It is possible that you are planning your experience on the Camino de Santiago for the coming weeks. In that case, we have a question to ask you: are you ready to undertake it?

The answer will be yes, as long as you have taken into account all the points that we are going to talk about next. Otherwise, you will just have to spend some time planning and checking that everything is controlled.

Do you know what your itinerary will be?

Think about which of the Xacobeas Routes you want to enjoy or which one is closest to your residence (assuming that this is your starting point). The most popular are: The French Way, The Portuguese Way, The English Way, The Primitive Way, The Northern Way… Although as we have already mentioned on other occasions, any way is valid to get to Santiago, as long as you meet the requirements.

You should also ask yourself if, once your itinerary in Santiago has finished, you want to continue your journey towards Finisterre.

Do you have a plan?

Do not give room for improvisation. This is advice you will appreciate. It is possible that you do not have well stipulated what will be the sections that you will cover each day and at what times, but that is a mistake.

Perhaps the first day you feel strong enough to do more kilometers or a longer stretch, but I assure you that the passing of days will take its toll on you and your tiredness will want to win the battle many times, that is why it is important to plan, to keep your strength for the stages of the last days and not rush to do more kilometers than our body is really going to support.

The interesting thing would be that you plan routes of about 20-25km per day, taking into account the difficulty of each of them. Perhaps some of the sections are too hard and you prefer to reduce the distance.

Remember one thing, the time it took you to complete the Camino will not be a fact to take into account when receiving the certificate. Don’t be in a hurry!

Have you booked accommodation?

Although it is true that in public hostels you cannot reserve and you will condition your place to be one of the first to arrive, there are more and more private hostels that, for a small price, will give you the necessary service and in which you can make a reservation. . In this way, you can make sure you go through the stage at your own pace without depending on availability.

In these last hostels, in addition, you can choose to live the experience sharing a room with other pilgrims or, on the contrary, reserve a single room and enjoy your privacy.

Have you gone for the Credential?

Before your departure, you must request this document. It will be the one that you will hand out in bars and hostels throughout your stages in order to justify that you have completed the Camino.

This document will be provided to you at the Pilgrim’s Office, at one of the Associations of Friends of the Camino de Santiago or at your parish.

Remember that you must certify that you have traveled at least 100 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle.

Will you go alone or do you prefer to live the experience accompanied?

This is a key fact that you should think about before venturing out for a walk. If you have decided to live the experience by yourself, we advise you to enjoy each route, not to be afraid of getting lost and to take advantage of every moment lived.

If, on the contrary, you are going to live the experience in company, then consider that you/your companions can follow your rhythm and you theirs and that you have the same road map.

In this case, keep in mind that you may have to wait, adapt your pace to someone else’s or, at times, make stops that were not what you most wanted.

If you have this clear and accept it, your Camino in company will also be one of the most exciting and fun. Well, you will also have someone to start a conversation with, you will feel accompanied…

Have you set a budget for each day?

This point is also important. As in every trip, it is important to know how much you have. You can feed yourself based on menus in the bars and restaurants that you will find along the way (around €10-12 should be enough every noon), to which you will have to add what you eat and drink mid-morning, mid-afternoon and for dinner. Breakfast is usually included in hostels, an expense that you will also have to count on.

Many pilgrim experts comment that €30 a day should be more than enough.

As you can see, prior organization is key. In addition to all these points, you must be clear about what you are going to put in the backpack, but we have already talked about that in another post before.

And now yes, good road, pilgrim!