If you are thinking of doing your first journey and you still don’t know how to do it, it may be that, due to lack of experience and knowledge, you will make mistakes in the planning that you will regret for a long time.
Here is a list of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them…
Error #1: Starting too close to Santiago.
This is the most common mistake.
Let me make an analogy: to start the road very close to Santiago, is like starting a book by the final chapter, or starting to watch a series by the last episode. All the interesting things have already happened and what remains is the resolution of the characters’ destiny.
It is said that “the road can be started from any place” but that is a half-truth…
There are clearer starting points:
Oviedo for the primitive road,
Ferrol for the English road,
the border with France, for the French road, the Aragonese, the one from the north and the Basque interior…
Advice: Start it as far as possible, from the beginning, when it is clear where it begins… or well, from another country… even though you need to split the path with multiple trips and multiple years to arrive in Santiago…
What leads us to error number 2.
Error #2: To do the camino just for a few days.
There are people who do the Camino on weekends, others who start near Santiago, and others who cannot take more days.
There are external issues that restrict our free time, but, having the freedom to choose, there are several reasons why doing it for a few days is a bad idea.
The first is due to “adaptation of the body to intense exercise,” which requires several days for the body to stop hurting. Suppose your body needs 7 days to adapt, (in my case, more) it is not the same to do 1 journey of 30 days (where we will have 7 bad and 23 good) than 3 journey of 10 days (where we will have 21 bad days and 9 good).
The second is a greater intensity and temporal compression; the more days we are in the Camino, the greater is the temporal distortion factor: a week on the Way, can be equivalent to 3 weeks in the ordinary world (although this also brings problems… it can become such an intense experience that when it ends, you may need a few days to “decompress”).
It is that it has a therapeutic effect; it helps a lot of people to recover from tragic moments of their lives, to clarify ideas and to reconnect with other people; and to achieve these benefits is necessary time. In the same way that a single session with the psychologist, it is not going to cure you of your traumas.
So the second piece of advice is: Go as many days as possible.
Error #3: Not to prepare physically.
The Camino, done the old fashioned way, aka without backpack transport, is much harder than it can be explained, and people greatly underestimate the wear, fatigue, and pain it produces.
Not training beforehand, it makes you more susceptible to injuries that prevent you from continuing and that you have to abandon prematurely and also increases the temptation to take shortcuts and skip stages.
So my advice is to go as trained as possible…
That implies, before starting the Camino, making walks progressively longer, (10km, 18km, 25km, for example) during several days (ideally consecutively or as much as possible) with the backpack loaded and the hiking boots on.
This, in addition to preparing the body, also serves to test if the backpack is comfortable or if adjustments are needed. Also, it serves to check that the footwear does not cause chafing.
And returning to the previous example, if your body needed 7 days to adapt, with preparation it may be that you reduce it to half or less.
And talking about the backpack.
Error #4: Assemble the backpack incorrectly.
A poorly packed backpack can turn your journey a nightmare, and it is a costly error to correct, whatever the reason… Either for having to throw away unnecessary things or sending them by mail to your house or well for having to buy necessary things, without being able to look at the prices much… as long as there are stores (and it may not be…).
Advice 4: We prepared a video where we explain how to assemble the backpack and what things you should consider taking, as well as general advice.
Error #5: Having a rigid completion date.
This is a very common and very complicated error to avoid due to the demands of everyday life, from not having more days of vacation to having a plane or train ticket purchased that cannot be changed.
In an ideal world, you should be able to go home when you feel that your journey has ended; leave it because if you feel that the Camino is not for you or you have been injured or well continue walking because the body and soul ask you to.
My advice is that, to the extent possible, do not commit to a completion date, postpone the purchase of the return ticket as much as possible and avoid commitments on those dates. Imagine the best possible scenario and plan for it.
Error #6: To do the French Way and, above all, in Galicia.
I know this may seem controversial, because the French Way is the one that is culturally more relevant and I would even dare to say that it has more cultural sites of interest than all the others combined.
But the French route is very crowded and very commercialized, and it has lost much authenticity. Furthermore that crowding intensifies in the last section, to the point that the spirit of the route is lost and all the charm. The good things of the route, such as the camaraderie, the familiarity, and even the parish and donation hostels, all of that disappears.
So regarding this I have several tips.
Advice: Take any other path that is not the French WAy; all other alternatives, even if they are more popular than they were a few years ago, are much more authentic. In another article we analyze in detail what are the options and questions we must ask before.
Error #7: Thinking that the main objective is to arrive in Santiago.
The arrival in Santiago is definitely a bittersweet moment; on one hand it’s beautiful because you’ve achieved a difficult goal and it’s an experience that has to be lived, at least once.
But it is also very sad; it means the end of a wonderful and intense experience and saying goodbye to people with whom you have developed a very intense bond and you probably will not see again in your life.
The goal of the journey is to enjoy each day to the fullest and to value each moment.
Advice: Prioritize living the experience as completely as possible, not getting the “Compostela”.
Error #8: To do the Camino to show off.
The Camino de Santiago is one of the most transformative experiences a person can live as an adult. It is a unique opportunity to live harmoniously with people from different cultures, from all over the world, and it is also quite affordable, being within reach of many people.
It is therefore, in my opinion, the absolute worst reason to do a “Camino de Santiago” is the “status” that it confers having done it and furthermore trying to do it with the least possible effort.
Sadly there is a saturation of people during the last days of the journey who want recognition without the effort and that attitude ruins the experience for everyone.
And it is sad and foolish that that status ends so simply by asking: “Where did you start?” because the answers “Sarria” or “O Cebreiro” will not only not generate recognition or admiration that this people seeks, but they will generate “active contempt” of the people who made the Way from afar and who could not enjoy in the last days… and with all reason.
But well, if you still want to do it for posturing, instead of giving you advice, I’ll ask you a question: what sounds more impressive? To say that you started it in “Sarria” or in another country, like “France”?
Error #9: To be accompanied by people with a different plan/idea than ours.
The Camino is an intimidating experience and many people are afraid to face it alone. Nevertheless, doing the journey in company presents different problems and challenges and it may make the experience even more difficult.
It is important to understand that the decision to do it with one or more people, whether a partner, friends, family, or strangers, will affect the way to plan and to live the path, existing advantages and disadvantages.
We made a separate article where we discussed it in detail.