Preparing for Camino

Hello All,

Tim and I are walking our second Camino de Santiago. For nephew Jacob Bogard it will be not only his first Camino but first time out of the USA! We will be walking the French route of the Camino, which begins in St.Jean Peid du Port, a tiny medieval town nestled in the French Basque Country. From there, we travel by foot over the Pyranees Mountains, 500 miles to Santiago de Compostella. We take things one day at a time.

Preparations for Camino can take several months to a year. There are physical, practical, mental, and spiritual preparations to be made. In practical matters there are plane tickets to research and purchase, reservations for the first few days lodging to be made, money matters to square away. There is also the inevitable gear decisions. Tim and I have bought very little extra to take on our walk. We are trying to keep backpacks as light as possible. I will include a gear list in a future post. When we walked this same route in 2022 we both overpacked. This time we can benefit from experience.

Mental preparations for walking the Camino are very important. For me, this involves needing to leave my home, dogs and family for 2 months. This is very hard, and leads to some anxiety as the date to leave approaches. But we have our wonderful youngest daughter and son-in-law taking care of things at the house, so I can rest easier. Also there is the idea that you will actually be walking over 500 miles! I am not in my 20's anymore, and the idea of the journey can really be daunting. But I try to remember that we will walk about 12-15 miles per day. We will begin with shorter days and build up to longer days. We will take rest days as needed. One foot in front of the other.

Spiritually preparations for Camino vary from person to person. The Camino de Santiago is a Catholic Christian pilgrimage, traditionally begun from one's front door to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in northern Spain. In the Cathedral crypt, by tradition, lay the bones of the Apostle James. Pilgrims have been making this journey for well over 1,000 years. It is a fantastically beautiful and spiritual walk in nature.

I myself view the time as a precious opportunity to think and reflect. As a teacher, wife and mom I don't get much time to do these things. This journey brings out many emotions in a person; joy, gratitude, grief, and a host of others. In 2022 Tim and I had both lost our mothers within the previous year. We began our walk on my mom's birthday, June 9. We ended Camino on his mom's birthday, July 28.

This year we have much to be grateful for and reflect upon. I'm looking forward to sharing the ups and downs of this journey with you!