’m also a light sleeper. The worst two characteristics for dorm-style accommodations. My original intention was to stay in lots of dorm-style albergues/gites, and spend a few nights in my own room in hotels/hostals/pension/etc. Ultimately though, I found single rooms worked well for me, so I ended up staying in them for my entire Camino.​

​

And that was a mistake. While I absolutely loved my Camino, I think I would have had a richer experience if I would have mixed in dorm-style albergues/gites a few times during the Camino. Especially at key locations like Orisson or Roncevalles. Just staying in 2-3 of these communal lodging would have helped me get know people in a little different way.​

Don’t book lodging ahead, let the Camino provide.

Given my desire for my own room, and the increased Camino traffic in 2022, I decided to book ahead. At first, I just booked a week ahead. Then, after talking to some other pilgrims that had booked their entire Camino, I did the same.​

​

The biggest downside of this decision was that it made it hard to be spontaneous. Deciding to stay an extra night in one town, would mean a cascading effect on dozens of reservations.​

​

That said, booking ahead was perfect for me. Having my lodging reserved allowed me to relax and take the Camino at my own pace. I tend to be competitive, and I think if I would have not booked ahead, I could have easily fallen into a “race” mentality. Even with all my bookings, I did adjust my plans a couple of times along the way. It required some work, but being spontaneous wasn’t totally impossible.​

​

I also should say that I met many pilgrims who didn’t book ahead at all. Even post-COVID, it’s still very doable, so don’t let my words overly concern you about the need for reservations.​

Learn the language.

Knowing French is especially helpful on the first half of the Le Puy route, since there are so many French pilgrims and English is not always widely spoken.​

​

I actually tried to learn a little French before I left, but didn’t put my heart into it. I don’t think I could have learned enough to be conversational anyway, so I don’t really regret not learning.​

​

If I was to do it again, I’d just focus on the key terms/sayings like: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, please, thank you, your welcome, small, large and some basic counting (1 to 10 and all the multiple of 10’s up to 100 to help with making change).​

Only carry 10% of your body weight in your pack.

I weigh about 170 pounds, and my bag weighed about 18 pounds without food and water. When I added food and water, it was probably about 20-21 pounds.​

​

I strongly recommend keeping bag weight light, so you shouldn’t follow my example. I think the 10% rule is a really good one. That said, my bag never was a problem for me. I’m pretty fit, and I had a bag that fit me well and I had an experienced hiker help me adjust before I left.​

​

FWIW… I used everything in my bag except my sleeping quilt. I thought I might need it when I hiked in late October and into early November, but everywhere I stayed had adequate bedding. It cost so much, I didn’t want to toss it, and I would have shipped it ahead if backpack weight was a problem, but it wasn’t, so I just carried it the whole time.​

Walk out to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

I really wanted to walk to both, and that was my original plan, but after nearly 70 days of hiking, I was just too tired and mentally exhausted.​

​

As an alternative, I stayed in Santiago for 3 days, and on one day, I walked 10km toward Finisterre (20km out and back). Then the next day, I got a ride to 10km from Finisterre and did another out and back hike before returning to Santiago by bus.​

​

As a result, I got to enjoy walking out of Santiago (lovely views of town) and to Finisterre and the lighthouse without having to do a full 5 days of hiking. This was a nice compromise for me, that may work for others as well.​

====

There is a lot of great advice I did take though, and my Camino was better for it. Thanks everyone for your help.

Buen camino and bon chemin!

Thank you for sharing your rich and wonderful experience!

 

[HolaKaren]

I just completed Le Puy to Santiago on October 23. As you would expect, it was an adventure of a lifetime. Before I started my Camino, I got so much great advice on this forum (and in books and podcasts and such), that it was really appreciated.

While the memories are still fresh, I thought I’d write a few thoughts. Rather than rehash all the advice I got, I thought I’d focus on areas where I disregarded advice, and how that turned out. I hope it’s helpful to someone down the line.

Pick a shorter Camino for your first one.

I knew I may only have one bite at this apple, so I wanted to go big. And for some reason, the Camino Frances wasn’t big enough. I researched many longer paths and settled on the Le Puy route. Nearly 1600 km (1000 miles). Now that’s big.​

​

Why I thought doing such a long Camino was so important is lost to me now. Five days into the journey (and with nearly 70 mores days to go), the enormity of my undertaking hit me. This forced me to take things one day at a time. I stopped thinking “how many days left” and instead thought “what do I need to do today?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but day-by-day focus is a great attitude for a pilgrim and enhanced my whole Camino.​

​

Would I recommend the full 1600km route for a new pilgrim? No, but now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did the whole thing. The sense of accomplishment is life-changing, and the many experiences I had were wonderful. A wiser person than me, though, would probably break this up into a couple separate Caminos.​

Stay in dorm-style accommodations to build great relationships.

Let me start by saying, I snore. And I’m also a light sleeper. The worst two characteristics for dorm-style accommodations. My original intention was to stay in lots of dorm-style albergues/gites, and spend a few nights in my own room in hotels/hostals/pension/etc. Ultimately though, I found single rooms worked well for me, so I ended up staying in them for my entire Camino.​

​

And that was a mistake. While I absolutely loved my Camino, I think I would have had a richer experience if I would have mixed in dorm-style albergues/gites a few times during the Camino. Especially at key locations like Orisson or Roncevalles. Just staying in 2-3 of these communal lodging would have helped me get know people in a little different way.​

Don’t book lodging ahead, let the Camino provide.

Given my desire for my own room, and the increased Camino traffic in 2022, I decided to book ahead. At first, I just booked a week ahead. Then, after talking to some other pilgrims that had booked their entire Camino, I did the same.​

​

The biggest downside of this decision was that it made it hard to be spontaneous. Deciding to stay an extra night in one town, would mean a cascading effect on dozens of reservations.​

​

That said, booking ahead was perfect for me. Having my lodging reserved allowed me to relax and take the Camino at my own pace. I tend to be competitive, and I think if I would have not booked ahead, I could have easily fallen into a “race” mentality. Even with all my bookings, I did adjust my plans a couple of times along the way. It required some work, but being spontaneous wasn’t totally impossible.​

​

I also should say that I met many pilgrims who didn’t book ahead at all. Even post-COVID, it’s still very doable, so don’t let my words overly concern you about the need for reservations.​

Learn the language.

Knowing French is especially helpful on the first half of the Le Puy route, since there are so many French pilgrims and English is not always widely spoken.​

​

I actually tried to learn a little French before I left, but didn’t put my heart into it. I don’t think I could have learned enough to be conversational anyway, so I don’t really regret not learning.​

​

If I was to do it again, I’d just focus on the key terms/sayings like: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, please, thank you, your welcome, small, large and some basic counting (1 to 10 and all the multiple of 10’s up to 100 to help with making change).​

Only carry 10% of your body weight in your pack.

I weigh about 170 pounds, and my bag weighed about 18 pounds without food and water. When I added food and water, it was probably about 20-21 pounds.​

​

I strongly recommend keeping bag weight light, so you shouldn’t follow my example. I think the 10% rule is a really good one. That said, my bag never was a problem for me. I’m pretty fit, and I had a bag that fit me well and I had an experienced hiker help me adjust before I left.​

​

FWIW… I used everything in my bag except my sleeping quilt. I thought I might need it when I hiked in late October and into early November, but everywhere I stayed had adequate bedding. It cost so much, I didn’t want to toss it, and I would have shipped it ahead if backpack weight was a problem, but it wasn’t, so I just carried it the whole time.​

Walk out to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

I really wanted to walk to both, and that was my original plan, but after nearly 70 days of hiking, I was just too tired and mentally exhausted.​

​

As an alternative, I stayed in Santiago for 3 days, and on one day, I walked 10km toward Finisterre (20km out and back). Then the next day, I got a ride to 10km from Finisterre and did another out and back hike before returning to Santiago by bus.​

​

As a result, I got to enjoy walking out of Santiago (lovely views of town) and to Finisterre and the lighthouse without having to do a full 5 days of hiking. This was a nice compromise for me, that may work for others as well.​

====

There is a lot of great advice I did take though, and my Camino was better for it. Thanks everyone for your help.

Buen camino and bon chemin!

I knew this was you the moment I read about a pilgrim starting in Le Puy!

You gave *great* advice, as always. I, for one, am very happy you did the Camino the way you did. Had you not, we might not have met, and Oh!how sad that would have been for me and those of us who had the great fortune of spending time with you.

All my best to you,

Karen

 

[Arbey48]

I just completed Le Puy to Santiago on October 23. As you would expect, it was an adventure of a lifetime. Before I started my Camino, I got so much great advice on this forum (and in books and podcasts and such), that it was really appreciated.

While the memories are still fresh, I thought I’d write a few thoughts. Rather than rehash all the advice I got, I thought I’d focus on areas where I disregarded advice, and how that turned out. I hope it’s helpful to someone down the line.

Pick a shorter Camino for your first one.

I knew I may only have one bite at this apple, so I wanted to go big. And for some reason, the Camino Frances wasn’t big enough. I researched many longer paths and settled on the Le Puy route. Nearly 1600 km (1000 miles). Now that’s big.​

​

Why I thought doing such a long Camino was so important is lost to me now. Five days into the journey (and with nearly 70 mores days to go), the enormity of my undertaking hit me. This forced me to take things one day at a time. I stopped thinking “how many days left” and instead thought “what do I need to do today?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but day-by-day focus is a great attitude for a pilgrim and enhanced my whole Camino.​

​

Would I recommend the full 1600km route for a new pilgrim? No, but now that it’s done, I’m really glad that I did the whole thing. The sense of accomplishment is life-changing, and the many experiences I had were wonderful. A wiser person than me, though, would probably break this up into a couple separate Caminos.​

Stay in dorm-style accommodations to build great relationships.

Let me start by saying, I snore. And I’m also a light sleeper. The worst two characteristics for dorm-style accommodations. My original intention was to stay in lots of dorm-style albergues/gites, and spend a few nights in my own room in hotels/hostals/pension/etc. Ultimately though, I found single rooms worked well for me, so I ended up staying in them for my entire Camino.​

​

And that was a mistake. While I absolutely loved my Camino, I think I would have had a richer experience if I would have mixed in dorm-style albergues/gites a few times during the Camino. Especially at key locations like Orisson or Roncevalles. Just staying in 2-3 of these communal lodging would have helped me get know people in a little different way.​

Don’t book lodging ahead, let the Camino provide.

Given my desire for my own room, and the increased Camino traffic in 2022, I decided to book ahead. At first, I just booked a week ahead. Then, after talking to some other pilgrims that had booked their entire Camino, I did the same.​

​

The biggest downside of this decision was that it made it hard to be spontaneous. Deciding to stay an extra night in one town, would mean a cascading effect on dozens of reservations.​

​

That said, booking ahead was perfect for me. Having my lodging reserved allowed me to relax and take the Camino at my own pace. I tend to be competitive, and I think if I would have not booked ahead, I could have easily fallen into a “race” mentality. Even with all my bookings, I did adjust my plans a couple of times along the way. It required some work, but being spontaneous wasn’t totally impossible.​

​

I also should say that I met many pilgrims who didn’t book ahead at all. Even post-COVID, it’s still very doable, so don’t let my words overly concern you about the need for reservations.​

Learn the language.

Knowing French is especially helpful on the first half of the Le Puy route, since there are so many French pilgrims and English is not always widely spoken.​

​

I actually tried to learn a little French before I left, but didn’t put my heart into it. I don’t think I could have learned enough to be conversational anyway, so I don’t really regret not learning.​

​

If I was to do it again, I’d just focus on the key terms/sayings like: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, please, thank you, your welcome, small, large and some basic counting (1 to 10 and all the multiple of 10’s up to 100 to help with making change).​

Only carry 10% of your body weight in your pack.

I weigh about 170 pounds, and my bag weighed about 18 pounds without food and water. When I added food and water, it was probably about 20-21 pounds.​

​

I strongly recommend keeping bag weight light, so you shouldn’t follow my example. I think the 10% rule is a really good one. That said, my bag never was a problem for me. I’m pretty fit, and I had a bag that fit me well and I had an experienced hiker help me adjust before I left.​

​

FWIW… I used everything in my bag except my sleeping quilt. I thought I might need it when I hiked in late October and into early November, but everywhere I stayed had adequate bedding. It cost so much, I didn’t want to toss it, and I would have shipped it ahead if backpack weight was a problem, but it wasn’t, so I just carried it the whole time.​

Walk out to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

I really wanted to walk to both, and that was my original plan, but after nearly 70 days of hiking, I was just too tired and mentally exhausted.​

​

As an alternative, I stayed in Santiago for 3 days, and on one day, I walked 10km toward Finisterre (20km out and back). Then the next day, I got a ride to 10km from Finisterre and did another out and back hike before returning to Santiago by bus.​

​

As a result, I got to enjoy walking out of Santiago (lovely views of town) and to Finisterre and the lighthouse without having to do a full 5 days of hiking. This was a nice compromise for me, that may work for others as well.​

====

There is a lot of great advice I did take though, and my Camino was better for it. Thanks everyone for your help.

Buen camino and bon chemin!

Good advice, and can I suggest that anyone who is visiting a new country without knowledge of its language, prep for their time by looking up Peter and Helena Roberts' "Learn 35 words to learn ...." books to get them through. I used their book before visiting Spain and it worked well for me. They can be bought direct via peter.roberts@russetpublishing.com

 

[KFH]

Great stuff thanks Bill. Very helpful.