Meeting someone along the way

[stephano]

Hello, I'm going to be starting at St Jean Piede de Port and taking the French route. I haven't trained at all, nor am I in peak physical shape, but I am young and walk quite a bit regularly, so I'm not too worried. But, just to make up for any extra days I might need to rest, I'm giving myself five and a half weeks to reach Santiago de Compostela.

The reason I need a date to reach is because I should be meeting a friend in Barcelona. However, now she is interested in doing the Camino, although she only has a week. So I'm curious, if anyone has ever tried to meet someone on the Camino by planning in advance. Does this seem plausible? I guess I'd like to know mainly if there is a good point about a week's walk away from Santiago de Compostela where a meet-up would be most likely to happen. I suppose if it didn't work out, we could always have a back-up meeting point?

Thanks for any help all!

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Stephano ~

Congrats on your upcoming Camino. You'll have a wonderful time and haveing 40 days to accomplish the walk means you won't have to rush. It seems to me that the standard pace of pilgrims is about 25 kms/day, sometimes with rest days in the big towns. A regret you may develop is that your pilgrim friends may leave you behind as you spread out your walk to fill the time available.

If you haven't checked it out already I encourage you to go to http://www.godesalco.com/plan/frances to plan your approximate itinerary, including rest days. That should give you a general sense of where you'll be on a particular date.

It does add some complexity when you want to meet someone on a particular date at a particular location, both in terms of your schedule and in terms of the transportation necessary to get your friend to the Camino. If your friend is a strong walker she could meet you in Ponferrada, which has good train service and is 210 kms from Santiago. She could make that a little less strenuous by meeting you at Villafranca del Bierzo, a 20km bus ride, or perhaps O Cebreiro, a little harder to get to, but only 160 kms from Santiago.

Another choice would be to meet her in Sarria, a little more than 100 kms from Santiago (and accessible by train), and then walk with you to Santiago and on to Finisterre. This would qualify her for a completion certificate at both locations.

Some ideas. Hope these help. Buen camino ~

[Covey]

As most Pilgrims carry a mobile phone, using the text message service is an ideal way of keeping in contact with people you have met and hope to meet up with again along the way.

Once you have been on the trail for a few days you get used to working out how far you are comfortable with walking in a day. If I am going to meet up with someone it is easy using a combination of texts and a bus to end up in the right place at the right time.

[Leslie]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I have done this and it was a bit of a pain, I ended up waiting in a town for 2 nights while my friend got slightly lost - now we did not have good comunications going on at the time and the messages were getting passed back and forward through his family at home.

However it was worth it. We only spent a few days walking together, as I had just finished walking the Camino and had went to Jaca to meet. This si a much quiter route than the Camino Frances though it joins the Camino Frances. I think that walking for a few days together increased our friendship - however I can also easily see how that could end up being the other way also.

Lets know how you get on.

[stephano]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. The Camino Planner in particular is super helpful in visualizing the trip. I'll certainly be back after I have some concrete dates to share.

[revrenjen]

Stephano--

I certainly hope it's doable, as I plan to meet my husband in Sarria! He's flying from the states, and I will have walked from SJPP starting around May 12 or 13.

Buen Camino-
Rene

[HuskyNerd]

It's still amazing to me, Rene, that you'll be starting at SJPP the same day as my sister and me. She's doing a countdown and last she mentioned there were something around 94 days left until our departure. I hope your training is going well, especially considering the mountains of snow that've fallen all around you. Buen camino!

[revrenjen]

Sandy--

How lovely to know that we will be leaving about the same time. It would be great to connect--especially since I appreciate your experience so much.

I am meeting a friend in Amsterdam for about a week before I start, and right now my plans are little fluid, but should be leaving SJPP around May 11 or 12. Even if I leave a day before you, I plan to walk pretty slowly, so I am sure you will catch up quickly.

Thanks for asking about the training--it's been a wretched winter, but it IS Nebraska. I've been training hard at the Y--people give me odd looks when I plow away on the treadmill or stairclimber with my pack on, but I just think of that elevation gain out of SJPP, which scares me to death!

Blessings--
Rene

[Covey]

I am in two minds about the training required for walking the Camino Frances, or any of the longer distance Camino routes.

For my first trip down the Camino Frances, I trained, but then I had bought new Salomon boots and needed to break them in properly. I probably walked a total of 150kms in a series short walks of 10-20kms, but I have to admit I never wore a pack.

I then walked the Camino Frances for the next 3 years without any training at all but I would tend to walk more at home rather than drive or take a bus (I live in London!)

Year 5 was back to training walks because my trusty Salomon boot had expired on me and I had bought a pair of Merrell Moab walking shoes which needed breaking in.

The Camino is not a race. On any one day out of St Jean you will see pilgrims in their teens (and younger!), middle aged folk and the Grumpy Old Buggers like myself, a 63 year old recycled teenager and still going reasonably strong!, bringing up the rear.

From the youngsters you hear comments like "shall we be in Roncesvalles for lunch?" I am happy to get to Roncesvalles by 4pm, but then I will not be contemplating the damage to my feet by going too fast.

In 2010 I took the lower Winter Route to Roncesvalles and stopped at a very pretty village past Valcarlos, had a leisurely lunch, watched a very colorful wedding at the church next door to the bar, and contemplated those on the Route Napoleon who were wondering if the road ever stopped going uphill!!

Buen Camino

[HuskyNerd]

Sandy--

How lovely to know that we will be leaving about the same time. It would be great to connect--especially since I appreciate your experience so much. I am meeting a friend in Amsterdam for about a week before I start, and right now my plans are little fluid, but should be leaving SJPP around May 11 or 12. Even if I leave a day before you, I plan to walk pretty slowly, so I am sure you will catch up quickly.

I'll look out for you, Rene. We're actually not certain if our start will be May 12 or 13. Here's a photo of me from Camino 2008 so you can keep an eye out.

I agree with Covey that the key to climbing up from SJPP is taking your time. But it's a good thing for many reasons (beyond just the Camino) to train. My training this year is running an April 15 marathon, so I'm out the door in a few moments to get in my running miles. You'll do fine at SJPP and beyond and I'll look forward to seeing you in a bar/cafe somewhere on the Way.

All the best ~
Sandy Brown

[HuskyNerd]

Sandy--

How lovely to know that we will be leaving about the same time. It would be great to connect--especially since I appreciate your experience so much. I am meeting a friend in Amsterdam for about a week before I start, and right now my plans are little fluid, but should be leaving SJPP around May 11 or 12. Even if I leave a day before you, I plan to walk pretty slowly, so I am sure you will catch up quickly.

I'll look out for you, Rene. We're actually not certain if our start will be May 12 or 13. Here's a photo of me from Camino 2008 so you can keep an eye out.

I agree with Covey that the key to climbing up from SJPP is taking your time. But it's a good thing for many reasons (beyond just the Camino) to train. My training this year is running an April 15 marathon, so I'm out the door in a few moments to get in my running miles. You'll do fine at SJPP and beyond and I'll look forward to seeing you in a bar/cafe somewhere on the Way.

All the best ~
Sandy Brown