Overview of El Camino de Santiago

Like many people, I was introduced to El Camino de Santiago through some friends who were talking about the movie, The Way, staring Martin Sheen.  Basically, it's a centuries old pilgrimage route across the Northern portion of Spain ending at Santiago de Compostela, the resting place of the body of St. James, the patron Saint of Spain.  There are many beginnings to the pilgrimage, Paris, Madrid, St. Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles, to name a few.  To officially qualify as completing the pilgrimage, you must walk at least 100km, which is the town of Sarria, and the most common starting point.

Our decision to start in Pamplona is based upon the number of days we have available and starting to the west of the Pyrenees.  Per the Brierley guidebook, the authority on El Camino, that leaves of 450 miles to walk to Santiago, unless we decide to skip ahead if we are falling behind the required pace to complete the journey.

So, today was our first real training run with the packs full.  We walked up to the Santa Barbara Mission.  Our pace was 22:00/mile, a little slower than my projected 20:00 minute mile.  Otherwise, no problems with the practice run.

Time to meet the participants:

Pictured above on the left is Juliana (age 16 in July), center is Gisela (age undisclosed) and right is Marion (age 14).

Pictured above in the distance is the author, Joe.

And finally, below is the picture of our first stamp from the Santa Barbara Mission, the start of our pilgrimage.

So, as I was describing our pilgrimage to a friend last night, his response was this trip is generational.  Not only will it change the lives of our children, but also their children.  Our kids will look back on this trip in deep reflection as to their role in this world.  Needless to say, this was far beyond our intent of the trip when planned, but if it's truly the result, what a wonderful blessing.

Packing and last minute items

I've mentioned to a few people that I'll be going on El Camino de Santiago.  Their first response is typically, "You're not taking your kids are you?" to which I reply "That's the plan."  It's not your typical trip, but I'm sure that is what Gisela, my wife, was thinking when she picked this adventure.

So, on Sunday, we fly from Santa Barbara to SFO to FRA to CDG (Paris) and to spend a few days of sight seeing and getting adjusted to the time change.  From Paris, we will drive to Lourdes for a night and then make our way to Pamplona to start or Camino.  We have scheduled roughly 22 to 23 days of walking, but that can easily change.  Our plans are completely flexible other than the first four days and our last night in Lisbon.

We have decided to skip hiking over the Pyrenees as I don't want a mutiny on the first day.  Our first official act of the trip was to get our first stamp in our Credencial del Peregrino at the Santa Barbara Mission.  I'll try to post pictures and thoughts along the way, but I'm more of a numbers person than a writer, so my apologies in advance.

Everyone seems to have a reason to walk El Camino, such as death of a loved one, divorce or other major life event that requires much thought and reflection.  For me, I'd like to give my wife and children a memorable month together with the single goal of making it to the next night's stay, and little by little, make our way across Spain.  El Camino is a pilgrimage which I'm still trying to define in my terms.  Once we start, I'll have a better idea of what this means.