I want an adventure

"I want an adventure" just a few simple words spoken aloud over a pint on a sunny day last August... and so it began, the all consuming Camino de Santiago.

 

Our friend Mark wanted an adventure (must be his age) so ideas were thrown out there with no thought that something might come of them.  Peru, the Inca trail seemed to be an option but for 2014, yes, a long time to wait for "an adventure", so Mark came up with an option for this year, once again with a friend over a few glasses of red wine... pattern forming here...

 

The suggestion was to get a few friends together to complete a section of the Camino de Santiago in April, it would be a cheap holiday (apparently) and good training for the Inca. 

 

Now the learning curve begins 

 

Geoff & I had never heard of this walk so we tapped into Google..wow..so much information about this very famous historic walk or I should say Pilgrimage, I can't believe we had never heard of it.

Camino Routes

There are five main Camino pilgrimage routes in Spain: the Camino Frances, the Via de la Plata, the Northern Routes, the English Road, and the Portuguese Road. There are many more than this in Spain, but these are currently the most travelled

The plan is to follow the Camino Frances

The Camino Frances is the most popular of all the Camino Routes. It traditional starts in St Jean Pied de Port and runs for 780km west to Santiago de Compostela.

Often walked in sections by the modern pilgrim (peregrino) as time is a factor with most of us these days, you stay in hostels (this is where cheap comes into play) and make your way at your pace through rural Spain following in the footsteps of thousands of pilgrims gone before you, and it is thousands. (For the history of this pilgrimage check out this really informative website caminoadventures.com)

 

Now I have to say Geoff was not keen, not keen at all, foremost he isn't a big walker, a stroll into Broadstairs something like a 8k (5 mile) round trip is fine, with a stop on arrival for a bite to eat but really nothing more.  Then there is the thought of hostels..mmm, say no more, do we look like the kind of people that would stay in hostels (or should I say the people you imagine would stay in a hostel, no offence meant).

 

Anyway, we then watched The Way with Martin Sheen, it was a turning point, I know they have picked the best scenery etc for the film but we saw the whole pilgrimage in a new light.. Geoff was on the brink of saying he would go, I was encouraging him, he has a very demanding job so I thought it would be good to get away from it all and embrace this new experience (easy for me to say, I will be on a luxury cruise with the girls whilst they trek through Spain.. ha ha) 

 

So the Camino de Santiago starts to take hold.

We'll leave you with a Camino thought ...

The Camino de Santiago is for everyone, young, old, fit, unfit, religious or otherwise. Most people try to push their walking too fast. Slow down – a Frenchman said you will travel as far, but with much less pain and strain.