I may very well be totally off base or wrong about this, but when I talk (proselytize) to people about the Camino, I say to them (strictly my opinion) that the Camino, whether a pilgrimage with religious or spiritual implications or merely a contemplative walk, is best undertaken and enjoyed as a solitary experience. I have talked to Camino couples or groups of friends that told me they wouldn't have come for the walk if their husband/wife/friend(s) did not accompany them. And I get that many couples walk at different paces and might very well not see each other until the end of the day. But I think of the walk as one of the few times in life when you are truly alone with your thoughts and solely responsible for your own well-being for for an extended period of time, which is not to say, of course, that one would not have many and often meaningful conversations with fellow Pilgrims. So, yes, I suppose there is a self-absorbed aspect to it, but I wouldn't characterize it as selfish, irrespective of the cost. I am probably in the minority in this line of thinking this.
.