Great preparation and good strategy.

[Wayfarer68]

Hello fellow pilgrims.

I am new to this forum. I am constantly in the hope of finding a peregrino who has the same goal as me to walk the camino in 2018/19. This may seem premature to some but if this is any indication of my preparation years go by in a blink of an eye. Not only that travel is expensive especially when traveling from Australia & New Zealand. I also have a neurological condition called Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

I will be doing this walk at my own pace after all it's not a race is it. Just to accomplish the camino is no easy feat but to have a disability such as mine will be no easy task either. I welcome anyone who is in the same situation as me to comment on my post. I am immensely enjoying reading people's stories.

 

[SYates]

Hi and welcome to this forum (virtual pilgrims albergue ;-),
Another good place to look for a walking/training partner is your local Camino Chapter, see http://www.csj.org.uk/question/pilgrim-associations-actual-and-virtual/

Buen Camino, SY

 

[Deleted member 43985]

Welcome! I'm not familiar with your condition but did want to share this Ted Talk about two very motivational men who overcame some huge hurdles to travel the Camino together along with the amazing community they met along the way! I hope it gives you some positive motivation too!!

 

[VNwalking]

Welcome, @Wayfarer68! There are may folks who walk with varying degrees of challenge, even if not with CA. Someone here will be able to relate.
And you may not be the only one out there, who knows?
Happy planning and buen camino, whenever it happens!

 

[VNwalking]

@jozero, I hope you don't mind, but I turned the video you posted into a separate thread. Amazing, beautiful. And so about why we do this. Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 43985]

@jozero, I hope you don't mind, but I turned the video you posted into a separate thread. Amazing, beautiful. And so about why we do this. Thank you!

I agree 100%. When you get a glimpse of the best of humanity it is a true gift! Thank you.

 

[VNwalking]

@jozero, you're thanking me?
I'm so glad you posted that...and wanted to share it!

 

[Dcn Paul]

I'm so glad that I stumbled across this thread. I am mobility challenged and I really needed to calm my fears of walking the Camino. I hope I will not have insurmountable problems. However, even if I do, I am beginning to see that there is a certain goodness of humanity that still resides throughout the Camino. I will have difficulties but I hope I won't be left in the dust and scoffed at. Believe it or not - this has been my fear! Is it OK to begin the Camino Frances at some point and if I have great difficulties use motorized transportation "temporarily" until able to walk again? It sounds like cheating but I don't know how I would manage 35 days of the walk. How should I approach this?

 

[VNwalking]

Is it OK to begin the Camino Frances at some point and if I have great difficulties use motorized transportation "temporarily" until able to walk again? It sounds like cheating but I don't know how I would manage 35 days of the walk. How should I approach this?

Dcn Paul, this is a pilgrimage of the heart. Yeah, the feet carry us along. But even if we 'do it right' on the outside (carrying all our stuff, walking every step of the way--or adhering to whatever our arbitrary idea of 'right' is)...if that heartfelt intention isn't there it's not a pilgrimage, it's just a long walk.
Plenty of people use wheels at some point along the way--for many reasons.
A story that may inspire. I did me, anyway.
I met a Korean pilgrim who had had polio as a kid. He walked with difficulty and what appeared to be quite a bit of pain. Some days all he could manage was 5km--and often he took a taxi to make up for what he couldn't do on foot (he wanted to get to Santiago and had limited time). But in spite of that he was more of a pilgrim than most of us--and certainly much more than the 40km-a-day party crowd who were just having a long inexpensive holiday.
So please do not worry. Take care of your heart, do what you can, and the rest follows.

 

[Dcn Paul]

You are a saint! Thanks for sharing that story - it gives me great hope.

 

[VNwalking]

You're welcome, but hardly...HE was the saint.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Wayfarer68 and Dcn Paul,

Thank you for sharing your fears, and especially courage with us.

Let me start by saying that the last thing you will find on the Camino is people looking down at you. I am willing to bet you will be amazed by the kindness that will be extended to you by those you will meet.

Dcn Paul mentions hopping on a bus or a taxi here and there. I've done it! But keep in mind that while there is talk of "etapas" (stages), you make up your own, you do not have to follow those in guidebooks.

Also, while there is a "rule" allowing people only 1 night stay per albergue, hospitaleros are understanding and will let you stay a seind or even third night if they see you need to rest.

When I walked my 1st Camino I followed the stages in a guidebook, and one day I met a younf woman who was walking at her own rate, 5 km that day, just becaused she liked the vine of this village I met her in and because she recocgnised that never again would she have so much freedom and time as she embarked in adult life.

So bus or taxi, but know you can also hang back, take your time. It's all ok. Also know that you will meet many people along the way and they will be happy to accompany you, perhpas for 1 km, 1 day, 1 week, or 1 Camino.

 

[SYates]

I'm so glad that I stumbled across this thread. I am mobility challenged and I really needed to calm my fears of walking the Camino. I hope I will not have insurmountable problems. However, even if I do, I am beginning to see that there is a certain goodness of humanity that still resides throughout the Camino. I will have difficulties but I hope I won't be left in the dust and scoffed at. Believe it or not - this has been my fear! Is it OK to begin the Camino Frances at some point and if I have great difficulties use motorized transportation "temporarily" until able to walk again? It sounds like cheating but I don't know how I would manage 35 days of the walk. How should I approach this?

As others have already stated, health/safety comes first, so yes, it is absolutely ok. Some more tips:

There is no rule where you need to start apart of the 'last 100km rule' if you want to apply for a Compostela.
You can start closer to Santiago, allowing for more time/shorter stages.
Also, another story for you:

In 2014 I met briefly a woman from Finland, she had a bend over back (scoliosis?), walked with crutches and made tiny stages. She only walked from Sarria to Santiago and she made it. BUT that walk gave her so much confidence in her abilities that in 2015 she walked the Via de la Plata!

In 2001? I met a middle aged woman that did the Camino/Chemin from France to Santiago/Finisterre, alone, only with her service dog. She could walk perhaps a few meters on crutches in the albergues, but apart of that needed a wheel chair. I made woman and dog shortly before Finisterre, they were very happy pilgrims.

I could go on and on, but the important bit is check with your doctor first, listen to your body, plan short stages/shorter distance from Santiago (especially if time is an issue), take transport when you feel the need and enjoy every step! Buen Camino, SY

PS Your fellow pilgrims will surprise you with their support ;-)

 

[Kanga]

When walking the Camino Frances last year, my most "religious" moment came not in a church or cathedral, but when I encountered a group of disabled pilgrims, and their helpers. Some were in wheelchairs, some with other mobility aids, a few were blind, and some had other difficulties. Their happiness, laughter, joy, and courage left me breathless, inspired, in tears, very conscious of the shared goodwill, of the gift they are to the able-bodied, and of the light we all share.

I wish we could swap the athletes running the Camino with people like @Wayfarer68 and you, @Dcn Paul. Come join us, come without fear, do it any way you can - motorised transport included - for you are a gift to us, not the other way round.

 

[Dcn Paul]

Just woke up to these beautiful words from @Kanga, @SYates, and @Anemone del Camino and they brought tears of joy to my eyes and bolstered my confidence. Thank you so much! My doubts are now reduced and I am looking forward to March next year to begin my "March" to Santiago .

 

[VNwalking]

Dcn Paul...it looks like your Camino has begun already!
And we're all cheering for you here.
A big part of the learning of the Camino--for everyone--is about how to listen to the body and to graciously respect its limitations. In this you may have a big head start on the rest of us, because you can't get away with bullheadedly pushing through things. If you have any mobility challenges at all, you've had to learn humility, patience, and acceptance.
On the Camino these are everyone's best friends--and most of us take a long time to even begin to get acquainted...
Buen Camino, peregrino. Ultreia.......

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Two things came to me this morning regarding walking with physical limitations and how the Camino is inclusive.

The first is that somewhere along the first third of the Camino the walking path has been built so that the blind or those with very bad eyeshight can experience the Camino: the edges of the path are made of pieces of wood, about 2-3 inches high, so that a walking cane would hit them, showing the way. It is only 1 km long or so, but it shows that a town, a group of people, did think about how to make the experience of the Camino possible for as many as possible.

Also, as you may know, the "Compostela" ceetificate is normally awarded to those who have walked the last 100km but there are exceptions for those with physical limitations.

From the Pilgrim Office website: "
They are required to have travelled at least the last 100 kilometres on foot or horseback or the last 200 by bicycle, which is demonstrated by the “Credencial del Peregrino” duly stamped along the route travelled. Therefore other forms of travel to access the Compostela are excluded, except in the case of the disabled."

Perhaps @johnywalker can add more details about this?