To plan or not to plan?

[BillyJane70]

Hello my brothers and sisters, seeking your insight/ reflection... I am walking from Porto to Fisterra next May with a good friend. I will turn 50 on the morning we walk out of Santiago and onwards and I am sooooo looking forward to my 2nd Camino.
When I walked the Francés, I only booked Ronscevalles. Everything else I just left in the lap of the gods. This time around I’m contemplating less spontaneity and more sleep I really struggled to sleep in the municipals. This lack of sleep did start to wear me down. My body was not getting restorative slumber and things started to hurt.
We are travelling from Australia and as we are both casually employed, can’t take much more than 4 weeks leave. So, I have used the Gronze guide and have booked a number of off-stage private rooms along the coastal route. I’ve planned stages where we don’t walk more than 25 kms. I really like the Gronze guide, but have also bought Brierley, because what’s a Camino without Brierley
It’s my friend’s first big trip abroad and she is keen to experience the Camino. I don’t want to detract from that by over planning.
So my question is....I don’t know what my question is. Just your thoughts?

 

[Lindsay53]

Hi BillyJane. I am a non planner, walked the Frances and on to Muxia last April/May with no planning or booking ahead, had no problems. However I think that's much easier to do alone than with someone else, and Porto to Fisterra in May may be busy. If this is your friends first big OS trip it may be good to book a couple of nights initially so as not to throw them in at the deep end too quickly, then play it by ear once you get a feel for the number of pilgrims and availability of accommodation on the route.

Buen Camino!

 

[jpflavin1]

Hello my brothers and sisters, seeking your insight/ reflection... I am walking from Porto to Fisterra next May with a good friend. I will turn 50 on the morning we walk out of Santiago and onwards and I am sooooo looking forward to my 2nd Camino.
When I walked the Francés, I only booked Ronscevalles. Everything else I just left in the lap of the gods. This time around I’m contemplating less spontaneity and more sleep I really struggled to sleep in the municipals. This lack of sleep did start to wear me down. My body was not getting restorative slumber and things started to hurt.
We are travelling from Australia and as we are both casually employed, can’t take much more than 4 weeks leave. So, I have used the Gronze guide and have booked a number of off-stage private rooms along the coastal route. I’ve planned stages where we don’t walk more than 25 kms. I really like the Gronze guide, but have also bought Brierley, because what’s a Camino without Brierley
It’s my friend’s first big trip abroad and she is keen to experience the Camino. I don’t want to detract from that by over planning.
So my question is....I don’t know what my question is. Just your thoughts? ❤

BillyJane70:

I guess it depends on what you mean by planning.

It seems your last camino left you sleep deprived and you intend to correct that this time. You also are concerned if you plan to much it will take away from your friends experience. This leads me to believe, even though you were sleep deprived, that you felt lack of planning added to your Camino experience.

My first thought is that the Portuguese is a very different Camino than the Frances and will be a different experience altogether. Second, most people plan and reserve out of fear of not finding accommodation or they prefer more privacy etc. Last, your friend has never experienced a Camino, except through your description, so he/she should have no real expectation and will probably be happy just to share the time with a friend.

I think you should set up this Camino in a way that you feel will be a better experience for you. If that happens, your friend will more than likely benefit your good vibe.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[BillyJane70]

Hi BillyJane. I am a non planner, walked the Frances and on to Muxia last April/May with no planning or booking ahead, had no problems. However I think that's much easier to do alone than with someone else, and Porto to Fisterra in May may be busy. If this is your friends first big OS trip it may be good to book a couple of nights initially so as not to throw them in at the deep end too quickly, then play it by ear once you get a feel for the number of pilgrims and availability of accommodation on the route.

Buen Camino!

Thanks Lindsay, I agree that when you’re flying solo is easier to wing it. Thanks for your thoughts

 

[BillyJane70]

BillyJane70:

I guess it depends on what you mean by planning.

It seems your last camino left you sleep deprived and you intend to correct that this time. You also are concerned if you plan to much it will take away from your friends experience. This leads me to believe, even though you were sleep deprived, that you felt lack of planning added to your Camino experience.

My first thought is that the Portuguese is a very different Camino than the Frances and will be a different experience altogether. Second, most people plan and reserve out of fear of not finding accommodation or they prefer more privacy etc. Last, your friend has never experienced a Camino, except through your description, so he/she should have no real expectation and will probably be happy just to share the time with a friend.

I think you should set up this Camino in a way that you feel will be a better experience for you. If that happens, your friend will more than likely benefit your good vibe.

Ultreya,
Joe

Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. You’re absolutely right... the lack of planning was so liberating and that made the lack of sleep bearable. I guess regardless of how much I plan, I never really know what may come around the corner...perhaps I just need to put my preoccupation with where we sleep in its place. A bed is a bed is a bed. The journey is so much bigger than that

 

[VictorE]

Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. You’re absolutely right... the lack of planning was so liberating and that made the lack of sleep bearable. I guess regardless of how much I plan, I never really know what may come around the corner...perhaps I just need to put my preoccupation with where we sleep in its place. A bed is a bed is a bed. The journey is so much bigger than that

Have done both ways plan and no plan prefer the plan

 

[roving_rufus]

I will admit that I find that I need a private room every so often on the camino especially if I get a run of disturbed sleep. But I love the fact that particularly the Frances & the CP after Porto actually allow for not planning - that you can decide on the day how far to go. Since I am walking the Via Francigena in sections which has very little accomodation options till you get to Italy meaning detailed planning - I am now very jealous of the ease of the CF & CP. However lots of people walk with every stop planned and booked, others completely wing it and many fall in between. The reality is it is up to you! It is nice to know you have a bed for the night. But it comes with confinements. Safety vs Risk! You generally know which you tend to!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

My thoughts. Reserve private rooms way ahead for a few nights at the start and then stay two nights in albergues with bunk beds (maybe reserve space in these also) followed by one or two in reserved rooms again. After your friend has experienced the albergue nights you can decide what to do for the rest of the trip. You have the safety of the next two private nights if you decide that is the way you want to go and you can use the time to book ahead the rest of the way.

 

[jpflavin1]

Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. You’re absolutely right... the lack of planning was so liberating and that made the lack of sleep bearable. I guess regardless of how much I plan, I never really know what may come around the corner...perhaps I just need to put my preoccupation with where we sleep in its place. A bed is a bed is a bed. The journey is so much bigger than that

It is going to be a wonderful trip.

 

[trecile]

Gather information about the route, possible places to stay, etc. Then, when you "wing it" you have an idea of what your options are.

 

[BillyJane70]

I’m doing lots of homework...I need to start learning some Portuguese now!

 

[Botaivica]

Hello my brothers and sisters, seeking your insight/ reflection... I am walking from Porto to Fisterra next May with a good friend. I will turn 50 on the morning we walk out of Santiago and onwards and I am sooooo looking forward to my 2nd Camino.
When I walked the Francés, I only booked Ronscevalles. Everything else I just left in the lap of the gods. This time around I’m contemplating less spontaneity and more sleep I really struggled to sleep in the municipals. This lack of sleep did start to wear me down. My body was not getting restorative slumber and things started to hurt.
We are travelling from Australia and as we are both casually employed, can’t take much more than 4 weeks leave. So, I have used the Gronze guide and have booked a number of off-stage private rooms along the coastal route. I’ve planned stages where we don’t walk more than 25 kms. I really like the Gronze guide, but have also bought Brierley, because what’s a Camino without Brierley
It’s my friend’s first big trip abroad and she is keen to experience the Camino. I don’t want to detract from that by over planning.
So my question is....I don’t know what my question is. Just your thoughts? ❤

Hi BillyJane
I'm an engineer, I've been working on plans all my life. That's why it wasn't difficult for me make a plan for CP. I started in Lisbon, and this is my plan from Porto

Porto – Monasterio de Vairao, 24,9 km
Monasterio de Vairao – Pedra Furada, 19,7 km
Pedra Furada – Portela de Tamel, 19,2 km
Portela de Tamel – Ponte de Lima, 24,5 km
Ponte de Lima – Fontoura, 24,9 km
Fontoura – O Porrino, 27,7 km
O Porrino - Arcade, 22,2 k
Arcade - Briallos, 29,2 km
Briallos - Padron, 23,4 km
Padron – Milladoiro, 18,7 km
Milladoiro - Santiago de Compostela, 5,0 km

I would be glad to help you with your deliberation

 

[Anamya]

Aussie here as well, did CP in 2017. It was also our second Camino.
I booked a 3-star hotel in Porto, spend 2 days there to acclimatise and enjoy that wonderful city. Then, the night before we started walking, I booked the next night. And so we went, booking a room only one night before, according to how tired we felt by the end of the day.

The only place I book way in advance (3 months) was Casa da Fernanda. We actually had to get a taxi the day before to get there on the day that we booked, as we were walking slower than I innitially calculated.

But in general, one night in advance was perfectly fine for CP in mid-April, early May. And it gave us the perfect balance of flexibility + certainty. We also always chose "free cancelling" bookings, as sometimes we would change pace during the day and need to rethink our booking. We ALWAYS informed the accommodation in those cases, so they could offer the bed to someone else.

 

[David Tallan]

Here are my thoughts:

First of all, do the Camino that seems right for you and that works for you.

Here is what works for me.

I'm a big believer in planning. I like to do lots of research, see all of the possibilities, and decide what's best. I'll watch the videos of other people's caminos, read the guidebooks, trawl the forums, etc. but when I am actually on a Camino, I don't hold to the plans at all. I tend to prefer to make any decisions as late as possible, so that I make them with the most information possible. Because there are some bits of information that are very important to a good decision that you just can't get much in advance. When you are doing your planning, you won't know what the weather is going to be like on a particular day, how you will be feeling (mentally and physically), who you will be walking with that you met on the Camino (and how attached you will be to them and how far they will want to walk) and a host of other things. For that reason, I think the best decisions are made "in the moment".

But sometimes you can't make decisions "in the moment". When I was walking the Camino Portugues, I wanted to stay at Casa da Fernanda which I had read a lot of good reports about. But I had also read that, because of the limited number of beds there and its good reputation, you were unlikely to be able to stay there if you just showed up without a reservation. So that was the one place I booked before I left home (other than where I was sleeping in Porto on my first night before I started walking).

When I did the Camino Frances with my son, I only booked the first couple of nights in Roncesvalles and Zubiri in advance. After that, I took each day as it came and was glad to. I couldn't have predicted that my son wouldn't want a rest day in Leon but that we would desperately need one in Astorga. However, when we got into Galicia, more albergues were reporting full (with people who had reserved), so we started booking a day or two in advance. By that time, we had a good idea of how far we were up to walking in a day, of whom we were walking with, and the weather was as predictable as could be within a day or two, so it seemed like a happy medium.

In summary, who knows what will work for you. You aren't really asking what you should do because you've done it. But my advice would be to listen to your bodies and to each other as you walk and, if they are telling you that what you planned isn't going to work for you, don't hesitate to cancel a reservation (or two or three) and make other ones. Giving yourself permission to do that may help to give a sense of the spontaneity it seems that your friend may be looking for from her Camino experience if she is worried about "over planning".

 

[BillyJane70]

I’m doing lots of homework...I need to start learning some Portuguese now!

I will admit that I find that I need a private room every so often on the camino especially if I get a run of disturbed sleep. But I love the fact that particularly the Frances & the CP after Porto actually allow for not planning - that you can decide on the day how far to go. Since I am walking the Via Francigena in sections which has very little accomodation options till you get to Italy meaning detailed planning - I am now very jealous of the ease of the CF & CP. However lots of people walk with every stop planned and booked, others completely wing it and many fall in between. The reality is it is up to you! It is nice to know you have a bed for the night. But it comes with confinements. Safety vs Risk! You generally know which you tend to!

Hi rufus, I would love to walk the Via Francigena one day....
Thank you for your thoughts. Safety vs Risk is definitely a bigger picture subject for me, nudging me for more attention as I get older. My every day life is very safe, for which i am incredibly grateful, but the urge to let go of that is seeming to get stronger, which I guess was one of the main reasons for walking the Frances on my own in the first place. I think that the Coastal route of the CP is calling because that big ocean symbolises freedom and liberation to me. I'm starting to feel like I need to cancel some of those bookings I've made

 

[BillyJane70]

My thoughts. Reserve private rooms way ahead for a few nights at the start and then stay two nights in albergues with bunk beds (maybe reserve space in these also) followed by one or two in reserved rooms again. After your friend has experienced the albergue nights you can decide what to do for the rest of the trip. You have the safety of the next two private nights if you decide that is the way you want to go and you can use the time to book ahead the rest of the way.

Hi Rick, thank you for that great advice. It makes a lot of sense. I think I may start cancelling a few of the bookings I've already made. I guess I had read SO much about the CF before I went and read so many great threads on this forum that I almost felt as though I had walked it before I even got there back in 2017. The CP seems to have a different vibe, but no doubt, whatever way I go, the Camino and Universe will conspire to give me what I need. Of that, I have no doubt

 

[BillyJane70]

Hi BillyJane
I'm an engineer, I've been working on plans all my life. That's why it wasn't difficult for me make a plan for CP. I started in Lisbon, and this is my plan from Porto

Porto – Monasterio de Vairao, 24,9 km
Monasterio de Vairao – Pedra Furada, 19,7 km
Pedra Furada – Portela de Tamel, 19,2 km
Portela de Tamel – Ponte de Lima, 24,5 km
Ponte de Lima – Fontoura, 24,9 km
Fontoura – O Porrino, 27,7 km
O Porrino - Arcade, 22,2 k
Arcade - Briallos, 29,2 km
Briallos - Padron, 23,4 km
Padron – Milladoiro, 18,7 km
Milladoiro - Santiago de Compostela, 5,0 km

I would be glad to help you with your deliberation

Hi Botaivica, thank you for your generous offer of help. We are planning to walk the coastal route and join up with the inland route at Redondela...I have loved every minute of planning the route with my friend, but the more I revisit this forum and read other's stories, I'm beginning to remember how much I loved NOT having a plan when I walked the CF. It feels as though the CF might be more conducive to no planning than the CP? if we decide to change tack and go inland, I will reach out to you for advice. thank you

 

[BillyJane70]

Aussie here as well, did CP in 2017. It was also our second Camino.
I booked a 3-star hotel in Porto, spend 2 days there to acclimatise and enjoy that wonderful city. Then, the night before we started walking, I booked the next night. And so we went, booking a room only one night before, according to how tired we felt by the end of the day.

The only place I book way in advance (3 months) was Casa da Fernanda. We actually had to get a taxi the day before to get there on the day that we booked, as we were walking slower than I innitially calculated.

But in general, one night in advance was perfectly fine for CP in mid-April, early May. And it gave us the perfect balance of flexibility + certainty. We also always chose "free cancelling" bookings, as sometimes we would change pace during the day and need to rethink our booking. We ALWAYS informed the accommodation in those cases, so they could offer the bed to someone else.

Thanks for your insight Anamya. We have booked a couple of nights in Porto. Can't wait to stay there! I have read so many wonderful things about Casa Fernanda, it almost seems like we should walk the inland route instead! I was actually surprised at how much of the "bookable" accommodation is already booked out for May. I think this is what got me a bit nervous in the first place. Total FOMO! We have tried to keep our distances conservative as we have 2 weeks to walk to Santiago. My walking companion is a marathon runner!!! Guess who's bagsing the bunks in the albergues

 

[BillyJane70]

Here are my thoughts:

First of all, do the Camino that seems right for you and that works for you.

Here is what works for me.

I'm a big believer in planning. I like to do lots of research, see all of the possibilities, and decide what's best. I'll watch the videos of other people's caminos, read the guidebooks, trawl the forums, etc. but when I am actually on a Camino, I don't hold to the plans at all. I tend to prefer to make any decisions as late as possible, so that I make them with the most information possible. Because there are some bits of information that are very important to a good decision that you just can't get much in advance. When you are doing your planning, you won't know what the weather is going to be like on a particular day, how you will be feeling (mentally and physically), who you will be walking with that you met on the Camino (and how attached you will be to them and how far they will want to walk) and a host of other things. For that reason, I think the best decisions are made "in the moment".

But sometimes you can't make decisions "in the moment". When I was walking the Camino Portugues, I wanted to stay at Casa da Fernanda which I had read a lot of good reports about. But I had also read that, because of the limited number of beds there and its good reputation, you were unlikely to be able to stay there if you just showed up without a reservation. So that was the one place I booked before I left home (other than where I was sleeping in Porto on my first night before I started walking).

When I did the Camino Frances with my son, I only booked the first couple of nights in Roncesvalles and Zubiri in advance. After that, I took each day as it came and was glad to. I couldn't have predicted that my son wouldn't want a rest day in Leon but that we would desperately need one in Astorga. However, when we got into Galicia, more albergues were reporting full (with people who had reserved), so we started booking a day or two in advance. By that time, we had a good idea of how far we were up to walking in a day, of whom we were walking with, and the weather was as predictable as could be within a day or two, so it seemed like a happy medium.

In summary, who knows what will work for you. You aren't really asking what you should do because you've done it. But my advice would be to listen to your bodies and to each other as you walk and, if they are telling you that what you planned isn't going to work for you, don't hesitate to cancel a reservation (or two or three) and make other ones. Giving yourself permission to do that may help to give a sense of the spontaneity it seems that your friend may be looking for from her Camino experience if she is worried about "over planning".

HI David, thank you so much for your generous reply. "Giving yourself permission"...such an important reminder. I love the planning and learning about where i am going. I have never really been a "let's wait and see" kind of traveller. But yes, once you're forearmed with the knowledge and the way starts to feel familiar through reading and researching, letting go of "how it should be" becomes easier, I guess. Okay...this is getting easier☺

 

[Anamya]

I was actually surprised at how much of the "bookable" accommodation is already booked out for May. I think this is what got me a bit nervous in the first place

Remember that quite often websites like Booking.com only have a share of the rooms, and appear `booked out` when those few rooms are over. You can also try Agoda, hotels.com, expedia... and the best of all: contacting the hotel directly. that's when you usually get best rates and eventually a pilgrim discount

Also, I don't know about the Coastal, but Central had heaps of adds and posters for accommodation along the trail - places with a phone number, but no website.

It really depends on how you feel better - we may say whatever, but plan or not to plan is purely your decision.

 

[Mary Colleen]

I did the camino from Lisboa in May 2017, we made no reservations and we always found a place to stay, even though sometimes it wasn't easy, it was my son, my daughter and myself so we could take a cheap private room sometimes and it came to about the same since there were 3 of us. At least at the time Portugal was pretty cheap compared to other places.

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

BillyJane, there is no right or wrong way with regards of making advance reservations (or not) on your camino. You decide. My wife and I have walked 3 CFs, the most recent one in Sept-Oct 2019. The first one we made very few reservations and the few we did were made just a few days in advance. The second CF we walked with my brother and his wife. With CF there is heavy pilgrim traffic in Sept, so for our second one, I made advance reservations for every one except three or four - and those were for municipal albergues that don't take reservations. Worked fine for us - and in fact, for the few places we did not make reservations we found ourselves rushing to the destination to ensure we had a bed. We were glad we made advance reservations since some towns we walked to the entire town was full / no beds by early afternoon. For our third CF, we had reservations every night and this worked fine. I admit I am a hard core planner (math major in college) and my wife and I enjoy pre-selecting the town we will stay in and the albergue. Some are new, some are repeats which we enjoy. We are hiking the CF again next year - once again mid-Sept to end Oct and I have already made advance reservations for every night. Bob

 

[SMBHNL]

I can give you an itinerary from Porto to Santiago along the coast. Let me know where to send it.

 

[KariC]

Hi Joe, thanks for your thoughts. You’re absolutely right... the lack of planning was so liberating and that made the lack of sleep bearable. I guess regardless of how much I plan, I never really know what may come around the corner...perhaps I just need to put my preoccupation with where we sleep in its place. A bed is a bed is a bed. The journey is so much bigger than that

I've only done the Português, but my understanding is that the albergues along that route are smaller than the ones along the Francés. It only takes one or two loud people to mess up your sleep, but to the extent that being around 100s of people contributed to the problem, you might find the albergues more tolerable - at least worth trying a night or two. To me, they were an indispensable part of the Camino.
Bon caminho!

 

[BillyJane70]

BillyJane, there is no right or wrong way with regards of making advance reservations (or not) on your camino. You decide. My wife and I have walked 3 CFs, the most recent one in Sept-Oct 2019. The first one we made very few reservations and the few we did were made just a few days in advance. The second CF we walked with my brother and his wife. With CF there is heavy pilgrim traffic in Sept, so for our second one, I made advance reservations for every one except three or four - and those were for municipal albergues that don't take reservations. Worked fine for us - and in fact, for the few places we did not make reservations we found ourselves rushing to the destination to ensure we had a bed. We were glad we made advance reservations since some towns we walked to the entire town was full / no beds by early afternoon. For our third CF, we had reservations every night and this worked fine. I admit I am a hard core planner (math major in college) and my wife and I enjoy pre-selecting the town we will stay in and the albergue. Some are new, some are repeats which we enjoy. We are hiking the CF again next year - once again mid-Sept to end Oct and I have already made advance reservations for every night. Bob

Thanks Bob. I really appreciate your insight and experience Buen Camino

 

[BillyJane70]

I've only done the Português, but my understanding is that the albergues along that route are smaller than the ones along the Francés. It only takes one or two loud people to mess up your sleep, but to the extent that being around 100s of people contributed to the problem, you might find the albergues more tolerable - at least worth trying a night or two. To me, they were an indispensable part of the Camino.
Bon caminho!

Hi Kari, some of them look beautiful and I am looking forward to mixing it up this time. I love the atmosphere of those where you get to share a communal meal. Thanks for your thoughts