Mom with two children doing el camino end of June Advise and info needed....

[Paosantiny]

Hi, I am Paola . I am planning to do the Camino with my children : Santiago 14 and Matthew 8. I live in Canada ... I have many questions ... I need lots of information. 1. I want to do the Camino with my children now that I can. I am 35.. I have MS. I will have around 30 days to do it.

Do you think ... It will be ok for my children yo do the camino : how many hours walk per day needed in order to complete in this time?. How to get there (starting point from Toronto Canada?).

This is something I want my children to experience and want to walk. Please provide me as much info as you think is necessary considering that I have never do it and I am not an sporty person.

Thank you very much... And looking forward to read your comments ..

Gracias Peregrinos!

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Paola, and welcome to the Forum. Our biggest caution with bringing kids onto the Camino is that they must be ready for an ordeal. So much of the Camino is about slogging on and walking even when it's painful and difficult. Most kids aren't into a month of hard walking, so they (not just you) must really, really want to do this if it's going to work. In the summertime we do see large groups of young people walking the last 100 kms of the Camino, but in three caminos I've never seen a child or youth who was walking for a month along the first 700 kms of the walk. Some athletes and very fit adults are defeated by the ordeal of the Camino -- through blisters or tendonitis mostly -- and it takes a combination of persistence, patience and smarts to do it with enjoyment. Something around 40% of pilgrims who begin at St. Jean do not complete the Camino.

An average number of kilometers per day, starting at St Jean Pied de Port in France and walking for a month would be about 27. At an avg speed of 4 kms/hr that means about 7 hours of actual walking per day. That's an aggressive schedule and most people plan 33-35 days for this distance (often including rest days) and an average daily distance of 20-25 kms. To make the walk in 30 days you'd most likely want to start someplace like Pamplona, which takes about 3 days off the total.

Your easiest option to get to St. Jean or Pamplona is to fly to Madrid then take the train to Pamplona (and then a van or bus to St. Jean, if that's your choice). Let us know if you want more info on travel. There's a great deal of information on this site -- you'll find lots of help by reading posts from previous pilgrims.

A final note: When my younger son was 11 I took him with me to Italy. He was often bored with the sites and often preferred to enjoy a day swimming at the hotel pool rather than a day spent wandering through archaeological sites. Today he only vaguely remembers our Italy trip. When he turned 21 I paid his way to walk from St Jean to Santiago and he loved it -- his Camino became a major event of his life. Last year, at 23 years old, I sponsored him again to walk with me. We had a grand time even though he was plagued by tendonitis and blisters. The lesson for me is that as a parent I need to understand the varieties of activities that are and aren't age-appropriate. At least for him it would've been the wrong timing to drag him along on a camino when he was 11. But you are the best judge of the abilities and interests of your kids.

[Paosantiny]

Thank you very much for your comments. They make a lot of sense. I understand your point about what I want may not be what the children would be interested on. I will take some time to reflect upon your feedback ...