The Camino de Santiago is my coup de coeur as they say in French, which basically means that I fell in love with the Camino. Ever since I watched the movie ‘The Way’ In 2014, It was always in the back of my head, like a calling, that I had to walk it. After all the stars aligned in the summer of 2022, I asked for a 2 month sabbatical from work, went to the local REI in New York, packed my backpack and booked my flights.
I walked from St. Jean pied-de-port to Santiago de Compostela (780 km / 500 mi) and then another week to Finisterre for a total of 40 days. It was absolutely life changing in more ways than one and I highly recommend it for anyone who feels the calling to experience something truly beautiful. I met pilgrims (what most people refer to themselves as on the Camino) of all ages, slept in bunk bed rooms with 25 other people, got blisters and discovered my love for walking sandals, walked in torrential downpours, blistering sun, and realised that I had never been happier.
I’ve tried to cover all the information that was important to me when I was researching the Camino and I’ve broken it into tid-bits of information below. Please contact me if there’s anything else you would like me to add to the articles or if I can answer any questions for you!
Buen Camino!
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Camino Basics
Here’s some basic information to help you get started planning your Camino When to go The most popular months to start the Camino are between May – September with the large majority starting in July/August which is the European summer holiday season. I went during the shoulder season, mid September through mid October and it…
Camino Trail Itinerary
The beauty of the camino is that you can follow a set itinerary or create your own adventure! Some people have tight timeframes to follow and therefore can’t be as lenient with their stages and others decide to listen to their bodies and stop at whatever town they end up in at the end of…
Choosing your Camino
Before embarking on this life changing adventure, you might want to choose which Camino you’re going to walk (yes there’s more than one!). There are 7 main camino routes that start in Spain and 4 in France but you can technically start anywhere in Europe! I knew people who started walking in Germany, Austria, Italy…
Camino de Santiago Gear List
The one thing I wish I had focused on more when packing my backpack was weight. The golden rule is to stay under 20% of your body weight but honestly I think it should be closer to 10-15%. This is considering most people don’t account for food and water weight which can add an extra…