From the Swamp to Santiago ........and Beyond.

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Getting Started

Hi, I'm Steve and I am walking from St Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Compostela de Santiago, Spain starting on the 24th of September 2014. I will be accompanied by my wife Sue and joined in Puente la Reina on the 27th by my son, Tim.

The home front will be attended to by my son Andrew and daughter-in-law, Ciara, while good friends Greg and Debbie will mind Dinc, the fearless shih tzu.

I first learnt of the Camino through the movie The Way and immediately became interested in finding out as much as I could about it with the view to walking it one day. What initially was a solo endeavour, in my mind at least, soon grew into a group tour, and planning and preparation was underway. Physically, we had to get fitter and put a few kilometres into our legs for the 800 kilometres ahead. The material preparation was more about what to take and how much to take. Comfort, necessity and weight are the major factors to consider, and with backpacks in hand, filling them mindfully is underway.

After the Camino, we will be joined in Poland by Tim's partner, Natalia, for the second stage of our trip. From Santiago we will fly to Warsaw, move onto Natalia's town, Wrocslav , and then to Krakow. After four days in Poland we move onto Budapest for three days and then to Prague for two days. From Prague we will fly to St Petersburg in Russia for four days. After Russia, we split into two groups, with Tim and Natalia flying to Scotland and Sue and I fly to Milan, Italy. We a staying a couple on nights in Milan and will then catch the train to Levanto, west of the Cinque Terre. We are going to walk the Cinque Terre over two days, staying at the lovely village of Vernazza overnight. It's then back to Levanto by train, pick up our luggage, and then take the train to Rome where we will spend seven nights before heading home on the 26th of November.

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Comments

[Archie Small]

Have a Safe Trip
Hi Steve and Sue, what a great holiday and a great way to see the country side. hope you have a good time and don't drink too much vino.

[sherrys]

Cheers, Archie

[Leslie]

Buen Camino
Come along to the forum and share your experiences http://www.caminoforums.com/ - I hope you have a great trip.

[sherrys]

A great forum
This is highly recommended as a very useful and knowledgable forum and I will certainly be referring to this in a post. Cheers Leslie

[taracloud]

Fabulous holiday!
I've traveled a lot and have stayed awhile in all the places you mention, yet walking the Camino was perhaps the best experience of my life. How lovely to be doing it with family. Be warned that the first day from St. Jean is perhaps the toughest until O Cebrero in Galicia, so don't be discouraged. It is a journey of a lifetime. Buen camino!

[sherrys]

Thanks Tara. Day one is big but I am looking forward to a positive start to this journey.

[Home and Away]

You must be getting in good shape...
to be able to walk the 93 Km from St Jean to Puente la Reina in three days (24th to the 27th)!! I hope you aren't planning to carry the clothes you will need for part 2 of your trip. BTW, we met Tara in Bolivia earlier this year and are grateful to her that she found you so that we can also Follow your journey. Tara told us that she took nine months to walk the Camino. That sounds closer to our speed. Buen camino!