Back to walking, this time the entire Camino

We had always talked about walking El Camino again, hopefully with the kids and the entire route.  Reflecting back on our experience, the heat was our most painful obstacle, so we were planning on starting either earlier in the year (May 2016) or late fall (October 2016).  All seemed well for a year away, until Gisela, my wife, pointed out that most likely Juliana would be spending next summer abroad in a college program.  If we really wanted to walk again as a complete family, this summer was our only guarantee.  Besides, my consulting business was relatively light and was a good time to schedule some time off.

With that, I started looking for flights, planning around the kids schedule.  We were able to book a flight leaving on Fathers Day which would get us to St. Jean Pied de Port on Tuesday, June 23rd starting our walking on June 24th, two days prior to my 48th birthday.  I couldn't ask for a better present than being able to spend time with my family on El Camino.  We have roughly 43 days allowed for walking which should give us plenty of time to complete the entire Camino, as long as we are injury free.

So now that we had the trip scheduled, time to start training.  Well, between work, school, the kids work schedule, getting a nasty cold that hung around for 3 weeks and life, we didn't get much training time.  Good news is that the kids are two years older and much stronger.  The bad news is that Gisela and I are two years older and in worse shape.

However, we have wisdom and experience now.  Although we aren't completely packed, I am estimated that Julie and I are going to reduce our pack weight by about 10 pounds.  We both have smaller, more light weight packs and are eliminating numerous items that we didn't use last time.  I feel like the veteran athlete that has lost some of his skills, but gained tricks of the trade to make up for the loss.

So, from Santa Barbara we head off once again.  No I-pads this time, so the blog will be limited to posts from my phone.  Therefore, it will be more pictures than words.  If you haven't read about our previous trip, you can read some of the earlier posts to get a flavor and feel of what we did.