Repeating the camino - opinions please!

[Laliibeans]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Everyone is different! I have repeated the Camino Frances many times, and don't regret a single one. Other caminos also are fun, but I suggest getting closure on the Camino Frances, then move on.

 

[mspath]

Like Falcom I have repeated the CF many times over the past years and enjoyed each journey. For many others' comments pro and con re repetition see this earlier forum thread.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/walking-the-camino-frances-a-second-time-good-or-bad-idea.23580/

Happy planning and Buen camino!

 

[Laliibeans]

Thank you for the link! My search-fu isn't strong...I think the idea of getting closure is a good way of putting it. Saying it like that makes me feel a lot better about it.

 

[Bradypus]

I have walked the Camino Frances three times: 1990, 2002 and 2016. A very different experience each time. I am glad to have made those journeys but I now look for other routes and a different sort of journey. But I think that in your position I would still consider the Frances "unfinished business" and would want to return and fill in the gaps which you still feel.

 

[Dorpie]

I've done CF twice and plan to do it again. The road may be the same but the people you meet, the places you stay and the weather you walk in all change so much. The path is just the canvas, you can make whatever picture you like.

 

[Richmond Gardner]

Thank you for the link! My search-fu isn't strong...I think the idea of getting closure is a good way of putting it. Saying it like that makes me feel a lot better about it.

And THIS time you will be truly free, to walk as you please, with whom you please, be free to change your mind on a whim...all the factors that make a great experience, without added frustration. Have a wonderful time... you will make lots of friends anyway, without being tied to their issues.

 

[Anamiri]

Im booking shortly for my next Camino, the Frances again . Im not done with it yet. When I am, I'll walk somewhere else.
Different seasons, different places to stay, different people, its never the same twice.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Same pathway but different Camino every time. The weather will be different, the people you meet will be different, you'll be different - for a start you've some idea of what to expect this time.
Spain has changed a lot in the last five years, the Camino even more so. Be prepared to have a few memories shaken up - you know what they say: nostalgia isn't what it used to be
Have a great time and Buen Camino!

 

[freeflyer123]

I think you've already decided to do the walk, so just go for it. As you were with others, you will have missed so much, which you will see with renewed eyes this time. And I've always found the second time round so much better than the first because you half know what to expect yet still see so much more.

Go for it, and Buen Camino.

 

[Kitsambler]

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice

So the Camino Frances is unfinished business for you; but maybe you need a change of scenery before you come back to it. There's always the Le Puy route, which you could carry onward on the C.F. as your schedule permits.

 

[CdnDreamer]

I can relate to how you are feeling. My first camino in 2012 I went with a friend who decided she didn't like walking. We compromised and skipped sections. saw the highlights and did the last 100 km. I was angry for 3 years because I was in good shape and hadn't completed the camino. So I went back alone in 2015 and walked the "whole trail" from SJPdP to Santiago. I stayed in different places, but I returned to the hotel where she had suddenly told me she was taking the bus the next day. I wanted to clear myself of the pain I had felt that day. I enjoyed the second trip because I had weeks where I had a good idea of what I would see that day and then weeks that were completely new. It was an interesting mix. I am very happy that I walked it "again" because I got to do it my way!

 

[Stroller]

You never step in the same river twice equally you never walk the same camino twice.

 

[lt56ny]

Great idea to walk alone. There is always only one first time. It makes it special but not necessarily the best. You want lots of people walk the CF. You want less, walk the CP, You want spectacular scenery and even less people do the Norte. You want great scenery, great food quiet and a challenging walk (not as challenging as The Norte) and at the same time practice your French, because no one speaks English, start in Le Puy. You want complete solitude do the Via de la Plata. My next one is a winter CF then next year a late winter VDLP. It’s a few years later it’ll be a few euros more.

 

[peregrina2000]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

Every time I see this question, I think of this —(lifted from another post)

@mspath introduced me to a beautiful answer to this question, written by Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago:

"The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them. You have to start the journey anew. Always."

 

[C.C.]

Walked it twice ... 2nd time to cover the parts I’d missed due to “feet” issues. And it was a different walk ... new friends to meet, new meals to eat, new places to sleep. Loved both

 

[RJM]

You are over-thinking the whole thing.
You were not able to walk as much of the Frances as you wanted to a few years ago. Now you want to go back and walk the entire route. What is so unusual about that? Just go and walk it. Honestly it will not be the same as the first time. The path will be the same, but the experience won't be.

 

[nycwalking]

I have been on CF five times. I hated to admit that until I started posting on this forum.

My friends and acquaintances would tell me about that “whole wide world” where I too could travel.

But, the CF is magical, just magical.

Stop at places you didn’t before. Eat something you’ve never before tried.

As a solo traveler you can truly do what you wish; a rarity in this life of obligation we lead.

Buen camino.

p.s. next time I will walk VdlP.

 

[Oregon's Mark]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

Two years ago, I did my first Camino---thinking that it would be my one-and-only. Alone. I believe you will enjoy your second much more than your first, if you travel alone. Next month, I return for a three peat. I, too, consider FOMO, but I return to something that I know I love. Buen Camino.

 

[trecile]

My friends and acquaintances would tell me about that “whole wide world” where I too could travel.

I wonder how many of those return to the same vacation spot every year. Or to take it farther, eat at the same restaurant over and over.

I, too, consider FOMO, but I return to something that I know I love. Buen Camino.

I use the time before and after the Camino to visit places that I haven't been to before. This year it will be Paris pre Camino, and Porto post Camino.

 

[Finisterre]

I'm a repeater. The same walk every other Sunday, through a local river gorge. The same for breaks. My last five years have been Rome. I'm considering a camino again now. It will be my seventh. And there's a good chance that it will be the Portuguese again.

The world is much too big to 'do'. Finding a bit that suits and making the most of it is a much better use of your time and effort. IMO.

 

[Oregon's Mark]

I'm a repeater. The same walk every other Sunday, through a local river gorge. The same for breaks. My last five years have been Rome. I'm considering a camino again now. It will be my seventh. And there's a good chance that it will be the Portuguese again.

The world is much too big to 'do'. Finding a bit that suits and making the most of it is a much better use of your time and effort. IMO.

I agree with what you say.
When people ask me about why, I ask them if they return to the same beach, vacation spot, etc. They say it is because they like it. I say that is the very reason that I return to the Camino.

 

[amgirl5]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

I've walked the Camino Frances four times (2005, 2007, 2009, and 2017). Each time a little different. Stayed in different towns (which meant walking sections at different times of day, and enjoying them more), albergues, eat in different spots, took alternative routes if they existed. New faces (some I recognize at albergues or bars along the way), different season, weather, and each time I walk, I'm a different person inside from when I first started walking, so the experience is never the same. (And the CF had changed quite a bit between winter of 2009 and spring of 2017!...I liked the coffee stops breaking up the long stretches in Navarra.)

 

[taozenqi]

You never step in the same river twice equally you never walk the same camino twice.

Exactly my thought as I was reading the initial post.

 

[David Tallan]

Well, I think I see some consistency in the replies, with a common theme of get your closure; don't worry about the repeat; the Camino will be different enough; and possibly use the time before or after to add different locations. That matches my experience with repeating the CF to do it more "properly" the second time.

 

[CiaraC]

I'm in a similar boat of planning a second go at the CF this year.

I started alone in May last year, from SJPdP and got as far as Meilde before my journey was cut short by the death of a loved one back home. I'm returning again to SJPdP this May to try and complete the journey from start to finish (SDC and on to Fisterra) this time as I have unfinished business with the road and need some time to reflect on all that has happened.

Many people that I've told about my plans have questioned the logic of "re-doing" the same path and suggested that I just go back to walk the last 52km. To me, it's about the journey, not the destination and it wouldn't be worth my while going back for just 1.5 days worth of a Camino!

I had some reservations about whether I'd be disappointed with the experience not living up to what it was last year, so I am going with no expectations at all. This will be a different experience; different people, different weather, different meals, different places to stay, to paraphrase some of what's already beeen said here. All I know is, my gut and heart are telling me that the CF is where I need to be and time on the road will deliver on the rest.

 

[Kkort]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

I did it in 2008 and 2010 and did not enjoy it nearly as much. Add to that the ever increasing number of peregrinos, which can become a problem especially if you enjoy solitude. So in 2016 I decided to do the via de la Plata. Best decision ever. A great walk, lots of good company in the albergues and no crowds. I started mid April, but would start a bit later if I were to do it again.

 

[Pierre Julian]

CF is my "home camino" but I only walk it in winter when it's quieter. Every time I go back it's wonderful, but the other sections of other Caminos are also wonderful.

 

[Mobilemejen]

I walked the Camino five years ago with a small group of people, and some ended up having health issues which meant we didn't walk as much as we wanted to. I recently read my journal again and it made me quite upset to read how frustrated and sad I'd been for those sections. I still had a great experience and look back on it fondly, but I missed so much of what I'd wanted to do. Not to mention that because my own fitness was fine, I was very antsy to walk.

I have a bit of an issue with doing the same thing twice, mainly because there is a whole lot of world to see. But I want my next trip to be a long walk and financially speaking doing a Camino route is very appealing. I was looking at doing the Primitivo but I've been drawn more and more back to re-doing the Frances and walking the whole way this time (I'd make sure I was doing it alone this time, which is my preferred way to travel).

So my question is for those who have walked it more than once. What was your experience? Was it very similar or different? In what ways? More practically, do costs change much along the route (I budgeted 30 euro a day last time and it was more than enough)? Would really love to hear about people's personal experiences with this.

I really loved the places I saw and would hope that I'd get more time to explore them if I went again, I just get serious FOMO about places I haven't been yet!

I walked CF fall 2017, was hooked, walked the Le Puy fall 2018, and have booked CF for this fall (2019). Since the CF is like a river and you can never step in the same river twice (and the LP was NOT fun!), I am excited about the CF again!!

 

[Laliibeans]

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful replies. There are some really good perspectives here, and like many have said, there is so much I missed that I'll get to see new this time. Not to mention that there are places I didn't get to see very much of because I was looking after others, so there will be more chance for that. Looks like I might have to start doing up my travel budget.

 

[joecamino]

I have walked the Camino Frances three times: 1990, 2002 and 2016. A very different experience each time.

Just wanted to say "Wow!" Twelve years between your first and second-- fourteen more years of living before your third. I have to think you brought three very different perspectives to your Camino's, and saw the Camino change a great deal over that time.

Would love to hear more if you care to share

 

[Lua]

The Camino Frances path maybe the same, with some small changes. The journey, the people, are not. Don't try and relive your last journey. Stay in different towns, villages. Eat in different places. Have a totally new journey.
I have walked the CF on a number of trips over the past 10 years and am doing starting again in September. It
will be a new journey. Looking forward to meeting new people and staying in new places.
Yes, lots of other Caminos and walks. But the CF is still in me.
The path you pick, will be the right path for you. Enjoy.

 

[Seabird]

This post and responses are SO timely for me, as I contemplate my second Camino next year. Thanks to all.

 

[ess1113]

I have walked three Camino’s on three routes and I start the 4th next month.

Each and every Camino has taught me different lessons with different images and with different people.

I walk for the experience and I don’t think I will ever complete my Camino in my lifetime but I fully and gratefully acknowledge the call of the Camino and I hope I do honor to those that walked before me, with me, and after me.

 

[Mobilemejen]

I have walked three Camino’s on three routes and I start the 4th next month.

Each and every Camino has taught me different lessons with different images and with different people.

I walk for the experience and I don’t think I will ever complete my Camino in my lifetime but I fully and gratefully acknowledge the call of the Camino and I hope I do honor to those that walked before me, with me, and after me.

I will walk my 3rd (plus an extra last 100k CF w hubby) in 3 years this fall. Camino is my drug of choice. I will walk CF again, last year LP to SJPdP. Any repeat could have not been imagined during my first Camino—I quit and recommitted a couple of times almost every day. I walk alone but never alone. I am there when I am not.

 

[PiryatJos]

I had the mindset that I should use the time to go somewhere else, do something else. Ultimately I'm not with the CF even though I didn't feel like I really missed out on that much. I feel like I need to do it at least once more. I'm looking to do the CdN in 2021 from at minimum Santander because I want to walk in a Holy Year and not take a plane. I'm not walking next year and don't want to wait until 2022. This made it clear to me that this was the right choice for me. I'm walking earlier because Sept/Nov is just a little too late to get the best but would be fine if I had already walked it in the summer.

I spent approx EUR1,650 after landing in Biarritz to arriving in London with just under £1,000 left in the designated bank account. I was by and large happy with the accommodations. I will be saving for at least EUR3,000 though so that I am fully comfortable being able to change my mind and go elsewhere. I didn't regret walking at any point in that whole time even with the rain everyday in the last week but having that option to do something else if I'm not getting anything from it is what I want.

 

[Zordmot]

Wow, so many great responses that touch all of the relevant points to consider. I have a blog entitled “Life as a Bike Tour” based on the idea that on a bike tour each morning you wake up, strike camp, and go somewhere new. This is true, based on the experiences related here, of the Camino anytime you put your feet on it.

Back to your first Camino, it seems that the most successful groups of 2 or larger are those that recognize that the Camino is first of all a personal spiritual experience and less of a bonding experience for friendships already going. Or as a hedge against a true personal encounter. Of these groups sometimes you see them together and at other times they split off—some getting together at the same albergue and others not. They recognize that it is unreasonable to expect 2 people to walk at the same speed on a given day and there is so much to gain by walking alone and with others you meet along the way. I’ve heard exasperated cries of, “Where have you been?” or “We’ve been waiting for you!” which you hear at the mall but seem to be out of place in that setting.

 

[henrythedog]

It’s your life. If you have the chance to what you want with it (or a portion of it) that’s marvellous.

I repeatedly Camino. The physical route may be the same, but all else is different.

If it were all the same, and it were my choice to repeat, surely that's to be celebrated also.