Many people have asked me that…. And I often ask myself. But I never doubt the ‘draw’ of the Camino de Santiago, which is powerful for many Pilgrims to be. Some walk the Camino for religious reasons. Some to reflect and deal with issues in their life. For me it’s a bit of everything.
I think most first time Camino Pilgrims agonise a bit over their packing list. I certainly did! The advice from experienced Pilgrims on this great forum was invaluable: Camino de Santiago Community
Only take what is essential.
Wow, time has flown past. It only seemed like yesterday, not 18 months, that the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago came about. And like many of the ‘Pilgrims to be’ I have made friends with online, that mixture of excitement and anxiousness is really starting to kick in.
3 Sleeps to go. The time to depart on my Camino is almost here. My Physio advised me yesterday that the Achilles Tendonitis pain will only get worse as I walk. Though he confirmed as did my Doctor, that no permanent damage will occur.
Finally Departing for My Camino Finally after 18 months of planning and waiting I'm leaving Sydney for the Camino de Santiago. Spoiler Alert! You can see my series of 7 Camino de Santiago Videos here. They are a compilation of the hundreds that I took along The...
The first part of the journey has started and my route takes me from Sydney to Dubai with a three-hour stopover, and then Dubai to Paris. This was the first time I’ve been on an Airbus A380 and I was a bit worried that my backpack would be too large to fit in the overhead lockers, but as the picture will show, an Osprey Stratos 34 does fit in the overhead locker.
One of the things that pilgrims traditionally take with them on Camino is a stone, and this stone is normally taken from home. The idea is that you leave the stone at an iron cross called the Cruz de Ferro along the route of the Camino Francés.
So the hotel I managed to book online in Paris turned out to be really nice in a very handy location, near the station where I’ll catch the TGV tomorrow. I intended this stop in Paris to be a kind of transition between home and the Camino and also to get over the jet lag.
Tonight I’ll be in Saint Jean Pied de Port, the start point of my Camino, finally, after 18 months of planning. I’m taking the opportunity to repack my backpack in the hotel in Paris because when I flew from Sydney, I had a number of fragile and liquid items packed into mailing tubes.
One more day to go and I’m now on my way to my start point, Saint Jean Pied de Port. The first stage of the journey was by TGV bullet train from Paris, which I have to say was really comfortable.
Although for some reason, they only announce the platform that the train is leaving from 20 minutes before it departs so there tends to be a mad rush for seats, but luckily I had a seat booked.
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