Brave or stupid? 5 key considerations…

Setting out from St Jean Pied de Port with our 6-month-old to walk the Camino Frances we couldn’t be sure if we were brave or stupid. At that moment they felt like 2 sides of the same coin, and we weren’t sure which side it would land.

We had the adventure of a lifetime! Completing the 800 kilometers in 40 days.

Here are 5 key things that I would share with any families considering or planning such an epic walk.

The Gear

Having the right equipment is an obvious one. Everyone always talks about trialing some walks and breaking in your shoes, what is less talked about… is you should also do the same with your socks. Most people pick up a few blisters at some point, usually within the first few days. Having a dream shoe/sock combo is a game changer. Smearing your feet with Vaseline before putting them on is also a massive help!

The key item, though, walking with a baby is the carrier. We opted for the Osprey Poco Plus. I was stressed about choosing a carrier. It felt like such a huge and expensive decision! I did a ample research and read many reviews. There are certainly an abundance of options out there. The Poco Plus was great for us!!! Very supportive for Fred, with stirrups for his legs to provide extra foot support, a sunshade, a waterproof cover and a storage section. We did a few practice walks with it, to see how Fred would feel about it. He was so content in there, being able to look around while he was awake. He became an absolute pro at napping in the carrier, enjoying the rocking motion and more than a few nursery rhymes.

The Accommodation

The idea to walk the Camino with a baby emerged as a passing joke and gradually evolved into a reality. At every stage of planning, we kept telling ourselves that it could all go wrong. We were prepared to go home after 1 day if we needed to. If Fred was struggling, unwell or unhappy we would be out of there and heading home. So initially we didn’t book accommodation ahead, and were planning to try the ‘arrive and see method’. on the very first day, we heard that most private room accommodation were booked in advance, so we started booking a couple of days in advance. As we started to believe we could finish the pilgrimage we booked further and further ahead.

We chose to stay in private rooms. We considered staying in the dorms but were worried that if Fred was restless, he could wake others and that the infamous snorers could disturb him. We found the preferred option was to to have our own space to spread out, afford room for Fred to play and not be on edge. We were quite happy co-sleeping although some places did have a travel cot, quite often I think borrowed from their own family.

The type of accommodation varied wildly. From a very basic monasteries to beautifully decorated comfortable rooms.

We used the Wise Pilgrim app and liaised with most places via Whatsapp (with some trustee assistance from the built in translation feature in WhatsApp). We let every place know that we were bringing a baby with us, there were no issues at all. Without exception everyone was incredibly welcoming.

*Thank you to the pilgrim who recommended the app to us on day 3! Game changer!

The Supplies

Nappies & wipes — including all other toiletry items like nappy cream and sun cream can all be purchased along the way. There are plenty of supermarkets and pharmacies. They aren’t in every town though, so I kept an eye on what was coming up and made sure we weren’t caught short. All the info about what you can find in each town or village is in the Wise Pilgrim app.

Clothes — we initially took Fred 5 outfits, lots of layers so it was easy to adjust to different temperatures. Gradually we threw some out… as they got stained from a poo-splosion or 2. We didn’t need to, but if we had we could have bought more baby clothes, especially in the larger towns and cities.

Milk — Fred was exclusively breast fed, so that part was very convenient. He was offered bits and pieces from our plates… but he hadn’t been interested in solid food which did end up being handy. No meal prep required.

Toys — We had a small bag of toys, the lightest ones possible and rotated them. In reality… he was very happy playing with cutlery, cups, menus and all sorts of other paraphernalia that was around. I also took little hooks so I could clip on a couple of toys to the carrier especially towards the end of the day if Fred needed a little extra entertainment. This would only work if it wasn’t too cold though, and his hands were out of his jumpsuit.

White noise — we took a small speaker which we played some white noise through at night. The walls are very thin in some places and the white noise helped to block out the noise of the toilet door slamming down the hall or lots of people departing early in the morning. It eased my mind that if Fred woke up, too, that he would be less likely to wake up the others. Plus, if Fred went to sleep before us, we could chat and move around without waking him. We made sure to ask anyone sleeping in rooms near us if they minded.

Sleeping bags — the one thing we wish we took but didn’t. We had some very cold nights. We were always cozy enough under a pile of blankets, which every accommodation was very happy to give us, but it became something I worried about each day. Not knowing how warm the accommodation that night would be. Lots of places didn’t have their heating on. A sleeping bag for each of us would have been great!!

Music — downloaded nursery rhymes to walk to. Keeping Fred happy as we sung along. Not sure that we provided the soundtrack to the Camino that our other pilgrims were expecting. All the top hits… always the same ones… on repeat…

The Strategy

We had the best intentions… to keep our packs light. Planning to carry them the whole way. We have done multi-day camping hikes in a variety of locations and truly know the pain of carrying too much, physically and mentally. While we discarded some items early on and even more as we went, we could not keep the weight down to a number we were happy with. We would have loved our packs to be around 10 kg, 12 kg maximum. However, the fact remained… Fred was 10 flippin’ kg all on his own! Plus the weight of the pack 3.58 kg. At a minimum one of us (the Fred carrier) would be carrying just under 14 kg, without putting anything in storage compartment. Leaving the other person to carry everything else to sustain the 3 of us.

We left St Jean, with packs weighing around 15–16 kg each…

After 2 weeks I unfortunately started to develop some issues in my ankle/foot. (It is very common for pilgrims to start getting some more serious injuries as they progress, seeking assistance from physio’s or hospitals along the way.) We stopped and had a rest day in Santo Domingo de la Calzada to try and give me some recovery. We bumped into one of our new friends, Petra, who told me off. Along the lines of… ‘don’t be so silly, if you are in pain and you are struggling send your pack ahead! Do you want to make it to the end or risk needing to quit?’ A telling off I will be forever grateful for.

From that day, I sent my bag ahead daily with one of the transport companies, NCS Equipajes. We had no issues at all, they were very helpful when I accidentally sent my bag to the wrong place… that’s a story for another day. There are other companies available, all seemed great. You simply whatsapp them the day/evening before and let them know where to collect the bag and where to drop it. Pop your 6 euro in an envelop available at all Camino accommodation and attached it to your pack with the string provided. Then enjoy your beautiful day of walking with a lot less weight.

While poor Nathan was left with the heavier pack as the regular Fred carrier, I was able to carry all our essentials for the day in a day pack, lightening the load for us both.

The only potential limitation with this approach, is needing to arrive at the location you have had your bag sent to. I was always slightly worried that we would need to stop short or our main pack would get lost so we made sure we had enough essential items in the day pack… just in case.

Warning #1 — once you’ve had a taste of the good life, it’s very hard to go back to carrying a full pack.

Warning #2 — sending packs ahead is a very controversial topic on the Camino among pilgrims… more on this below

Remember there are busses, taxis & trains. On 2 occasions I caught a bus/taxi because the rain was so incredibly torrential that Fred was getting wet. No deluxe hiking pack could have prevented it. We were worried that once his clothes got wet, we wouldn’t be able to get him dry and when you’re not sure if you’re going to have heating that night… sometimes it’s always best to stay dry. Nathan hiked on while Fred and I took alternative transport. (Another controversial topic). I will go into more detail about these misadventures in another blog.

The Judgement

Since falling pregnant I was surprised how often people talk about all of the things you cannot and should not do. As new parents this was incredibly daunting, it really sounded like we would never leave our home. Thanks to a few special people and influences we are embracing the ‘yes’ (where possible).

Everyone has their own parenthood journey; we are very privileged and grateful to have been able to experience the Camino as part of ours.

Each day was a new adventure, and we took each day as it came.

The vast majority of pilgrims offered their support and encouragement each day. We have loved every coffee chat, communal meal or hello along the way. Lots of people were happy to hold Fred or entertain Fred so we could eat. Friendly faces we hadn’t met were always coming up to us saying ‘Is this Fred? We’ve heard about him!’. He had his picture taken a lot (always with our permission).

We loved meeting everyone! At the very least, everyone we met added to the rich tapestry of our Camino story. We met plenty of interesting characters along the way, and certainly some lifelong friends.

All of that being said, with a deep sigh, and in the interest of transparency… there is a lot of judgement among pilgrims on the Camino. We were told very early on that we were ‘proving divisive’ as pilgrims discussed our decision to walk with 6 month old Fred. For a few days, I did feel quite paranoid and was questioning our sanity, embarking on such a journey.

As time, went on though, reassurance came from others but more importantly from ourselves, from within our family unit and our own instincts. Fred was very clearly loving life, happy and smiley, enjoying meeting everyone, feeding well and sleeping better. I was confident we had strong contingencies in place if we needed to call it a day and we were all having a brilliant time.

The bottom line is, you know yourself and no one else on the Camino does. You only need to look at some of the most popular Camino FB groups to see the constant squabbling, negativity and judgement. There are lots of opinions, about absolutely everything. We didn’t experience any direct criticism while we walked though, just support and positivism. The underlying judgement, though, does require a thick skin.

There is one exception, I recommend joining the ‘Camino Babies, Tots & Teens’ on Facebook. Lovely supportive group, always happy to answer questions and offer support.

Hopefully you can learn from our missteps and have the best time. It’s not just possible, it’s the absolute best!!! I wish we could go back and relive every single moment.

More Camino blogs coming soon…