Travelling companion?

[Milo]

Hello everyone,

I'm considering doing the Camino next summer. I was just wondering whether it's best to travel with a friend, or to make the pilgrimage alone?

Thanks

[Tanya Yaksich]

Hello Milo,
I walked with my Sister and some of her friends.Though i loved her company, i was obliged to fall in with everyone's schedule. I often took off by myself. If i go again i would prefer to be alone. You meet so many people it's never boring.
Cheers Tanya

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Milo and welcome to the Forum.

It really depends on your own personality as to whether together or alone is best. As Tanya mentions above, it's sometimes a handicap to be with someone else. If their pace and interests are different (almost guaranteed) you'll find yourself waiting or rushing. On the other hand, people who travel single often meet up with other singles (or groups) and seldom have to walk alone. In general there are enough interesting characters along the way on the Camino to fill any single's day with conversation and camaraderie.

I've walked both alone and with family members. In May/June 2008 I walked from SJPP to Villafranca del Bierzo "alone" while actually with a few different "pilgrim families" of stray singles like me. In Aug 2008 I walked from Villafranca to Santiago with my wife. She is a much slower walker than I and, while we weren't together 100% of the time, I seldom let her get out of sight from me in case she needed me for something. She found the camino to be exhausting and difficult, so much of my time was spent cajoling her along. As a couple we tended to hang out with other couples. She preferred to stay in hotels, so we also tended to walk with people who were also in hotels. It was a much different camino experience, something I realized when I took my laundry to the albergue in Melide. I suddenly was part of a pick-up group of single pilgrims from around the world. I missed that while I walked with my wife and stayed at hotels.

This year I walked part of the Via de la Plata and met up with an Estonian I'd met through this Forum. We turned out to be a great pair and filled our days with talk of religion, medieval history, and geopolitics. He was a much faster walker than I, and he often took off ahead while I trudged behind. Still, we had a great time in the approx 3 days of 10 we were actually walking together. The other times I enjoyed the solitude, and sometimes I joined with other singles again.

Next year I'm walking with my sister and perhaps my son, who did his first camino last year. I'm planning to make a pact with my sister that a) we'll stay in albergues except in Logrono, Burgos, Leon, and Santiago, b) that we won't feel obligated to walk with each other all day, but will overnight in the same place and start together in the mornings, and c) that we'll always have dinner together no matter where we are. To me this gives the best hope of a combination of solitude and the joy of meeting new folk.

Hope this helps ~
Sandy Brown

[Tanya Yaksich]

Hi Huskynerd,

You nailed it perfectly! I hope to walk the Camino again by myself, though my Sister wants to come with me again. I hope one of my daughters and two grandsons will join me from Leon.
Happy planning, cheers Tanya

[Covey]

I have, on occasions, regarded the early stages of the Camino as being a bit like Speed Dating (without the sex!) The majority of Pilgrims pitch up in St Jean, (or where ever) as singles and because most humans are tribal, we start looking around for other members of our tribe. The tribe might be defined as those who speak our own language or the same nationality, or those who walk at the same speed as we do, or just those who look as though they are enjoying themselves.

There are the occasional solitary souls who don't want to "join" anything, but they are a small minority. Those proclaiming a desire to do 40kms a day are usually viewed with amusement and anyway, the majority of pilgrims only meet them once, briefly!!

The rest of us contemplate the likelihood of keeping up 25kms a day for 30-40 days and rapidly come to the conclusion that life will be much easier on the trail if we had some company and could talk and laugh and sometimes cry with people who were sharing the same feelings and challenges. And so you fall in with people whose company you enjoy, and the kilometers seem to go by much faster.

The English speaking "families" seem to have a lot of fun because they are usually multi-national. Last year my family was German, Dutch, Slovak and English. Nobody organizes the "families", they just happen.

Last year I met an English girl in Larrasona who had arrived on the Camino with a friend, but who had picked up a sprained ankle. Her friend abandoned her and went ahead with a guy they had met, leaving a very bewildered friend sitting outside the albergue. If you take a friend, you have to accept that you have responsibilities towards them, but if you go alone, you can do exactly as you like, when you like.

If you grow tired of the people you are with, then just slow down (easier than speeding up!!) and fall in with those who started a day after you.

The most important thing is to enjoy your Camino.

[drsalome]

I too will start from SJPDP soon after July 4. I am a high school teacher. I'm starting to plan, read, and organize. Are you interested in communicating privately?

thank you
salome