hikers Archives - Cruisin with the Colemans

Camino del Norte | Güemes to Comillas | Days 10-13

Posted on June 25, 2024 by CruisinColemans

I wanted to write a blog but decided to take a nap. Seriously, I can’t seem to get enough sleep lately. My body is trying to adjust but this Camino is tough on all my parts.

Today was lucky day 13 on the Camino and it’s my first day in awhile without a nap. However, it could be because of the circumstances. We’ve been quite spoiled on this Camino. Heck, I’ve been spoiled on all Camino’s thus far because I’ve never slept on a top bunk. Six Camino’s and no top bunks. I hate top bunks. I despise them. They require upper body strength I don’t have anymore. Let’s be serious, I probably never had it. And in the middle of the night I pray I don’t have to use the bathroom.

Let me back up a bit. I know we haven’t had a “true” Camino experience thus far because we’ve been in private rooms the entire time with only two communal meals. We’ve enjoyed many private rooms over our many Camino’s. I have no shame in that because as a couple I quite enjoy sleeping next to my husband. Yep, I said it. Even when we’re laying near each other in our separate twin beds, which is typical. I enjoy the little bedtime conversations we have before we drift off. I enjoy our luggage spread out all over the room. I don’t care who knows it, I love sleeping with my husband. 😆❤️ I know his habits and have learned to tolerate them. But this guy in the lower bunk across from me is super annoying right now.

I long for communal dinners. I love conversations over a meal with other pilgrims. I don’t need to share a room with them. At this very moment as I lay on my top bunk, I’m listening to several people rustle in their beds, a few still coming in and out of the bathroom, one person stinks of cigarettes, another person just stinks, the person below me has her light on, and another person is touching every loud piece of equipment they brought with them. I’ve usually napped by now and am asleep for the night by 10 p.m. Currently, it’s 11:05 p.m. and several people still have their lights on. I am, by the way, laying in bed in the dark with only the light of my phone to write this blog. I miss discussing this chaos with my hubby.

It’s honestly hurt our Camino to not have communal dinners because we haven’t bonded with anyone until last night. But, in our defense, there have been so many tourist cities it’s been super easy to just stay in a private room. Also, I look for communal dinners and the opportunities have been limited.

Having fun with our new Aussie friends at the Gaudi Castle in Comillas

But, alas, our pilgrim family is beginning to form. We have a pilgrim daughter from Alaska, Sophia. Brian taught her to thread her blisters tonight. She is so happy with how her feet feel! We have friends from the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, and France.

Last night we had an outstanding communal dinner at Albergue El Convento in Santillana Del Mar. We enjoyed wine in their gardens, a sharing time with other pilgrims, and a communal dinner. The rooms were 2 beds each so Brian and I had a private room. Fortunately Brian took the top bunk. He loves me. We had an outstanding communal breakfast. I slept like a baby. I don’t care about shared bathrooms. I just hate sharing a room and despise top bunks, if that’s not clear yet.

Tonight’s albergue is this shared room, photo above. It’s stuffy in here because the doors are closed, the fan is off, the A/C isn’t running, and there’s no air flow in the room. The curtains are nice but they don’t help the air flow.

The plus side for tonight has nothing to do with the lodging but rather the company. Because we enjoyed a communal dinner last night, we made friends with another couple and we went to dinner with them. It just takes one good communal dinner to make relationships. Besides growing closer together as a couple, we walk Camino’s for the relationships.

I want to tell you about the epic scenery we’ve been experiencing for the last few days but I’ve been talking long enough. Please follow our YouTube channel for breathtaking footage of our walk. Words and photos don’t do it justice but we try. This route is simply stunning.

Cows and the ocean. It doesn’t get much better

I have to get some sleep now. There’s already one terrible snorer and it’s not Brian. If I was alone in a room with Brian I would just call his name and tell him to roll over. It would work and I would get some sleep. But this guy is a stranger so I don’t think it’s a good move to smack him.

This is my last top bunk for any Camino. I can guarantee that for sure. Sorry, but in the future I’m going to do my best to quietly sleep next to my husband. ❤️ Thanks for reading today’s rant. It helped to vent.

Update: I didn’t sleep well and I am looking forward to today’s nap.

Camino del Norte | Irún to San Sebastián, Spain | Day 1

Posted on June 10, 2024 by CruisinColemans

Have you ever gone on a walk or hike for views but been disappointed? This almost happened to us during our walk from Irún, Spain to San Sebastián. But when I’m on the Camino, nothing can kill my mood.

We usually prefer not to cover a lot of ground on the first day of the Camino, as it’s important to pace ourselves since we have 36 more days of walking ahead. However, we walked 14.5 miles for two reasons. First, we didn’t experience jet lag as we had already been in Europe for a week. Second, we knew we were going to have a rest day in San Sebastián, which is what we’re doing now as I lay here typing this blog. As much as I enjoy our adventures, I also love a good rest day with zero miles walked. 🥰

The weather tried hard to kill my mood yesterday. We decided to take the high road which was much steeper but the payoff was supposed to be the views. And we did have some amazing views…until the fog, wind, rain, and for a short time, hail moved in. Oh my gosh, we couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us.

This happened to us in 2017 on the Camino Francés where the fog rolled in terribly as we climbed the Pyrenees hoping for views. It happens. We can’t let it get us down, we’re going to have plenty of days with amazing views.

But what we did see was breathtaking! From the sea to the mountains, then there were horses, colts, cows, and of course wildflowers!

“They” say the Camino doesn’t give you what you want, rather it gives you what you need. I didn’t need the rain and hail but what it forced me to do was focus on my feet and I did need to watch every step because the terrain was treacherous. The trail was rocky and muddy, fortunately, it wasn’t too slippery but if I hadn’t been watching my step, I’d be dealing with another head injury (read more about that here).

Dinner (with gluten free bread) and Netflix

We made it to San Sebastián tired and sore. It was 6 pm before we got into our room! For reference, we like to arrive at our hotel by 1-2 pm to shower and grab lunch before siesta. Instead, we stopped at a market for this delicious spread. It was our version of “Netflix and chill” and we never left the room. We were exhausted!

The Village of Pasaia Gipuzkoa before the ferry ride

It’s a new day and we are in beautiful San Sebastián so it’s time to explore. Bye for now!

If you haven’t had enough and you want to see our walk, check out our video from today’s walk.

https://youtu.be/SAJLkUrDiLs

👉🏼 Follow our social media channels (linked at the top and bottom) for more videos and photos throughout our Camino.

🔜 Head over to YouTube channel if you want to see Camino videos. Our videos are always behind our other social channels. But if you subscribe to our YouTube channel and click on the bell (🔔), YouTube will notify you when a new video drops.

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Arriving in Irún, Spain

Posted on June 9, 2024 by CruisinColemans

We’ve arrived in Irún, Spain, in the northeast tip of Spain. It’s gorgeous here! I can feel the Camino energy all around me. We’re excited to start our Camino but what an adventure thus far. I’m starting the Camino a bit broken but don’t we all start that way?

We’d tried something new this year which was to enjoy a bit of holiday (vacation) time before we started our Camino. I’m not sure it was the best idea. You can read about that in a previous blog. In short, I cut my head open on a set of marble stairs. I have staples in my head and I had a terrible – just awful – hospital experience.

What does that mean for our Camino? I’m not completely sure. I’ve been resting a lot the past couple of days. My head still hurts, there’s still bleeding. Tomorrow is a very challenging day with multiple, big climbs. The plan is to walk 5 kilometers to our first town, then assess again. I may decide to taxi to the next town, I may decide to try the climb. I’m tuned into my body and I’ll do my best to listen.

The Camino is busy!! We’ve heard some pilgrims are struggling because they haven’t made advance reservations. If you’re walking the Camino del Norte, there are lots of options around here to stay but you would be wise to book in advance. We use the Wise Pilgrim app and the Cicerone guide book to make our decisions for lodging and route planning. We book everything in advance, don’t judge, it’s our Camino our way.

I’m glad we decided to start in Irún. It’s got everything we need, including tapas (fresh, warm appetizer bites) and café con leche (Spanish coffee). Of course there are grocery stores, pharmacies, bakeries, sporting goods stores, and even a gluten free bakery!!! 🙌🏼 These are all essentials on our Camino.

We’ve hand washed our clothes, rested the afternoon away, and now it’s time to find an evening meal before we drift off for the night and our Camino truly begins.

Warm goat cheese salad with bacon and pine nuts

When we entered our hotel in Irún, my daypack fell over and my shell broke. I’m truly starting this Camino broken in so many way. I pray for healing as we walk.

If you have questions about the Camino, this is our 6th one so we’ll be happy to answer them below.

Ohio Camino Day 7, The Final Day

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Cruisin Michelle

As I sit in our hotel in Newport, Kentucky overlooking the Ohio River, I can’t believe we just accomplished this goal. I knew we were able but until you do something like this you just don’t know how it will go.

I’m thankful to be warm. The crazy part is I am confident we will complain about it being too hot at some point this summer. We’ll probably complain more than once. We don’t like to complain. It’s just the nature of weather, right? It’s typically either too hot or too cold. It tugs at my positive personality to complain, but alas, sometimes Mother Nature really pushes back to make me more realistic.

In today’s YouTube video we talk about our takeaways from our 7 day adventure walking the Little Miami Scenic Trail from Springfield, Ohio to Newport, Kentucky.

Today we walked on the Ohio to Erie trail through downtown Cincinnati. We walked through some stunning neighborhoods, walking past homes we can never afford, and over the 150 year old Purple People Bridge to Newport on the Levee.

Impressive homes on the Ohio River and the Purple People Bridge to Newport

Thank you for following our adventure. Today’s mileage was 10 miles on the nose for a total of 70.3 miles of walking and 15 miles of trail magic via friends and ride share.

Ohio Camino Day 2

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Cruisin Michelle

The sun teased us a few times today but the cold air never gave us a break. I hate trusting a forecast only to be disappointed by it.

The 2nd day of walking is always harder. Momentum doesn’t come as easy as the first days adrenaline rush. The aches and pains start to kick in. The “what were we thinking when we planned something like this in an Ohio Spring” thoughts flow in and out of our minds all day.

Then there are the lack of views or distractions for the mind to toss around. Today we completed the stretch between Yellow Springs and Xenia on the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail. It’s an easy walk, thank goodness, but don’t walk it for the views. Haha

We know how to hike in cold weather. We actually love hiking in the cold. We actually lead a hiking challenge over the winter months. This weeks challenge with the cold is two-fold. First, the forecast didn’t say it was going to be this cold. Have I mentioned that? Grrr…. Second, the wind was not supposed to be this intense. I’m trying not to complain, we are blessed to be able to do this, it’s just hard to be cold. Maybe the last two years have made us weak. Haha

Views from the Little Miami Trail from Yellow Springs to Xenia

Tonight we are lucky enough to have free lodging. Our host is a fellow member of our Dayton Hikers group. The generosity of others makes this feel even more like a Camino and that is the best feeling ever.

Our two stops for today: Nick’s Restaurant and the Xenia Station

For as many years as we have walked/biked this trail, we’ve never stopped at Nick’s Restaurant on the north side of Xenia. It’s right on the trail and in the summer their outdoor patio taunts us. Today we stopped and they did not disappoint our empty stomachs. Try the spin dip!

Tonight, we shared hiking stories with our host. We piddled away at documenting memories to the blog and YouTube. The YouTube video (linked below) includes a segment on our gear. My backpack is a Gregory Jade 38L, Brian’s is an Osprey 48L. We share with you what we carry in our packs so look for that video on our YouTube channel .

The goal of this adventure is to be more prepared for our walk on the Via Francigena. I know we are already one step closer to that goal as we’ve learned so much already. Who knows where the next 6 days will take us but we excited to share with you.

Focusing on one day at a day, I know this: We need to stretch – a lot – before we go to sleep. Tomorrow we will rise again. We will pray for more sunshine and less wind. We pray you enjoy following along. Please lift some love up for us, we appreciate it.

Totals for today: 9.54 miles; $118.38 for meals, lodging is free. 🙌🏼

Camping & Hiking Glacier National Park

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Cruisin Michelle

In 2016, we hiked and camped at Glacier National Park. This was a part of our two month trip out west, we affectionally called it the #GoWestColemans trip. 2016 was the year hashtags became trendy and since we name every trip, it was a great way to embrace the trend, haha. You can see the complete trip map, by clicking here.

We were apprehensive about camping and hiking Glacier National Park; the park is home to majestic wildlife and we had a lot to learn how about to share space with the animals. With a bit of research, asking questions of those who have gone before us, and a lot of preparation, we were ready. In this blog, I am going to share what we saw, how we prepared, our favorite hikes, and where we camped.

Below are photos of the wildlife we witnessed at Glacier National Park. We were lucky enough to hear about a family of moose eating in a lake very close to the Many Glacier Campground Store so we wandered off to see them. I had about 50+ photos on my phone similar to what you see below. We watched the moose graze in the lake for hours and it was the most fascinating scene we have ever witnessed.

We spent a day hiking the Highline Trail and we heard that if you don’t see wildlife, you are doing something wrong. We saw the mountain goat in the lower-left photo within the first 5 minutes and the only other animal we saw the entire day was the marmot in the lower right photo. The bighorn sheep (top right) posed for their photo-op in the parking lot at the end of our day. I am sure a lot of animals had human sightings but they really are not interested in being noticed.

The only time we saw a grizzly bear was when we were driving, the photo in the lower middle. We were prepared with our bear bells and bear spray…most of the time. You should have a bear bell and spray on you at all times when you are in Glacier National Park because you never want to surprise a grizzly bear. We made a mistake. We walked from the campground to the hotel for an afternoon break. This is a 1/2 mile walk and honestly, we weren’t hiking so we didn’t think about our bear bells or spray. Once we arrived at the hotel we saw several park police where we had just walked. A grizzly bear was sighted on our trail. We were lucky he wasn’t interested in us and we didn’t startle him, we didn’t even see him. However, I sang loudly to Brian the entire walk back. My rendition of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall had me laughing, but Brian may have been just shaking his head at me. The moral to the story: always carry a bear bell and spray in Glacier National Park.

There is something majestic and romantic at Glacier National Park. You are surrounded by mountains, glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls. Everything around you feels massive and perfect. We were certainly caught in the magic of the park. I wish we would have allowed more time here. The park is enormous and you need to spend time on one side of the park and then move to the other side. We camped at Many Glacier Campground but I wish we would have also camped at Fish Creek Campground so we could have spent time on that end of the park. We came into the park from the south so we were able to drive much of it and visit the Apgar Visitor Center; however, we spent most of our time in the Logan Pass Visitor Center and Many Glacier Hotel/Campground area. Just to give you an idea of how large the park is, it took us about 75 minutes to drive from our campground to the Logan Pass Visitor Center.

I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the ever-changing glaciers. There was an exhibition at Many Glacier Hotel where they showed photos of what the glaciers looked like and recreated the same photos with how the glaciers look now. You can read about the Repeat Photography Project by clicking here. Climate change becomes extremely real when you see the glaciers in person. Fortunately, there is a lot we can do if we are willing to be a part of the change. You can read about how the glaciers are changing by clicking here.

Our two favorite hikes were the Grinnell Glacier hike and the Highline Trail hike. The photos above are from both hikes. You can only access Grinnell Glacier by boat out of the Many Glacier Hotel, pictured below. The Grinnell Glacier hike includes a lake, waterfalls on your trail, mountains all around you, and glaciers that you can walk on (in 2016). We saw bighorn sheep on the trail, one even led the hike for a bit (with a good distance between us).

The Highline Trail is fantastic because you are high above the Going to the Sun Road but you can still see the tiny cars below. You can make this a one-way day hike if you park your car at The Loop on Going to the Sun Road, take the shuttle to the Logan Pass Visitor Center, hike the Highline Trail, take a break at the Granite Park Chalet, and then walk back down to your car. Be warned, this is a much tougher hike than it may seem. It looks relatively flat but there are some elevation challenges, there is an option to hike a seemingly innocent out and back to Hidden Lake which is very steep, and the walk down from the chalet is no joke! It is a lot of steep down and hard on your knees. However, the hike is worth it, you just need to be prepared.

If you can even spend one night or one afternoon at the Many Glacier Hotel, we highly recommend it. The hotel has the charm of days gone by, but plenty of amenities. The sunset (above right) is one not to miss! We stayed at the campground. If you want a reservation at this campground, be ready to make it the day the 6-month window opens. This campground sells out quick in the summer. The walk-up campsites had a wait of about 10+ vehicles by 5 a.m. every day while we were there. That is not how we wanted to spend our time, but many people made it work.

In 2016, we were still tent camping. We camped in luxury though, in the REI Kingdom 8. We had the added garage which we used for bike storage and when it rained we could put our chairs in there and relax (see photo below). We lived in this tent for 2 months that summer so a bit of luxury was nice. We slept on an air mattress on a cot and it was extremely comfortable, you can get one by clicking here. We also had a heated mattress pad on it for those higher elevation campgrounds, which you can find by clicking here. Finally, our clothes were all tucked under our bed in under the bed storage tubs. We had four tubs total, one each for clothes, one for shoes, and one for hiking gear. The tubs stacked neatly in the back of our Honda Pilot. We also had a tub for camping gear (see above).

When you’re camping in a place like Glacier National Park it is imperative that all of your “smellies” are kept in your car. This included our shower house stuff (shampoo, deodorant, etc.), our cooking gear, food, and our cooler. The tent was a smelly-free zone as to not attract the animals, big or small.

Hiking and camping at Glacier National Park is an absolute must and we look forward to going back to this park because there is so much more to see and do there. It is not hard to prepare and stay safe at this park, just to remember the basics:

Be bear aware: Always have a bear bell on you, carry bear spray, never hike or even walk alone, and make plenty of noise.
Keep smellies secure, in containers in your car.
Carry food, Gatorade, and more water than you think you need, no matter how short your hike.
Bring layers when you hike, the weather can change quickly.
Practice the habits of Leave No Trace, even an apple core is not appropriate to leave on the trail.

If you have been to Glacier, tell us what you loved! What else can we tell you about Glacier? If this blog helped you, give us a thumbs up. Heck, if you made it this far, give us a thumbs up. 🙂

Happy hiking, until next time!

Five Steps to Planning our 2019 Camino

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Cruisin Michelle

I can’t wait anymore – I have to talk about the Camino! There is so much to say! This is the first of several blog posts over the coming months on the subject of the Camino de Santiago. We hiked the Camino Frances in 2017 which was a life-changing experience for both of our adventurous spirits. Many times we had heard the phrase, “you never hike the Camino just once,” but we had no idea what it meant until the draw of the Camino pulled us so hard we could not resist it. I have to admit, I am still shocked at how much I want to go back and hike the Camino again. Brian felt the same draw to go back, but he wasn’t as surprised as I was. There will be more on the reasons we both felt the draw in future blog posts.
Let me begin by telling you some people decide to hike the Camino and don’t plan a thing. This is not who we are, we like to plan, I can go so far as to say we love to plan. Spreadsheets are life to us! For us, the spreadsheet takes something that can be quite intimidating – hiking across a country – and making it more manageable. Our spreadsheet broke down the 550 miles trek into small sections so we had more confidence and set achievable goals. All of that being said, we have a lot of respect for the many thousands of people who complete the Camino annually without any planning. There is something to be said about just picking up and going, just because it is not for us doesn’t mean we don’t admire those who do.
It was about May 2018 when we both finally admitted to one another that we wanted to go back to the Camino; it was less than a year from being back in the states from our Camino 2017. I remember where we were standing in the new house we just purchased in April 2018 when we admitted our desire to hike the Camino again because my heart skipped a few beats. It took a few months to make any progress on that decision, mainly because we were in the midst of preparing for our son’s wedding and our summer 2018 adventure but we knew we were going! We plan the details of our next big summer adventure the moment we finish the adventure we are on and often while we are on the current summer adventure. So in September 2018, the real planning began. Determining when we are going to travel is not a step for us because we are teachers so we know that we’re traveling in June and July whether we like it or not. With that being said, before I outline the steps we have taken thus far, I strongly encourage you to join the American Pilgrims on the Camino Facebook group. With over 18,000 members, everything and anything you need to know to plan your Camino is in that group! Ok, without further delay, here are the steps we have taken thus far to plan our Camino 2019:
Monitor International Flight Prices
I cannot tell you how important it is to sign up for some sort of flight monitoring website. We signed up for a few and the winner of finding our cheap airfare was Scott’s Cheap Flights. You can pay up to about $1500 a person to fly internationally but with a bit of legwork, you can fly a lot cheaper. A couple weeks ago, I received an email from Scott’s Cheap Flights that Air Portugal was having a great sale so did further investigating and found great prices. If you are willing to fly from one of the main hubs (we picked Boston), they had round-trip tickets as cheap as $300. This means we still need to get to Boston, but we will monitor flights until we find a good price to get to Boston.
Determine the Route
Next, you need to determine which of the Camino de Santiago routes you will choose to hike. The most popular and the one we did in 2017 is the Camino Frances. Many people are inspired to hike the Camino Frances because of the 2010 movie, The Way, starring Martin Sheen, and we were no different. The moment we saw this movie we knew it was a bucket list adventure, and it only took us seven more years to get there.

This time we are going to hike the Camino Portugués which is 640 kilometers. Since we have the time, and we want to go back, we are going to hike part of the Camino Francés from Leon to Santiago. Finally, we are going to hike the “extra loop” to the “end of the Earth” which is Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre to Muxia and back to Santiago. We hiked to the end of the Earth in 2017 to celebrate our anniversary but this time we want to complete the loop and go on to Muxia and then walk back to Santiago. Our total hiking mileage is coming it at 1162.3 kilometers. This is epic for us! The last time we were there we had 38 hiking days, averaging about 14 miles a day. This time we will hike 44 days and average 26.4 kilometers or 16.4 miles a day. We like a challenge – and well – we have one before us!
Buy Guidebooks
There are several guidebooks out there about the Camino and we have two favorites. The first, and most popular, guidebooks are by John Brierly and you can find any of his books on Amazon. This is the basis for our spreadsheet and provided us with everything we needed to know about hiking the Camino from villages, distances, terrain, details about where to stay, and notes of stuff to watch out for as you travel. Many people carry his book with them on the Camino and just rip out pages as they don’t need them anymore or they have the electronic version on their Kindle.
The second guidebook we use is the Village to Village guidebook by Anna Dintaman and Matthew Harms, their books can also be found on Amazon. You should also check out their website too. It has been a great resource for planning where to stay, what to wear, what to take, and has links or email addresses to albergues.
Buy your guidebooks about 6-8 months before you leave. You don’t want to buy them too early because you want the latest edition; however, you want to buy them early enough to have the time to read the books so you can, at least, mentally prepare for this undertaking.
Make Spreadsheet
Disclosure: We were not the original creators of this massive spreadsheet! One of our fellow Ohio APOC friends, Greg, created this spreadsheet and shared it with us. We have shared it with others so as to pay it forward because if you are a planner, this spreadsheet is amazing!
Ok, here is where we went crazy! But you need to know that we plan our summer adventures with this type of spreadsheet every year. Our rationale is that when we are gone for two months, we need a spreadsheet to ensure we meet our goals for the adventure.

For our first Camino, we were not going to plan anything because we heard that most people don’t plan their daily goals on the Camino. It was about five months before we left for the Camino when we decided the no-planning philosophy was not going to work for us. There were a few determining factors going on here – (1) we have to travel during the busiest season, (2) we heard stories of people coming into a village and there were no rooms left (and we saw this happen!!), (3) we wanted to know where we were sleeping each night even if we had to bus ahead due to illness or injury, and finally most importantly, (4) our minds were at ease the moment we started planning our stays. For us, the spreadsheet is our lifeline and we love having it. Would we ever go without one? We could, yes. If we were only going for a couple of weeks, a good possibility, yes. If we weren’t going during the busy season, possibly. It is all a matter of preference.
Training Time
If you have the time, we would strongly encourage you to start walking! Walk 5, 8, 10 miles at a time as much as you can, build up to longer walks whatever that looks like for you. Start where you are comfortable to prevent injury. Since we are still about seven months out, we are walking once or twice during the week and have one long walk on the weekends. Do what works in your schedule. If you can get consecutive long walking days in, that would be perfect for your training! If you have any old Roman roads in our neighborhood, walk on them! Haha But seriously, do not go for a walk in the woods, which is what we would normally be doing. Walk on gravel roads, brick roads, pavement, anything to toughen up your feet. Carry a backpack with about 12-15 pounds in it during the last couple months of your training. I will talk about gear, I promise, in another Camino post! For now, here are a few more big suggestions to train for your Camino:

See your podiatrist and get insoles. They saved our feet! You have to find the shoes and insoles that work for your feet. It is critical. We both love Merrell shoes and insoles that are fitted for our feet.
Know how to care for blisters (see the APOC Facebook group, everyone has an opinion on what to do)
Do lunges and squats, just 10-20 a day, 3-4 days a week. Your knees will thank you for that specific training, I promise you!
Have your backpack fitted, we went to REI and both love our packs for different reasons.
When you know what you are going to wear on the Camino, wear it in your training. You want to minimize gear surprises.

Don’t overthink the training, just walk. There are people of all ages, backgrounds, and fitness levels on the Camino. We met two 12-year-old girls hiking the Camino, lots of 20, 30, and 40 something folks, and even more 50, 60, 70+ folks walking the Camino. If you can walk, you can walk the Camino. Even if you can’t walk the Camino will provide, see the 2017 movie, I’ll Push You if you need the motivation to walk the Camino.
Extra Step: Making Reservations
This step is not for everyone but it certainly made our Camino the most “relaxing” adventure we have ever had! I referenced making reservations in the “Creating the Spreadsheet” point but it needs to be clarified. The site we used to make most of our reservations was Booking.com. It won’t help you with every single reservation, for some villages you will need to email the albergue to make your reservation because they are not on Booking.com.
Before you make your reservations, check out the APOC Facebook group because everyone is talking about various albergues and may provide you with insight about where you want to stay or avoid staying because it does not meet your needs.
I didn’t talk about the budget in this blog, it’s a topic for another post. However, in short, you can spend very little or stay at 5-star hotels throughout your journey. You can find municipal albergues for $3-5 a night. We averaged about $40 a night for a private room. Sometimes that included dinner but often, for us, it did not. I will talk more about our “teacher budget,” this means that we had more resources than a college student but not as much as someone from Corporate America.
There are so many blog posts about the Camino, this is just our point of view from our experience. Read as much as you can before you hike your Camino. It’s your journey, it’s your Camino, make it what you want it to be. As we say on the Camino, Buen Camino!