For the warmer months, for a woman, aside from shorts, consider a skirt or a dress . I opted for a skirt for after walking/tourist stuff, with a light merino tee. I recall a lady who changed into a dress to relax and sleep in. It looked rather comfortable, yet a bit fancy. Theirs no harm in trying to look a bit nice sometimes, it's not a wilderness hike, it's just a long walk in Europe.
Great to see you back on the Camino. I finished June 2nd, and must admit: I was tired and ready to go home, but this 59 year old is already yearning to go back. Something about being a pilgrim-not a tourist-draws you back. Buen Camino!
Im just curious, is the Camino ment to be walked multiple times? It just seems to me the bed situation would be alleviated if people only did the walk once.
You can also say that it would be much easier to get a table at a nice restaurant if people only went once. If that restaurant books all of the tables for a party every once in a while on a random night and the regular customers can't get in, those regular customers will go somewhere else in the future. The end result is that restaurant will be out of business because those large parties don't happen every night. You have to be somewhat careful in offending your regular customers, the ones who keep your doors open.
@@TheCaminoGuide Your analogy doesn't work as we are not talking about one restaurant in one location. We are talking about multiple auberges over huge distances. Hundreds of thousands of people walk the Camino and lots struggle to find beds. Surely multiple people on their 6, 7, 8th Camino is creating a bed shortage for first timers.
@@ericsemple4820 Yeah, It's been so hot and seems like it may get a bit hotter in August. I got rid of a couple of items and downsized the pack. I didn't need the blanket I had brought. It's too hot in the albergues and the private rooms already have bedding. So I'm trying some different options and I'll probably do a video on it later for people interested in doing a summer Camino.
@@user-rj7xy1wf2d I've only done the Frances. I usually come for the social atmosphere and I like that there are cafes and water fountains everywhere. I don't have to carry any food and only a small amount of water.
Absolutely amazing nice sound. Guys I recommended you visit the himalayan mountains k2 and Nangaparbat view point from one place moses peak Gilgit-Baltistan Barah Valley. Add this sound in your bucket list
How’s the humidity? I’m starting my first Camino from SJPDP in August. I’ve been training in FL but the humidity here is unbearable, typically 70-90%. It feels like a sauna. Should I expect similar conditions over there? Thanks and Buen Camino!
@@TheCaminoGuide 82 sounds wonderful if that’s the high. Around here it was 79 degrees with 91% humidity at 6:30 AM this morning. It just gets worse after that. I think it’s going to be much better over there. Buen Camino!
So happy that you have returned after having to cut recent walk short. I walked it from 5th May for 33 days and have started planning my same Frances walk next May. I’m absolutely hooked!
We had a heck of a time in May. The tours would take their group to the top of hills and then they would walk down the hill and beat us to the albergues.
I remember those cats. They would not leave the pilgrims alone unless you give them food. Haha. They were very aggressive when they see you open up you pack.
Great to see that you made it back to the camino! It seems like a dream that I was there just a couple of months ago. Have a safe and fulfilling walk and look forward to future videos.
@@edalonzo9411 I started out with a pair of altra lone peaks that I had in my closet. They were brand new so I thought I better use them at some point. But I could already feel the pain in my heels on the first day, which is why I don't use them anymore. So I traded them out in Pamplona and I'm currently wearing Asics gel nimbus. They feel about the same as the Brooks adrenaline. I was going to wear my Brooks Ghost Max shoes that I've been happy with, but I had worn them enough days in the month before I left that I had worn quite a bit of the tread off and I wasn't sure they would make it to the end.
Sorry you guys didn’t get to finish..I left May 30 from SJPP and yeah it was cold in June in Burgos! I finished July 3 in Santiago! I knew some folks who got the cough but nothing too bad…better to enjoy the journey instead of hate it…😢
It depends on the reason you are walking. I'm pretty isolated at home, so I'm not really looking for the solitude of the alternative routes. Most people walk the Camino Frances, So if you are looking for the social atmosphere, that's where you will meet people. If you are looking only for scenery and something different, then one of the alternative routes might be better. There are more facilities, restaurants and albergues on the Frances. So there is less to think about as far as carrying food or water. I'm familiar with the route and I look forward to getting back each time. It feels like home.
@@TheCaminoGuideok makes sense. The Norte though and the Portuguese are very popular though with many a pilgrim in the peak seasons. Enjoy your content. Buen Camino.
if you are walking in July/August I would recommend the Primitivo - not as hot as the Frances , green ,beautiful mountain scenery but you might want more rugged footware. Walked it last August - gorgeous. Start with the San Salvador or Norte for a longer route.
Yes, they are comparable to hoka's or any other Max cushion shoe. Depending on the size, they are about 10 oz. There is a new version coming out for pre-sale on July 1st and the main difference is they are using the nitrogen infused foam in the new ones. The videos I watched indicate they may be slightly lighter weight. Not sure how the softer foam will affect the stability though.
Looks like they did a pre-sale on July 1st and they will be available for delivery on July 31st. I checked with Dick's sporting goods and they didn't have any on order at the moment. I'll be leaving for Spain on July 14th, so I'll just use the current model and see how it goes. I do like that they've switched to the nitrogen infused foam on the new ones though.
I finished the Camino in Santiago de Compostela on June 6th. I started on May 3rd in St. Jean Pied de Port. I got sick in Astorga and lost 5 stages, but ended up moving ahead and finishing my walk, I had perfect weather all the way. I thought I was leaving too early in May but the weather turned out to be perfect all the way across. Goes to show that you can't predict the weather. BTW, you can make a great hat by double twisting a buff inside out. That coupled with your hoodie and a ball cap is as good as a stocking hat. I'm going back again to do the stages from Astorga that I missed. Buen Camino.
If you come to Copenhagen, you gotta take the Oresund loop, or they also call it the banana, but it is a loop cuz you go up from Copenhagen to Helsingor, then cross over to Sweden on the ferry to Helsingborg, then down to Lund then to Malmö and across that giant bridge back to Copenhagen. There is significant museums and if you are into hiking I suggest hiking around Helsingor and Helsingborg has a long trail network, there is also Soderåsen, and well all the towns have historical relevance, even way out in the middle of nowhere in Vittsjö there is a mass grave from a War and a bridge built by the king after they burned a bunch of villages in the middle of winter hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. Hope this gave you some ideas. Its realllllly a change of pace here, it is so mellow and relatively cool, mostly getting chilly at night in August, for real. And most the places I speak of are along the water so the wind and summer showers come and go. You can get the whole of Skåne for 24 hours for $22 , you could even go down and walk on the Baltic and look for Baltic Sea Amber. ( way down on the south tip on Skåne)
I've have to admit, this video would be a lot more useful if Greg was sharing his screen while walking us through the process, instead of showing us his face most of the time with a few screenshots briefly shown here and there.
The RU-vid algorithm brought me here - which is kinda' scary because it seems to know me better than I know myself. Nonetheless, Excellent info! ...and I thought I was the King of Google flights. I will add this for what its worth: Over the past 15 years (excluding much of the pandemic), we have traveled out of Vegas to North Africa and SE Asia perhaps 6-times/year. For EU travel, I will first go to Ryanair, EasyJet, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and Wizz Air sites directly, to check their schedule which is typically NOT on google flights. Then, do the google flights thing to find a manual connection match. Since we live part time in Tangier, it's almost always RyanAir into Tangier - which is never over $30. I have paid as low as $8.59 from Valencia to Tangier nonstop. Our daughter lives between Valencia Spain, and Edinburgh, so we try and travel with sub 25Kilo carry-on backpacks ONLY. From you I learned to plug in Europe, and not just the cities in google flights. You are spot on regarding flights out of major airports. Not much out of LAS, so going to the EU, thus we will use LAX. Going to SE Asia we find SFO with the most deals. Sometimes, LAS to Inchon via KoreaAir can get really cheap - but that's rare. If we find it, we can take Scoot to Singapore for less than $50. Also my little trick on google flights is to specify "Multi-city" (not one-way, or round-trip). Since it seems not to care that a passenger may fly from LAX to Heathrow, to the next leg _Originates_ in Madrid to Istanbul. Then Istanbul back to LAX. Last summer my son and I left SFO, to Singapore to Saigon, to Bangkok, to Dubai, to Cairo, to London, and then back to Vegas. About $1600 All-in on various airlines (United/VietnamAIr/Emirate's/ BritishAir/Delta). Lastly, Norwegian Air *use to* fly from LAS nonstop to Paris for $139 each way ...back about 7 years ago. My daughter would sometimes fly to Europe twice a Month. I share that because its sooo important just to travel while one can. Thanks again for the great tips!
Denmark is good for the soul, slow pace 🇩🇰 love Living here 🇩🇰 I completely follow your thoughts about doing the Camino with your kid..im going with my 21 y.o daughter… fantastic to Share one Month of adventure together… but on the other hand i need to make sure that she is okay… really counting Down … 55 days to our Camino start❤🥾🥾
How much in advance should I book air travel from Hong Kong to Chicago during December for Christmas and New Years? And should I get a one-way or roundtrip tickets
I'm not very familiar with what a really good price would be for that flight, but right now the pricing for July and August is currently quite a bit higher than it is for September through January. I'm seeing round trip flights with a stop in Taipei for about $900 to $1,000. If you are only traveling for a week or two, that's where I would probably go ahead and book the round trip ticket. It actually looks like a one-way ticket is priced to the same as a round trip. I mentioned on a short-term trip that it might make sense, but if you were booking to stay for a couple of months it might not. So if it's just that holiday period, The pricing can be volatile during that time so you might want to go ahead and book it round trip. It seems like a pretty consistent price from September all the way into January. The other thing to consider during the holidays is weather. Chicago can have some extreme weather in the winter, so probably better to have that round trip booked. You could pull up that flight and set the tracking so it emails you every day with price changes.
There's a train that leaves several times a day. Sometimes there's buses if there are any issues with the trains. It takes about an hour to get to SJPDP from Bayonne.
Your videos are both practical and thought provoking. You have convinced me that next years Camino I’ll go solo. I fly out tonight to go with my daughter. “if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel.”
Thank you for the heartfelt commentary Greg. Not many understand the importance of the transcendence from boy to man. Society has devalued it to a point it's a taboo subject in most quarters. Doing Frances in August / September. and will be leaving some stones. Love your content and commentary.
I know what you mean by needing to wash off society. My faith in humanity and human beings is at rock bottom these days. I also was in a profession--high school teacher--where I had to be "on stage" and "highly extroverted" every day, which came at a physical and psychological cost until I was burned out. Yes, I do need a Camino soon! So great that you are headed back.
I still have to retire, and no way to be gone for a month + until then, so we are talking maybe 2026 or even 2027. Too bad I started researching the Camino in earnest in 2020, so a long time to wait!
Do you recommend staying in Orisson on first day - thinking it may keep us from wearing out our bodies on first day. Going next May with daughter after she graduates from Clemson.
The Orisson is a pretty short walk, about 8 km. I always recommend starting the first day in the early morning when the sun is coming up, but that puts you at the Orisson at around 9am, too early for me to stop. I usually get breakfast there and just keep going. From the Orisson it's only about 18 km to Roncesvalles, and most of the difficult terrain is behind you. The rest of the day is just a nice easy walk to the top and if you take the path to the right at the peak, it's an easy downhill to Roncesvalles. You will average about 5 km per hour after the Orisson, so you should arrive in Roncesvalles by around 1pm - 2pm if you take a couple of breaks. Depending on your level of fitness, it may be a difficult day or it may not.
Thanks so much for your videos, Greg! They helped me so much with my 1st Camino. I just got back. I would've been a day or so ahead of you if you if you hadn't paused for home. I'm glad I brought my spiky ball to roll/massage under my feet daily. It's as big as a golfball and weighs hardly anything.
I’m very familiar with Iron John, I’ve done a lot of personal growth work based on that paradigm since the early 90s. I honor your journey, your struggle, your candor and honesty. I can tell you have been through a lot, as so many of us have. I’m a bit older, 64, and I’m about to do my first Camino in August, so I’ll probably miss you as you’ll be way ahead of me. There’s lots we could talk about, but if we can’t, I wish you a Buen Camino, and may your journeys be filled with healing, joy, and blessings!
It’s interesting to hear your perspective as a seasoned traveler. I disagree with some of the suggestions for myself, but I have specific reasons. I would never travel without my phone, battery pack, and charging brick, as I need to be reachable by family. I would say that people should weigh (pun intended) the pros and cons of whatever they pack. I am taking a 40L pack on my Camino this summer, which will be just right for me. But it would be very easy to overpack, so it’s good to analyze what really needs to go and what doesn’t.
Just finished my first Camino-from SJPdP to SdC. -April 25 to June 3, 2024. You gave me, perhaps, the best advice about a year ago as I started my planning. --OR HOODIE. I wore one, packed one. Protected my arms, back of neck and scalp (I’m balding). I even gave you a shout-out in my RU-vid videos. Just wanted to express my thanks to you for giving me some really helpful advice on gear.
Great shirts. It's always the first thing I pack. We had to cut our trip short cuz the boys were having problems, but I rebooked my flight for next month so I'll be doing a summertime Camino. Hopefully the cooler weather holds up.
