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Photo book or blog documenting your camino

E

Eni

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino frances from 21 April 2022
Hello,

I d be interested what platforms/softwares one is to use for documenting your walk on the camino?
Photo books would have a preference.
Could you please also say their advantages/disadvantages?

Thanks you and buen camino if you are still on the way
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
I did my last Camino photo book on Apple Photos and I’m so sad they removed that service. I’m planning on doing my next book for the Camino I am on now on Shutterfly.
 
I use Find Penguins for blogging. You can have a photo book made of your photos afterwards through the platform.

Plan, track, and blog your trip

Automatically and effortlessly track your travels, simply with your phone in the pocket. Create a beautiful travel journal and enjoy the benefits of our leading travel app.
findpenguins.com
 
Best lightweight Camino guides
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
I make large (12 x 12) photobooks through Walgreens. I do my own layouts but there are automated options, too. Don't order them to be printed at the store, the quality isn't as good as having them printed off site (shipped to store or home). Wait for a coupon before you order one. I usually have the maximum number of pages (150, I think) so they are quite expensive but with a 50% off coupon it is cheaper than scrapbooking actual prints.
 
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Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
I find windows software ( win 10 ) creates a video for me with my photos once I upload them. It also allows me to add text and music. Found it by accident but haven't tried any of the others mentioned
 
You might be interested in this older thread. (It is only 6 months old, but this type of topic gets out-of-date very quickly, so it is good to start a new thread.) That thread has now been closed so the discussion can continue here.
 
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Reactions: Eni
I started my blog on WordPress 10 years ago. Its a bit clunky and I am not sure I would recommend it. I have several peregrina friends who use Find Penguins and it seems great!

Regarding pictures, we upload them whenever possible given the internet availability and signal strength, to Amazon pictures for backup. I use this platform because it does not compress the uploaded pictures, it is free with lots of space if you are a Prime member, ane it seemed easy to use -- it is. It is not easily sharable because you have to create an amazon account to access the pictures. But we do it primarily for backup. I'm not sure how you take your pics -phone or camera. If you use a camera you can get a great little pigtail adapter that lets you transfer all of your pictures from a camera card to you phone where you can then back the up by uploading them.

LizB
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
I have used Mixbook.com to create a photobook for my Camino. The tools are pretty flexible, and the quality of all the books I've done has been excellent.

My only complaint... they're really expensive. An 8"x11" sized book with 120 pages and a hard cover with matte finish cost over $200. Gulp. But the books are lifetime keepsakes, and everyone who has looked at them has loved them, so the cost is somewhat justifiable (although still a little painful).

I included a couple of images of a book I did. I tried to capture not only photos, but notes about each day (e.g., distance, temp, lodging, what I did). Maybe it will give you some ideas.

As far as blogs... I used Wordpress. While the tools are point and click, being somewhat tech savvy is helpful, especially at the start when you pick your template and customize it. After it's set-up though, it's pretty easy to do posts. Mine is pretty basic, but you can check it out at billonthecamino.com.

Good luck! It's definitely worth taking time to capture the wonderful experience of the Camino.

 
I also use Mixbook and find it more flexible in terms of design than any other option. I create every book from blank pages, placing the photos where I want.

Regarding the cost, do you remember how much you used to pay to get a roll of film developed and printed? It could get expensive, too.

On Mixbook, there are always current "specials" that last for a few days. I create my book, and then watch until a suitable special offer comes up - usually I print my prints when there is a 40% off code, and that happens often. (I recently bought 16 copies of a 90-page family history book with hard cover, and asked for a bulk discount. That discount was 40%, which is often available anyway, for smaller orders.)

Mixbook is not intended for conversion from a blog, or for documenting a trip as you go. I have tested a few programs to convert my Wordpress blogs to books, and conversions from other blogging platforms seem similar. However, I haven't liked the product - the automatic version would be too long (and expensive) and I would want to do a lot of customizing and editing.
 
C: You're probably right. 120 pages of photos if I had them developed the old fashion way would be a lot more money. I feel better now.
 
Best lightweight Camino guides
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Gorgeous! Great idea
 
I have walked 3 Caminos, with a fourth starting tomorrow, April 19. If it's spring, then it's Camino time! For each of my Caminos I have blogged with a very simple Google doc solution. There are several reasons:
1. I blog only using my cellphone, and because of that, and using a Google drive folder, I can upload video files, audio files and of course photos. The blog truly becomes multi-media.
2. It is easy to share a "View Only" link and I have about 100 family and friends who love to follow along remotely from day to day and experience a Camino vicariously. The comments from them are very encouraging. And I have no idea with whom they might have shared the link in turn.
3. It's easy to use, for me and others. I can access and add to the document off-line and sync it when I get WiFi access again.
4. It forms the basis for a Photo Book when I return and have more time to edit and sort on the "big screen".
5. The fact that each day's adventures are documented as they happen is invaluable to me, because, for how long can I rely on my 70-year-old memory banks?
6. The best thing? No ads!!!
 
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Download free today.
Holoholo automatically captures your footpaths, places, photos, and journals.
I used PolarSteps on my last camino and really liked it. It doesn't create any sort of public blog - you have anyone you want to follow you create an account on the App and then click to follow you. Uploads text and photos, which I did daily on the camino. All of that is free.

It made a terrific book, which we had to buy (maybe $150 or so if I recall correctly) - besides everything uploaded, it showed elevations, locations, temperatures that particular day, an over all map showing the entire journey, etc. As far as I know, no editing was permitted - so any typos in what I uploaded were duplicated in the book. But before ordering the book, I could have gone through the App and corrected any typos. The book looked extremely professional, and the book itself must be at least 200 pages (our entire trip was around two months, including non-camino sightseeing before and after the pilgrimage).

All in all, we were very happy with the App and plan to use it again this fall.
 
Check out Polarsteps! They are terrific! I did Camino Frances and also the Camino Portuguese and I've had photo books done for both Caminos. Love them!
 
I used Shutterfly for mine. I did a daily blog with pictures while I was walking … and then basically copied the verbiage from the blog and downloaded my “hundreds and hundreds” of pictures to add to the pages. It turned out beautifully!
 
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I am very interested in this thread as we will be starting our Camino soon and I too am wondering how best to record it.

Last year we used PolarSteps and my experience was not great. If I remember rightly, friends who wanted to follow us had to set up an account with PS which some did and others fell at that first fence.
My wife and I both logged into the same account so we could both make daily entries with text, photos & video. This worked okay at first and then we started to have problems uploading videos and were told by PS support that a) we should not have 2 users signed in to one account and b) there was a problem with uploading videos.
We used iPhones to shoot all photos and videos which were then stored in iCloud which meant we didn't have to worry about storage space on our phones EXCEPT that when I looked at my phone storage PS was using a big, big chunk of memory. I believe it was storing a copy of every photo and video used in the daily blog, rather than using a link.
Finally, I could find no easy way to download to a desktop a working copy of the journey which meant I either needed to delete and lose it or live with the amount of storage on the phone. I ended up deleting and sadly lost all those hilariously funny blog entries I had made.

After the Camino I made a video from the photos and videos stored in iCloud which I can easily cast onto a TV screen.

Based on my experience I have sadly come to the conclusion that:
1. Apart from a family and a handful of close friends no-one really wants to follow my journey. They are too busy living their own lives.
2. No-one really wants to watch my stunningly good video. I suspect they would be even less enthusiastic about a PhotoBook. (Me: "Hey, after dinner why don't we all sit down and look at photos of my Camino?" Almost anyone I know: "Wow, is it that time already? Sorry, I need to go!")

So I am looking for software that is:
a) easy to use
b) that captures the essence of the journey in words and photos and video
c) that our kids can easily use to track us (if only so they know where we are and that we are safe) and
d) that can be easily stored offline once the journey is over so we can look back and enjoy.
 
I used Climpchamp because it was free (available in Windows 11). It's a bit clunky and slow and at times. Climpchamp uses swim lanes so you can layer different types of media. I kept it simple by just laying out the photos/video, added subtitles or titles then added the music (Spanish guitar and Galician folk). If you don't do it in that order you create a lot of rework if you change order or duration of the photos/videos.

There is a way to access the mp4 file Climpchamp saves for you on some Microsoft cloud but I exported the files and uploaded them to Google Drive so I could share the links with family and friends via a private group in Facebook or email. I hope I have enough free space on Google Drive to upload all the photos otherwise will use my OneDrive.

My daughter-in-law loves Shutterfly. She has created calendars, booklets and even puzzles. I have a few pics in mind that might work for a puzzle that I could create and send as gifts to my grandchildren and younger nephews.
 
I’ve used Wordpress on all of my walks. It seems to work well for blogging from an iPhone. At the end of the day I scan my photos and pick a few that are most memorable, compose my blog in e:mail form, attach the photos, and “send” to post. My daughter has created Shutterfly books from some of the walks using my blog.
 
Best lightweight Camino guides
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
I have used Blurb for several books including a beautiful one I did on our Camino walk. If you search their site you can find Camino books that others have posted for public view and may even sell. I have always been pleased with their quality, turnaround time and support. I have found the software to be user-friendly with many options for format offered. Often you can find sales and coupons online that can save you 25-50%.
 
I used a small notebook (paper) with a pen for writing, I took hundreds of photos and made short videos of photo compilations with an app on my phone.

I met a few people who used sketchbooks to make drawings or small sketch paintings of specific significant moments during their Camino.

I'm sure there are many ways to do this, but my advice, for what it may be worth, is to not allow it to distract from living the experience in the moment. It's nice to have a few memories or written records to share with friends and family. Social media, YouTube for example, has many Camino videos and stories already, so how or what can one add to this? There will always be someone, somewhere, that may read/view it, and that might be the spark that ignites their interest in the Camino de Santiago. For that alone, the content one shares is likely to have a value beyond money for someone out there.
 
I’ve tried several app based photo book options in the past but found “Popsa” to be super easy, fast and very customizable. It’s a UK based company with printing locations there as well as in Canada and I believe the USA. Quality product and very reputable company to deal with. I used it to capture my Portuguese Camino from last fall. Had the book in hand about a week after submitting my order.
 
Best lightweight Camino guides
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
I have been blogging for the last ten years on Wordpress. While it may not be the best platform, I like how I can search all my experiences for the last ten years and find memories and content. It's better than a journal because it's searchable by key terms I've inputted. It is very public, so if you are not a public person and do not want your content on the internet forever, a blog might not be for you. I also find it is a great way to keep in touch with people I know, like an newsletter or online journal.
 
Hi.
I use pindat. Its a free app. You can write your blog and post foto's. You can invite people who get an email if you post sonethings and they can react on your posts. After your walk you can make a fotobook. You have to pay for the book but the app is free and more inportant, easy to use for a computer idioot like me.
You can make it public for everwybody to read or make it more privat. I like it .
 
I'm planning to use Polarsteps on my upcoming Camino. My sister and her husband use it on their caravan trip around Australia. Others can log in by invitation to follow their journey and you have the option to create a book at the end.
 
Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I have used both Polar steps and FindPenguins.
I loved Polar Steps when I first found and used it but last year found FindPenguins more user friendly both for me and the readers.
Neither are public blogs - by invitation only.
But as my blog/journal is mainly for me it’s fine. Both produce very beautiful hard copy books if desired.
 
If you decide to do a blog, here are a few suggestions/comments:
  • Here is a link to my blog from 2018 https://jjscamino.wordpress.com/
  • I would suggest using wordpress.COM (NOT wordpress.org) The ".com" version is FREE, they host it and it is easy to use. Of course, there are some limitations since it is free (less flexible, fewer templates/features...)
  • I created a Blogging Survival Guide and have attached it. Might be helpful. (Note: WordPress recently added some new features not covered in my guide... but it should get you going)
Hope you find this helpful.

Cheers,
 

Attachments
I’m on the Camino now and am using Find Penguins. It’s been amazing for my family to track what I’m doing each day as I am uploading a daily update of starting and finishing places, kms walked and then a general overview of my day. You can add up to 20 photos and 2 videos with each post. I intend to use my content to create a book for myself as a memoir of my trip so choose photos to upload of things that I loved seeing during my days
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
I used WordPress while I was walking and once I got home I used Shutterfly to make my photo book
 
I used FindPenguins. I got the app before I left home--only because I know many of my friends and family would be sending out messages: "Are you OK? Nobody has heard from you since day before yesterday..."

On the Camino, at the end of each day I would update my location and post a few photos and/or a video. Everyone loved it and enjoyed posting comments. When I got back home I forgot about it as it had served it's purpose.

Thanks to this thread I went back and looked over my FindPenguins trip. It's all still there and I really really enjoyed reliving each day. Then, just out of curiosity, I clicked on "Print Travel Book" WOW!! It automatically put together a fabulous book of all my photos!!! It used the locations, titles, and captions that I had already entered and I found that I could edit, delete, or add more. I then reviewed each photo and selected those that I want to leave out of the book. I only walked half of the Camino Frances (from SJPP to Leon) but my book was 134 pages. The cost was US$120 and I can't wait until it arrives!
 
I also used PolarSteps
 
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Perfect memento/gift in a presentation box. Engraving available, 25 character max.
Trailjournals.com is useful for documenting and also following people on trails around the world.
 
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