2 weeks to go to my big solo adventure and starting to lose my nerve!

[Twodogsonthecouch]

My brother died very suddenly in his early 40’s 12 years ago. Before he died he had done a number of long solo walking holidays including the Camino from St Jean Pied de Pont to Santiago, so 500 miles.
Ever since it has been my dream to do the same route.
Now I’m 58. My youngest child is in University. I am a partner in work and have very supportive colleagues who will work up while I’m away so on a whim a few weeks ago I decided to go for it. I have booked a single ticket to fly to Biarritz after Easter and have told work I will be gone for 8 weeks. Im going by myself and planning to carry a backpack and wing it because I don’t want to commit to a particular distance each day. I have various friends and family who are coming to join me wherever I am at different times so it should be fantastic and I am very excited.
I’m also getting a bit terrified though. Mainly about the walking. I’m reasonably fit and have done a few 16-18 km hill walks in the past few weeks to prepare but I’m overweight and have menopausal aches and pains and scared I will not be able for it. I have allowed myself an extra 2 weeks to the usual but that still means an average of 15km daily for 8 weeks. I’m telling myself that I will get fitter as I walk.
Am I mad? Reassurance needed 🤯

@Beatrixslobber yes, I am enjoying it very much. Is it fun all the time… most definitely not! The only single thing that has made me miserable though is my feet. I have become completely obsessed with them because how they feel influences my day so much.
I am very comfortable walking alone. I am also surprised at how much I am enjoying chatting to different people but having said that I still potter off to bed after dinner and chill and am asleep by 9pm! At home I am surrounded by people all the time. I’m surprised at how self sufficient I am.

I’m not surprised that you are in bed early! I can imagine that it’s a great place to learn lots about yourself.

@EverybodyIsFantastic I know I keep on saying “it depends” but it really does. If you want to do it in 33 days you’ll need to be able to do 25+km/day carrying a 7kg bag yo and down a LOT of hills especially at the beginning. Some of the terrain is very uneven on the descents. Also even now, in early April, it has been up to 28 degrees.
so to do 767km in 33 days and carrying your bag you would need to be fit.
If however you can take it slower like I am you just need at know you can do 15+ km a day on hills and not be so stiff and tired that you couldn’t do it again the next day.
The main thing I would do differently is around blister prevention. Now I know to cream my feet before I put on my socks to prevent friction; and to tape any hot spots straight away before the blisters from; and to stop every hour or so and actually take off your shoes and socks to let your feet cool down so they’re not so sweaty.

To be honest that’s the main thing, it’s very easy to over complicate it. You don’t need fancy gear or woollen underwear or half the things they talk about on line. I’m walking in gym leggings ( not fancy ones, the ones I had at home) some gym t shirts, sports bra and my normal everyday underwear. The only thing to work out is footwear and socks.

@roundcork I really really am not incredible. I am a very ordinary middle class middle aged woman leading a very happy but conventional life, so if I can do it, anyone can

So glad I've found this thread and so glad you overcame your fears and that it's going well for you. Thanks for so generously sharing your experiences. Great tips about feet.

I'm 62 and just retired, and it's been my dream for a long time. Before I came across this, I'd just done 14 mile walk today - part of a vague plan to work towards the Hadrian's Wall path in early summer and the Camino in autumn or spring. Today was comfortable but it was flat with no pack - hills and a load would be a different ball game. So a long way to go yet.

I'm not sure where I heard of it and people mentioning Therapy are making me wonder if that was my original inspiration, I definitely read it when it came out but have forgotten the plot completely.

My main fear from what I've read recently has been bed bugs - have you found them a problem in the communal accommodation?

@BishyBarnyBee if you can walk 14 miles comfortably you’ll be grand. Just train hills before you go
There’s a LOT of talk online about bed bugs but no one has mentioned anything here. I’m kind of ignoring the issue because what can you do? If there’s no other hostel for 5 miles and you’re wrecked I’m not going to go looking! I’m fine so far. Everyone around me seems fine too. I guess it’s not much different to hotels with different people sleeping in the same bed night after night

Cracking job Op! Well done!

This is brilliant, really enjoying following this. I have a hankering to do the Via Francigena (Canterbury- Rome!), but I'm going to have to wait a while as my youngest is only 8.

@Twodogsonthecouch sounds like you are having a marvellous time! When you finish could you share rough costs for food and accommodation? I've had this adventure in the back of my mind for the last 5 years and am slowly gathering info (I've certain other travel goals first)

I would love to do this too but the first section sounds really hard!

Buen Camino!

A friend of mine has walked the Camino, many, many times. She often leads groups, so it's part of her job. I've been saying for the past ten years that someday I will join her. But I've never actually got the courage to do it.

Do you mean the Alps bit instantcustard? I read a blog by a young, fit couple who walked the Via Francigena saying that the Alps were really hard. But I guess there's always the option to slow right down....do a few 8 mile days rather than 15 mile days.

Do you mean the Pyrenees?

No, there's a minor digression occurring re the Via Francigena.

That sounds like a terribly long way to walk 😆

How are you doing today OP? Hope you had a Good Feet day 👣

Sorry for derailing!! I meant the northern France bit of the Via Francigena. Apparently there is very little accommodation so you have to carry a tent. I don't want to carry a tent! (Not that I'm going 😄).

@Instantcustard don’t apologise at all. It’s great to hear others dreams and plans.

@Geebray improving slowly. Walking 18km today and got my bags carried again to lighten the load on them 😂😂

Was in a room with 4 guys last night and the competitive camino’ing was fascinating. How far and how fast was the name of the game with one guy having walked over 40km yesterday. My initial response was to keep very quiet to avoid admitting I was doing a steady 15-20km daily. It’s hard not to slip back into the philosophy that faster and stronger is better 😏

This is a great thread. What a fabulous adventure to have. I hope today is a good day.

Do the competitive caminoers know they are doing it? It would drive me insane, I think, the Very Important Front Finishers at Park Run wind me up as they speed by on their waves of testosterone.

It's not the most spiritual approach to the camino, is it? 😂

Oh I LOVE this thread!

Thank you for starting it and posting!!

What an amazing thing to do. I’m so pleased I found this thread and am really enjoying your updates, it sounds like you’re really getting into the swing of it.

When you come across the mega competitive ones, remind yourself it’s all about the journey not just getting to the destination.

I think the bottom line is that they are everywhere!
It’s a bit of a metaphor for life really isn’t it. The faster you rush through it the less you see a long the way and we all arrive at the same end point

That's very true @Twodogsonthecouch !

How has this week been, @Twodogsonthecouch? Hope no news is good news and you are happily plodding along out there. And hope your weather is better than ours, freezing cold rain here today.

I was inspired by this thread to re-visit David Lodge's Therapy, which a few people mentioned as the inspiration for their long held dream of doing the Camino. I'm enjoying it, though can't help wondering what 30 year old me made of Tubby's midlife crisis wingeing when I read it in 1995. Much more relatable now, especially the creaking knee.

The Camino bit is just the last part but I can see why it might have planted the seed of a dream for many. Lodge divides the pilgrims into different categories - young Spaniards doing it for a bit of adventure and to get away from home, serious backpackers, lycra clad racing cyclists with back up trucks for their gear and solo cycle tourers with bulging panniers. Then there are the historians and art lovers, and finally the group that interests him - the ones with more particular and personal motives, at turning points in their lives. Tubby is not a pilgrim himself but trying to catch up with Maureen, his first girlfriend, who is limping her middle aged way along the Camino with utter commitment and dogged determination. It's still very readable 30 years later.

However, I may have been aware of the Camino even earlier, as Paul Coelho's The Pilgrimage, which was a massive bestseller in 1987, was also about the Camino. I don't still have a copy but might try and track one down, though I suspect it will have worn worse than the David Lodge.

Any other Camino related writing that anyone would recommend?