Teens on the Trail

[ssolberg]

My daughter and her best friend (both 18) are planning the trip in June for 4 weeks. I guess I just need to hear how much they should prepare (physcially) between now and then. They are going on 7 mile "walks", etc...but can someone give me a better guage of how strenous this will really be and a way to explain it to a "teen mind". Thank you!

[Speltz]

It's good that they are preparing and training for the walk. To complete the walk in four weeks requires at least 15 miles per day carrying an 8 to 10 kilo pack back. A good guide worth purchasing for a detailed itinery and route spread over 33 days is: Pilgrim'S Guide To The Camino Santiago 8Th Edition 2012: by John Brierley available on Amazon.
This is a realistic guide which will either help them make an informed choice.
Buen Camino

[Leslie]

If they are of average fitness for that age and pack light I think they will be fine. Everyone finds the first few days or week hard, it is just the walking every day with the pack. The terrain on the Camino Frances is not strenuous. Pack light and have good walking shoes or boots that are worn in.

[invincible]

I would absolutely agree with the above comments from Speltz and Leslie.
One of the toughest things that you find when doing long distance walking is carrying the extra weight on your back. Even if you are very fit and do a lot of walking you will not be used to a backpack unless you try it. I would suggest that when the girls have done a few trips to build up the miles that they get used to having around 6 to 7 kilos in a pack. (It doesn't really matter what it is in the pack, (potatoes, sugar, clothes) If they have not purchased a backpack yet then seek advice or search the forum to get the right sort. When you have your backpack then make sure you know how to "wear" it. Correctly fitted you should carry about 70% of the weight on your hips and only 30% on your shoulders. It takes practice to get this right.
When you realise how heavy the 6 or 7 kilos is after a long days walk you will promise yourself not to take too much clutter with you. (This may be the hardest thing for teenage girls to appreciate; makeup, hair straighteners, too many clothes etc)
Hopefully this will have them prepared so that they can complete the walk in comfort.
I know what you mean about the "teen mind". You have to suggest it in a way so they think they thought of it themselves!

I hope they have a great time.
Ian

[BHinSanDiego]

Excellent advise, I also suggest that they also get the boots or shoes for their Camino and get them broken in and they can get used to them. As Ian said, they really need to train with the pack and again they need to learn to wear it correctly, I've seen many people suffer because they didn't realize how important it is to have the majority of the weight on the hips, not the shoulders, the waist belt needs to be tightened down correctly and snug, not loose. Training with the pack, it needs to become a part of them, that is something they are used to and second nature to have on. I also want to suggest they get liner socks, they are a thin sock wore underneath the more sturdy hiking sock, their purpose is to remove the friction that causes blisters (which is the biggest medical problem on the camino), I've never suffered from a blister in all my hikes because of them. When I encounter people that are suffering from blisters I ask if they have liner socks, if I get a "yes, but they make my feet too warm", I'd rather have warm feet than blisters any day. Walking the Camino is not easy, nothing that is really worthwhile really is, but going in unprepared can ruin the journey and take away any joy of doing this. So I encourage the girls to train and train to the point its something they are used to it. When it comes to training with the backpack like Ian mentioned I recommend starting with a light weight in the pack and work more and more weight into it till it gets up to 7 or 8 kilos, in fact train with more weight than they plan on carrying, that way they will not only be used to it but the pack will be lighter and they will be more used to it. The alburgues along the Camino are a scavengers paradise, by that I mean just about every one has items up for grabs that people leave behind because they realize, first of all, it's just too much weight to carry, and secondly they just don't need it. The girls will be surprised how little they actually need to get by each day.

[ssolberg]

Thank you everyone...that was very helpful.

We originally thought they would fly into Paris from California...now there is talk of flying into Madrid (less expensive) and getting to Saint Jean Pied de Port.....any thoughts on this?

[BHinSanDiego]

Hi ssolberg, I live in San Diego so I can hopefully pass along some good information for you going to St Jean via Madrid. That's the route I take, for me it is easy and makes the logistics once in Spain easy to. I flew from San Diego, changed planes in Washington, then on to Madrid arriving about 7 AM, from Madrid I took a train to Pamplona (departing the Madrid Atocha Station at 10 AM), I arrived in Pamplona about 1 PM, from there I took a shuttle service called Express Bouricott to St Jean. Once I was finished in Santiago I flew back to Madrid, or one could take the train, I personally don't the idea of the bus for the simple reason I'd hate to be stuck sitting for that long after the freedom of the Camino. I read somewhere else on the board there is now a bus service from Pamplona to St Jean, it may be seasonal. Also one can travel from the Madrid airport to the Atocha station for only 2 euros! I got to get going, but if you have any questions feel free to contact by PM, btw where in CA are you? And here are some links that may help.

Express Bouricot

Línea Exprés Aeropuerto. Inicio

Barry