Preparation after 12 caminos

Preparation. Everything you do to prepare will unravel in the first 2 hours, and then you'll know whether you can do this journey. Be realistic, that's my best tip!

My favourite Camino joke is these guys did all their preparation in the winter in their living room after a night in the pub. Lights out head torches on and practice bruising yourself bumping into things because you've got up at 5am to walk two hours in the dark.

Get used to the feeling of falling over and hitting blunt obstacles in the road. Please get up about sunrise and not two hours earlier, especially if you sleep in a dorm.

Walking just as the sun comes up is lovely but not for an hour on these paths.

Everyone is different, by the time you've walked to Hunto (5km all uphill out of St Gien) you'll know how you'll do.

Less than an hour, stop reading this page, about 1 hour 30 - you'll do well, keep pacing yourself and you'll do the 500 miles no problem.

More than 2 hours, stop at Orisson and contemplate getting buses and taxis from time to time, or take 6 weeks, its worth it.

Follow the yellow arrows, drink lots of water, wear sun cream, dont carry much. Remember, you'll be in Pamplona within a few days, you can buy anything you feel you'll need, and by the time you get there, you'll know you dont need it! Wise words, well remembered.

I will say it one more time. Do not carry 20kg over the Pyrenees. Its not just difficult it moves you into dangerous territory. This is supposed to be fun. Many people abandon gear on the Pyrenees or in Roncesvalles. Do not bring stuff to litter the countryside with. Bring some cash and buy what you need in Pamplona. At worst you are going for 3 days without it. Remember also if you are going via Pamplona to St Gien. Leave some of your stuff in Pamplona for collection in 3 days.

Water is the best cure for blisters. If you drink 'more than' enough water your skin will not blister, trust me....I'm a walker.... if you piss clear it will mean you have enough fluid in your system..... 

Preparation before leaving your home - beware of buying 'gizmos'

Preparation before arriving

Preparation before each day

There is a lot of preparation, but luckily when you are walking, the plan goes out the window as your expectations disappear almost as quickly as the endorphins appear and you get some boundless energy from the great unknown source some call St Jacques and others call camino Karma, just as well, as its quite tough some days, when you least expect it. I think muscle fatigue can kick in but mental fatigue from having so much fun.

Preparation before leaving your home

Boots are best broken in, some people blister, some people dont. Its got more to do with your skin than new boots. I've walked twice and both times been largely blister free (5 times now and still blister free). The worst blister I got came from putting a preventative compeed on a soft spot. The compeed got a bit scrunched and cut into the toe next door! So guard against too much preparation. If you can, walk to work, walk around a golf course, take a dog up a hill for an hour or two, you'll be fine. You'll lose weight and get fit on your camino so apart from the tough first day where there is no stop after Orisson, you'll always be able to call time at an hour's notice.

If you must book a return flight try and give yourself 5 weeks, or resign yourself to getting the odd bus or taxi, there are some stretches where it is advisable. You will do it in 30 days, but your first week shouldn't be about time pressures. As a rough guide it takes longer to get to halfway than it does for the last 250 miles to Santiago. See above about being fitter. The 9 times I've done it, my approach has been different. First time, it was a huge challenge and no buses or taxis were taken, although plenty short cuts down main roads and across pilgrim trod fields. The second time involved the long route wherever possible and so I saw more, but it also involved cutting out a 20k stretch of complete road walking. The inescapable loud traffic noise as camions travel at 130km towards you or past you is not what my camino was about and since those times, I've cut a few more out but compensate by going on a few of the very long winded diversions to see things. An example would be leaving Atapuerca for Burgos. Crossing the hill is superb and seeing the land ahead is not to be missed. Many got taxis from Atapuerca but I'd recommend you stop for Lunch at Orbaneja and call a cab. It saves walking around the airfield. Or walk into the edge of town, have a lovely Ensalada Rusa at  the transport cafe there, then cross the road and get the bus in the 2 miles from the edge of town.

AlternativelyI've done the river walk 5 times now after staying at Sante nFe,  Cardenuela Rio Pico or Orbaneja and have loved it every time. You turn left around the airfield and as you get to the main road go left 20m and across the road at the traffic lights. Go to the bar then go over the bridge and turn right at the allotments and you should find your way.


Keep the river on your right. The main road should be beyond it. I have this in Preparation from home as its something you dont want to get your head around when you are walking as you want to walk all 500 miles, having done it once, I knew at the end, I was just being pig headed for the sakes of turning it into a bit more endurance and so I always knew the second time if I wanted to dodge traffic I would. The fact we didnt was a choice we made on the day, but it was against our 'religion'! 

I bought some useless stuff before I left Edinburgh, but luckily having put it in my bag for a stroll around my neighbourhood in the dark, I left it all at home, except the wee pencil torch, I left that in Roncesvalles.

Preparation before arriving, it sounds silly but arrive where?

Preparation before arriving is meant for St Gien Pied du Porte as it is for every town. you dont need much preparation, just give it a bit of thought. In Spain, they have a siesta, dont plan your day about rolling into town at 3pm everyday and stand befuddled wondering why its all shut up. It will be shut up, it will be closed, it is siesta and it is even more religiously taken than communion or confession. It is easily accomodated, especially if you have lunch before you arrive, say, lunch at 1pm, then walk for an hour to your town, or better still lunch at 1pm and check in to your lodgings and have a siesta too. At the end of each walking day there is a bit of stretching off to be done, a bit of washing and other absolutions, so preparing for that is just getting a rhythm in your head that suits you. If you start drinking too quickly you can move through the siesta time and leave yourself somewhat befuddled as you rinse your socks in red wine instead of water. If you speak Spanish you'll be able to phone ahead and book into albergues or hotels but generally you dont need to. In most websites of value, you'll get advice about how big the Albergue is and if you are walking off season, eg Sept/Oct, then you'll have no problem. I have a few that I like, particularly Azofra, where the facilities are excellent. Dont get hung up on places to stay though, as the camino is a dynamic environment and one woman's smelly boots is another man's washing machine. Talking of washing machine, I like my clothes properly cleaned and so every three days I did plan a washing machine albergue.

Preparation before each day

Tidying up from the night before, filling your bag, tying up your boots, picking up your sticks and getting your washing off the line. Remembering is the only thing you have to prepare for. You can be tired, exhausted, hungover, whatever, but you'll rise at 7am and walk until your brain kicks in. There are days when it doesnt kick in until the following morning. Once we walked from 7am lunched at 1pm in Portomarin and settled down for tea in Palas Del Rei. It was about 50km. At no stage had we planned how far, but as the day progressed we knew we were feeling like pushing it out so we walked a bit further after lunch and a lot further as it turned out. As exhausted as we were we seemed to recover ok as we couldnt drink too much alcohol and as a result we were asleep and had a great nights kip and marched on to Arzua in very good time. 

The biggest preparation is knowing what the weather is likely to be and putting cream or waterproofs on. Next is to know the water stops and finally if you want to give your feet a change, the the terrain can help. Light trainers are fine for 70 % of the camino, but sturdy boots are required for some of the rockier terrains that are liberally sprinkled into the camino.

Food preparation - Doughnuts, tasty, they have fast release carbs and slow release, perfect to get you started

Absolutions - Toilet preparation goes hand in hand with your chosen breakfast.

Recipe for a good camino - its like baking a cake!

Today's thoughts drifted to the recipe for a good Camino.

Start with the rucsac and it's 100g of socks, pants and jersey- 300g of shirts and shorts with the same for long trousers and waterproof - multiply it up if you want an extra day before you have to do a washing and if you're washing daily reduce quantities down accordingly.

Next up is medicine, cream and toothpaste etc. Keep it to 500g and don't take a full toothpaste. I know it's only 75g but save 50g for something else like a bite cream, ideally with 1/3 left. Sun cream, foot cream, lip balm and of course the chaffing. Some pilgrims I've met had a heavier cream bag than my whole rucsac. These "travel" packs with only 50g mean you always take more than you need. As anal as Fat Al is, my best and most organised cream Camino was with 6 poly bags. One with foot, sun, after sun, antihistamine, tooth etc.

These weighed less than 100g and they just needed to be labelled. Colour coded bags meant I was 500g lighter across the Pyrenees. When you walk between hunto and Orisson you appreciate every pound and trust me if your 11lbs or 5kg lighter you'll not thank me, you'll thank yourself. When you see fisherman's skins left at Hunto you know what it's about.

When you see them left at Roncesvalles you just think, "ouch too late".

Clothes and Creams are fairly essential, but electrical stuff falls into the random.