Don’t Walk The Camino

News

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Recommended Gear I Used This Year

One of the joys of walking Camino is being part of a Camino family. But, the money you save sharing a machine wash comes with a risk. The dreaded missing sock risk!

Fear no more. Simply pop your socks and undies in the net bag, and put it in the wash with everyone else’s clothes. Lost socks no more!

These handy net wash bags weigh next to nothing and take up no space at all.

They’re super cheap, and a worthy addition if you’re going to experience communal life on the Camino. You’ll be able to sleep soundly, knowing your sock is safe.

I’d recommend taking one net bag and leaving the rest at home.

Camino Accommodation Recommendations

Casa Susi – Camino Frances

This albergue is an absolute gem, a must stay experience. This beautiful homely albergue is situated in the small town of Trabadelo, which is about 9/10kms (about 6.21 miles) outside of Villafranca Del Bierzo.  

The albergue communal dinner is vegetarian and organic, and it’s a real garden to table experience. Dinner time is an absolute joy at Casa Susi, where a guitar and a story are never far away. You are joined at dinner by the owner and cook extraordinaire, Susi, and her partner, Fermin.  

Casa Susi albergue sleeps 10, all on single beds (no bunks beds, woohoo). It has a garden, where Susi grows her produce, and an outside seating area with a hammock, helping you to relax the day away.

If the weather is warm you can head to the bottom of the garden and have a swim in the river under the bridge – be warned, it’s chilly but refreshing.

A bed is currently 12 Euros, with an extra cost for the communal dinner and breakfast. You can book in advance if you call, and during busy periods it is advisable to call ahead.  

This is a place I will go back to in a heartbeat. For me it has it all, Camino spirit and tranquility, it’s a place you can truly relax in.  

Don’t Walk A Camino

I was drawn to write this piece after someone left this comment on my Truth About the Camino YouTube video. 

It got me thinking, could they be right? Could it be a case of too much Camino, and travelling can ruin your career and wellbeing?   

Work is the last thing on my mind when I’m travelling. To be brutally honest, a big reason for my travels with my backpack this year was to get away from a job I dislike so much. Does this mean I’m running away from my responsibilities and real life? I certainly know coming back to it is hard, it’s common knowledge among pilgrims that coming home after a long Camino can be very tough. Post Camino we can be like lovesick teenagers, scrolling through old photos and videos of our Camino exploits.   

This yearning makes us want to go back. Life back home pales in comparison to the joy of walking on The Way and the sense of community you get from your Camino family. Back home our friends have lives, jobs, kids and responsibilities. They are not always available, and I doubt many of them would jump at the chance of popping one of your blisters.  

Real life isn’t like a Camino, and I doubt it will ever be. A Camino is a break from living in the real world.  

Does rushing off to walk a Camino or go backpacking for months on end mean you’re in the fast lane, speeding to the land of zero prospects? Before I give my ten pence worth, I want to say that what that person wrote on my video on a public facing platform took courage and insight, and for that I applaud them.

We all know too much of a good thing can be counterproductive - you love the gym but going 5/6 times a week can lead to injury if you’re clanging the weights, it can also lead you to make terrible fashion decisions.

Too much of most things can send things south fairly quickly. But, what if you’re able to use a Camino as a tool to better yourself and your life? What if you’re able to go on Camino and use it to work out thoughts, problems or issues that have been bothering you? What if a Camino administered in the correct dose makes real life easier, more bearable? I don’t think it’s a simple case of black and white, a go or stay type decision. Travel and the growth that comes from it could’ve pushed that person’s boundaries and helped them to make the decision in Rio to stop and start searching for a career – they grew up whilst travelling.  

When people new to the Camino think about walking it, they often think of the Camino Frances and 4/5 weeks of walking. But the more you learn and experience, the more you realise that you can get a dose of Camino magic on a shorter Camino, you don’t always have to do the mammoth ones.  

So, to answer the question, me doing a big Camino each year would probably make real life too hard to adjust back into. I want the Camino in my life, but I also want to achieve things away from the Camino.  

I truly believe you can have both. The Camino brings so much good into our lives, it can help us achieve more in our non-Camino lives by giving us time out. Time out when done correctly doesn’t mean you’ll end up flipping burgers, quite the opposite, it can give you time to think and gain new perspectives. Time out can be a Camino Ingles here, a 2 week walk up from Porto to Santiago there…

How do you get back to normal life after walking a Camino? Was it hard, did you long to go back? Reach out and comment on the newsletter post on Instagram and let me know.  

Buen Camino x