Taking time out for the Camino

[Claireabella]

Due to the fact that me and hubby cannot work around taking 5-6 weeks away from our children to walk the Camino we are having to wait 10 years until they are old enough to look after themselves. It seems an awfully long time from now.

I have a do it now attitude and having to wait 10 years to walk the complete journey is killing me. I could be run over in the morning!

I realise in the scheme of life, 5-6 weeks is not long at all. I will not take my children on this journey and that is what i want to stress here, so people wont be posing "take them with you." I am a stay at home mum and have been for the past 13 years so it would not be something i would want to undertake on my "way". (I will however, strongly advise them to do it when they are older). I plan to walk part of the Camino in 2017 because i can't do the whole thing at this present time(not with my hubby unfortunately). How do you manage to take 5-6 weeks off for the Camino?

 

[Sue M 23]

Due to the fact that me and hubby cannot work around taking 5-6 weeks away from our children to walk the Camino we are having to wait 10 years until they are old enough to look after themselves. It seems an awfully long time from now.

I have a do it now attitude and having to wait 10 years to walk the complete journey is killing me. I could be run over in the morning!

I realise in the scheme of life, 5-6 weeks is not long at all. I will not take my children on this journey and that is what i want to stress here, so people wont be posing "take them with you." I am a stay at home mum and have been for the past 13 years so it would not be something i would want to undertake on my "way". (I will however, strongly advise them to do it when they are older). I plan to walk part of the Camino in 2017 because i can't do the whole thing at this present time(not with my hubby unfortunately). How do you manage to take 5-6 weeks off for the Camino?

Due to the fact that me and hubby cannot work around taking 5-6 weeks away from our children to walk the Camino we are having to wait 10 years until they are old enough to look after themselves. It seems an awfully long time from now.

I have a do it now attitude and having to wait 10 years to walk the complete journey is killing me. I could be run over in the morning!

I realise in the scheme of life, 5-6 weeks is not long at all. I will not take my children on this journey and that is what i want to stress here, so people wont be posing "take them with you." I am a stay at home mum and have been for the past 13 years so it would not be something i would want to undertake on my "way". (I will however, strongly advise them to do it when they are older). I plan to walk part of the Camino in 2017 because i can't do the whole thing at this present time(not with my hubby unfortunately). How do you manage to take 5-6 weeks off for the Camino?

 

[Scott Sweeney]

It wasn't easy. In my case I had stock piled a lot of vacation and compensatory time. I have a position that allows me some room to make my vacation request more of statement than request, and I am close enough to retirement that if my request had been denied I would have went anyways. I was simply asked by the county administrator if my department could function well without me. I said yes and didn't hesitate a minute about throwing the "this is a religious pilgrimage" into the conversation
. Bad news is I learned that if I was to be gone tomorrow all would function well without me.

The US employers make you feel vacations are such a privledge instead of understanding a rested employee is a better employee. So why wait, walk the Camino in two week journeys, it will be a great gift to yourself and your husband.

 

[Sue M 23]

I waited 20 years,all kids had left home, I had the opportunity to attend a special event in Turkey and my wise husband said don 't just go to Turkey for a week- do something while you're in the the other side of the world so I walked the Camino .it was great,

 

[mspath]

In graduate school 50 years ago I attended courses by the great medieval art/architecture historian Meyer Schapiro. Several erudite lectures focused on the architecture along the Camino Frances, not only great monuments but also simple vernacular buildings. He stressed the importance of carved shells as the major iconic motif for identifying all related to Saint James as well as the immense social impact of the camino path across northern Spain; the path became the 'main street' with ‘burgos de francos’ or independent neighborhoods settled by former pilgrims nearby and, thus, the towns developed. ... Bingo I was hooked and decided that someday I would walk that path myself. Forty years later I did; fifty years and 10 caminos later I still am.

MM

 

[Robo]

Getting 5-6 weeks off is not easy for most people with families and work responsibilities. It generally takes a lot of planning and getting people to 'cover' for you.

One of the reasons my recent Camino will probably be a one off.

I was lucky. Being a business owner I told my team 18 months ago that I was taking off for 6 weeks and to start planning how they would manage. And they did. I think! I get home tomorrow

But it took me 20 years to get my business to the stage where I could leave it that long..... maybe I'm just a crap business manager

A tough question though....As everyone's circumstances will be different......

 

[Tammi Murray]

Due to the fact that me and hubby cannot work around taking 5-6 weeks away from our children to walk the Camino we are having to wait 10 years until they are old enough to look after themselves. It seems an awfully long time from now.

I have a do it now attitude and having to wait 10 years to walk the complete journey is killing me. I could be run over in the morning!

I realise in the scheme of life, 5-6 weeks is not long at all. I will not take my children on this journey and that is what i want to stress here, so people wont be posing "take them with you." I am a stay at home mum and have been for the past 13 years so it would not be something i would want to undertake on my "way". (I will however, strongly advise them to do it when they are older). I plan to walk part of the Camino in 2017 because i can't do the whole thing at this present time(not with my hubby unfortunately). How do you manage to take 5-6 weeks off for the Camino?

 

[C clearly]

I waited until my children were on their own "ways." However, I was still working, as well as a little uncertain whether I could handle the relentless walking. So my first camino was a 264 km walk (13 days) from Astorga. I thoroughly enjoyed it, found it long enough to give me a real taste of the experience, and whetted my appetite for more. If 5-6 weeks isn't doable for you yet, consider taking a 2 or 3-week trip - perhaps SJPP to Burgos or Sahagun, or the last leg of Astorga-Santiago.

 

[Tammi Murray]

How old are your children? As a single mother, this is definitely something that affected the choices that I have made. I left them for the first time when the youngest was 17. In retrospect, I think that they would have been just fine for a few weeks with family or a trusted friend. Unfortunately, leaving them with their father was not a viable option as he has a hard time making good decisions and taking care of himself. I just returned from spending nearly three weeks in Uganda a couple of months ago. This was my third trip. I led a team that included a young couple, parents of a two-year old and one on the way. Although it was hard, their son was just fine with grandparents and great-grandparents. I think that it was harder on them, especially the young woman, and I could relate as when I had left my children for the first time, despite them being perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, two on their own and the third in the technical care of one of them, I was the one having a meltdown. Also, you mention 5-6 weeks. I am planning my first Camino next year. I am planning to take 4 weeks. If I had young children, I might not feel like I could be away from them for this long. (The hardest part of this third trip for me was leaving my grandchildren!) Older children, i.e., teens, would be fine. Someone suggested doing the Camino in segments. I think that this might be a good alternative for you, especially since it appears that you live in Europe and so the airfare is likely to be less cost prohibitive than for those of us coming from further away.

 

[pilgrim22]

Hi Claireabelle, I walked a section of the camino last week. I could only take a week off work so myself and my daughter walked from ST jean to Pamplona three days.This day last week we were finishing our walk in Pamlona where we spent Saturday site seeing, then we went to Madrid for a day and then flew home to Dublin. We intend to go back next year for a longer hike, maybe ten days or so.Its the only way I can do it at the moment so in a few years please god i will get to Santiago.I would love to take the 5-6 weeks off to do it but I know this may never happen for me so for now bit by bit.

 

[Claireabella]

How old are your children? As a single mother, this is definitely something that affected the choices that I have made. I left them for the first time when the youngest was 17. In retrospect, I think that they would have been just fine for a few weeks with family or a trusted friend. Unfortunately, leaving them with their father was not a viable option as he has a hard time making good decisions and taking care of himself. I just returned from spending nearly three weeks in Uganda a couple of months ago. This was my third trip. I led a team that included a young couple, parents of a two-year old and one on the way. Although it was hard, their son was just fine with grandparents and great-grandparents. I think that it was harder on them, especially the young woman, and I could relate as when I had left my children for the first time, despite them being perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, two on their own and the third in the technical care of one of them, I was the one having a meltdown. Also, you mention 5-6 weeks. I am planning my first Camino next year. I am planning to take 4 weeks. If I had young children, I might not feel like I could be away from them for this long. (The hardest part of this third trip for me was leaving my grandchildren!) Older children, i.e., teens, would be fine. Someone suggested doing the Camino in segments. I think that this might be a good alternative for you, especially since it appears that you live in Europe and so the airfare is likely to be less cost prohibitive than for those of us coming from further away.

Mine are 9, 10 and 12. I have never had a night "out" since they were born and don't have a babysitter. My mother and father look after my sister's very young children so i don't feel it is right to ask them as they have their hands full already. I am totally dedicated to my girls and this is why, when they are up and out, i am buying a Harley, going to drink poteen, get a tatoo and travel. Haha you can tell i was raised by very strict irish parents! Seriously though, this is why i am going in 2017 to do a section of it. You seem to be on the same page as you understand it is such an undertaking......

 

[Claireabella]

Hi Claireabelle, I walked a section of the camino last week. I could only take a week off work so myself and my daughter walked from ST jean to Pamplona three days.This day last week we were finishing our walk in Pamlona where we spent Saturday site seeing, then we went to Madrid for a day and then flew home to Dublin. We intend to go back next year for a longer hike, maybe ten days or so.Its the only way I can do it at the moment so in a few years please god i will get to Santiago.I would love to take the 5-6 weeks off to do it but I know this may never happen for me so for now bit by bit.

I thought of this, taking my eldest Shannon if she wanted, we are very close anyway, but i want all my daughters to experience the things i was never allowed to. And that is a good way of doing it

 

[jeffnd]

Well, I'm single and I I don't work in winter so I had free time and no wife or kids to worry about.

Due to the fact that me and hubby cannot work around taking 5-6 weeks away from our children to walk the Camino we are having to wait 10 years until they are old enough to look after themselves. It seems an awfully long time from now.

I have a do it now attitude and having to wait 10 years to walk the complete journey is killing me. I could be run over in the morning!

As your children get older, you might change your tune. Hopefully you raise responsible children and maybe in say 5 years you'll at them and say, "You know, they'll be okay on their own." You can arrange to have friends and family pop in every so often to keep an eye on them. And you can check in with them daily from the Camino to make sure everything is going okay.

And, perhaps it is none of my business, and I can't speak from personal experience, but if it's been 12 years since you last had a night out, you are long overdue! Any good parenting expert would say the same thing! Go have some fun!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Do what ever you afe able to do? Due go flight cost it will be more expensive but if you feel the urge see what you can do. The Ingles is shorter, the Primitivo can be done in 2 weeks. You can do chunks of the Frances. Who said you have,to,walk from SJPP to Santiago? Scratch that itch!

 

[Anamya]

Do what ever you afe able to do? Due go flight cost it will be more expensive but if you feel the urge see what you can do. The Ingles is shorter, the Primitivo can be done in 2 weeks. You can do chunks of the Frances. Who said you have,to,walk from SJPP to Santiago? Scratch that itch!

I agree with that. Starting from Burgos, Leon, Sarria, Porto, Rome, Jesuralem, it does not matter! Your personal journey, in your time, matters.

Being a "do it now" person as well, I can totally relate to your anxiety. So what about making the chunk of Camino Frances that fits in a "reasonable" leave for you, and having an amazing experience you want so much? You will find plenty of stories of people in this Forum that could do only parts of it and lived incredible days anyway.

Then in the future you can walk the regions you missed, or another Camino, or another trail... wherever the Camino takes you ^^

(About the 5-6 week leave, I believe in general people need flexible work schedules, family/friends support and soooo many other variables...)

 

[smj6]

Many people I know, @Claireabella, take several years to finish their Camino by walking part of it each year during say one week- 10 days. It might not be ideal, but its one possibility.
Suzanne