Tension between spontaneity & planning

I had a CO who would listen intently during debriefings and would interrupt with “You thought?”…..“What?”

Making #2 the more probable outcome is Murphy's law, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

I think more than planning and spontaneity, it is about knowing your resources. Talk to other pilgrims. Talk to the hospitalero. Look at Gronze.com. look at apps, planning books. Know a few key phrases. Use Google translate if needed. All these things help with spontaneity. I don't like to lock myself in unless that is important such as an upcoming Spanish holiday or a special place I want to stay such as a paradore, etc.

New pilgrims are limited because they don't use all these resources together and then become frantic the first time something unexpected comes up. It taints their experience and creates a fear so they pre-plan everything for the unforeseeable future.

David Tallan said:

Re: the second part of 2. The first part of 2 is also likely to apply to Plan B and Plan C, etc. That's why I use my planning less to determine what I will actually do "on the ground" and more to inform my decisions, which I like to make at late as possible.

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Good point. 100%

I'm an avid planner. But don't really stick to it once I start.

In my research of the route I'm 'aware' of trouble spots like long sections without water, limited accommodation etc. And that research also makes be aware of what's along the route, off the route, what other people have done on that section etc........ That allows me to relax when walking.

An example being the 27 km section on the VdlP with no water, from Villafranca de los Barros to Torremejia. And the weather was quite warm.

I knew to carry plenty of water. And I knew that there were two 'bale out' points along the way, to a village some 4 kms off the Camino if I got into trouble.

Knowing that allowed me to make sensible decisions along the walk. And I was aware of the "point of no return", when it made sense, as it was shorter, to keep going rather than turn back.

So not really a case of a 'rigid' plan. Just being aware of the route and therefore able to make the right call if something unexpected happened. And the unexpected can often happen when we are at a physical and mental low point........ another reason to know ahead what your options are.

As it turned out? It was a great day. Right toward the upper end of my comfort distance (due to bad knees etc), but it turned out way better than expected. Mainly due to the wonderful walking surface and the distant mountains view.

But hey. Walking a popular route like the Frances is far less potential drama!

Now walking with my wife? Far more stressful and requires much more planning!!

Particularly in matters of where to eat. "How come we didn't know about this place"?
Thais seem to live for food.........