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What’s Stopping You From Walking the Camino de Santiago?

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I am so fortunate to have been able to walk the Camino de Santiago 24 times and as I travel the world I get to speak to people who tell me they dream of walking the Camino too.

When I tell people about my passion I learn that whilst many people carry this dream close to their hearts, something gets in the way. They dream of crossing the Pyrenees or walking through vineyards or meandering their way along the Portuguese coast but there is a “but”.

I’d love to walk the Camino, but…

And for some people these obstacles are very real and walking this year or even next year simply isn’t possible. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t steps that you can take to keep your dream alive.

Here are the most common concerns people share with me and some thoughts on how you can keep your Camino dream alive.

I Just Don’t Have Time Right Now

Before I retired, I was singing in a band and we were working from April to October. Taking time off during this time was really hard; which is why I ended up walking more than a few Caminos in November!

We can’t create more time but there are a few avenues to explore still.

Work Commitments

Every employer (and every country) has its own limits on holiday and vacation time, and if you’re self-employed it gets even more complicated. But I’ve met pilgrims who negotiated extended leave, unpaid leave or flexible working arrangements to make their Camino possible.

When I had my own business in the UK, we would far rather find a compromise to keep a valuable team member so if you are employed, it’s worth having that conversation.

If you work for yourself, could you take your laptop on Camino?  For years Gerry was limited to just three weeks away, but we made it work by booking private rooms and allowing time where needed and sending the laptop ahead in a small hard-shell case each day. It’s not perfect, but if it’s the only way to make it happen, it might be worth it.

And the Camino doesn’t have to be a 5 week, 800 kilometre walk. It can be one week or ten days or walked in sections. And routes like the Camino Ingles can be walked in 5 or 6 days.

Waiting For Retirement

This was us.  We both loved our work. Gerry had his own business and I loved singing in the band and performing. There was always another reason to keep us working. Then one Thursday morning my dear walking buddy became seriously ill and ten weeks later she died.

We did the sums and realised it made no sense to keep postponing the things that we wanted to do. We retired on 31 May 2022 and we’ve been travelling and walking ever since.

If retirement is still a few years away, perhaps look at what you can do now.  Don’t wait for an earthquake to shake you into action because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us.

Children Still at School

One of my biggest regrets is not walking with my son. He was 14 when I first decided to walk and I had no idea you could walk with children. I look back now and know he would have loved it.

More and more families do walk the Camino together. So maybe ask your children. You might be very surprised by their answer.

Family Responsibilities

This is often the hardest obstacle to overcome.  Caring for elderly parents or family responsibilities can make it impossible to leave for extended periods.  

If that’s your situation, don’t give up on your dream. Look into groups closer to home. Every country has its own Friends of the Camino association and there are active chapters across the USA, Australia, Canada, the UK, Ireland and beyond.

Getting involved with your local society means that you get to walk with pilgrims at home, and when your time does come, you’ll already be part of a community and better prepared.

What You Can Do Today

I Just Don’t Have That Kind Of Budget

This is a very real obstacle, and I know because we’ve been in those shoes. The Camino may not be financially within reach right now but there are a few ways to make it more achievable.

Airfares And Travel Costs

For me the Camino is a 5 minute drive from home and Burgos just a 5 hour drive. It’s easy for me to find arrows. But if you’re coming from further afield it’s more of a challenge and I am always in awe of pilgrims who have flown from around the world to walk their Camino

If you’re in Europe, take advantage of low cost airlines and low cost long distance buses and trains.  Flixbus, Ouibus, Ryanair and Easyjet are just a few names to explore.

We travel full time and many of the friends we meet along the way use credit card points for free or heavily discounted flights and hotels. If this is something you haven’t explored yet, it could be worth looking into. I’m no expert, but websites like The Points Guy offer a good introduction to how points and miles work.

And remember that in Spain, pensioners of all nationalities get a senior discount on trains and buses.

Day-to-Day Costs on the Trail

The Camino, like life, has become more expensive but it still doesn’t have to break the bank. The most affordable way to walk is to stay in pilgrim accommodation and municipal albergues. They’re often simple, but the welcome is warm, the community is wonderful, and beds can often be found for around €10 a night.

Many albergues have kitchens too. Because I’m gluten free, Gerry and I cook regularly and often use leftovers for a packed lunch the next day.  And pilgrims very often pool resources for the communal dinners; I saw this happen almost every night when volunteering in Najera Albergue.

Buying Gear

Forum posts are full of folks talking about specialist trail gear, technical clothing, expensive packs and waterproofs.  And if you walk often and have the budget these are all great. But it’s not for everyone.

Don’t feel that you need to buy everything new. eBay and similar sites are full of good quality kit at half the price or less. I’ve sold perfectly good trail shoes because they were too narrow for my feet for half their purchase cost.

Sites like SportPursuit sell last season’s models at great discounts, and Decathlon is brilliant for affordable basics; for my 2026 Camino I bought a 30L rucksack for under €50.

A first time pilgrim also taught me a useful lesson. She had no lightweight gear at home but worked out that paying for luggage transport for her seven day Camino was cheaper than buying new lightweight kit. It’s worth doing the sums if you’re walking a shorter section for the first time.

Still Saving

If your Camino is something you’re working towards over time, then you’re not alone.  I met many pilgrims who spent years saving for their dream Camino.

Look into savings accounts with better interest rates and those that are slightly harder to access.  If you can, set up a small regular contribution; €10 a week means another municipal bed for the night. In just 35 weeks, that’s enough to cover a bed from St Jean Pied de Port all the way to Santiago de Compostela.

What You Can Do Today

I’m Worried About My Fitness or Health

You know my story. I was 51, overweight, and just two years out from a cancer treatment when I walked my first Camino. Before I could leave home, my doctor required a full health check. Thankfully I passed but health and fitness are paramount, so do I take this seriously.

General Fitness

If your only worry is that you’re not fit enough now, then this is something you can do something about. Most pilgrims aren’t elite athletes, they’re ordinary people just like you who prepared and trained slowly.

I have a free 12 week Couch to Camino programme, but you can stretch this out over a much longer time frame if you need to. Set a date for your Camino, and just start walking.

I had a year to prepare before my first Camino. And getting fit for the Camino also means getting fitter for life which is a win on every level.

Existing Health Conditions

As I walked into Leon on my first Camino, I met a group of French pilgrims; four of them in wheelchairs, each with four people carrying and four spare carriers. They had walked every step from St Jean and they were amazing.

If you haven’t seen the film I Will Push You, please do; it documents two friends doing just that, and it is extraordinary. And another film about Phil is fabulous and documents Phil’s own courageous journey.

I’ve walked with cancer patients dosing chemotherapy on the trail and walked with pilgrims managing diabetes, asthma, and MS. I’ve walked with a man who has since completed the Triple Crown in the USA while living with Stage 4 cancer.

I don’t know your situation, and I would never make light of health challenges and I am not suggesting that every condition can be overcome. But before you decide it’s impossible, speak to your doctor, talk to other pilgrims and explore your options.

Sometimes finding another pilgrim who has already walked with a similar condition can be the inspiration you need. Before you draw a line under your dream, do a little more digging, you might be very surprised by what is possible.

Knees, Hips and Back

This is a common concern but you may be surprised and find that walking can actually help rather than hinder your issues. Gerry has back problems and he certainly finds that walking helps him.

Many physical challenges can be managed with the training, strapping, using hiking poles, correct footwear or by choosing a route that suits your body better.  

Always seek proper medical advice, because I’m not a doctor but equally, don’t give up before you’ve fully explored what is possible.

What You Can Do Today

If general fitness is the concern then you can change that.  And if physical limitations are your barrier, then remember the Pilgrim community is large and global and very inclusive.

General Fears & Lack Of Confidence

I have now walked 24 Caminos, I travel the world, I have hiked volcanoes in Indonesia and the Kumano Kodo in Japan.  We’ve hiked mountains in Patagonia, the rain forests of Borneo and the giant dunes of the Namib Desert.

We’ve done extraordinary things and yet I am the most fearful person going! I have no faith in my own abilities, I am afraid of cows, and dogs and flying insects and snakes and spiders and any little creature that scuttles.

I analyse and over analyse every situation and could talk myself out of everything.  For sure, sometimes I walk away from a challenge but I promise you that I’ve also tackled things I never dreamed possible and I’m still here to tell the tale.

Fear Of Going Alone

Fear stops more people than almost anything else and I understand this because the fear is real. But I’m here to prove that it doesn’t have to win.

After walking the Via de la Plata with a friend, I wanted to keep walking more remote trails but felt that my fear of walking solo would stop me.  I started this thread on Ivar’s Forum and the replies encouraged me to try.

Do not let fear stop you:

Fear of Not Coping Physically

Before my first Camino, I became so fearful that I cancelled my booking at Orisson and started walking from Roncesvalles instead. I regretted that decision for nearly 800 kilometres and went back to St Jean five months later to walk it. I’ve since crossed those mountains a further eight times.

If fear of the physical challenge is holding you back then don’t cancel. If you can delay your start and use the time to get fitter. Or maybe you’re like me and the fear is in your mind; in which case join a local walking group and test your fitness against others.

If the mountains really do concern you, and are stopping you then choose a different start or a different Camino. The first day out of Porto has no elevation and is glorious and if you start in Burgos you have the gentle landscape of the Meseta to build your confidence.

Have your bag transported if you need to, use hiking poles and walk shorter stages. There is no ‘single’ or ‘right’ way to walk the Camino.  Just the one that works best for you.

Fear Of The Unknown

Many pilgrims arrive at the start of their Camino having never left their home country before. Most don’t speak Spanish and many know nothing of where they have landed. But all have taken a huge leap of faith into the unknown.

Walking the Camino is a huge undertaking and your fear is completely understandable.

Take comfort that every day, hundreds of pilgrims arrive in the same situation. Systems are in place to help, services exist such as the pilgrim office in St Jean Pied de Port to offer advice. Before long, you quickly find yourself in a comfortable routine and feeling like you’ve been a pilgrim your whole life.

Fear Of Failure

When I left Pamplona in 2014, I had blisters and I knew that my feet hurt. I sat in the little church at Zariquiegui and said a quiet prayer, as a fat tear ran down my face. My boots were wrong, my sandals were wrong, I’d left my phone charger behind, and I felt completely alone.  I thought I was going to fail before I’d even started.

I reached Puente la Reina, but the following day from Lorca I took a taxi to Estella.  There I saw a doctor who lanced my blisters, I stayed in town for three days, bought new shoes, sorted my phone and walked on to Santiago de Compostela.

Accept that things might go wrong, and they probably will. But don’t let the fear of failing be the thing that stopped you from trying.

Fear Of The Emotional Challenges

You read so much about transformation that it’s natural to wonder what might surface or how much you may change.  Gerry says that he genuinely worried about this when I walked my first Camino.

I cried more than once. I was homesick. Things I’d long since forgotten came to mind and the woman who walked into Santiago was not the woman who had left Roncesvalles.

The Camino can be an emotional journey but I believe it eventually brings out the very best in people. And while there may be days along the way that feel impossible, at the end, the hard parts fade and what remains is something extraordinary.

What You Can Do Today

Feel the fear and do it anyway.  Which everyone says and it really doesn’t help… but actually it does.  However, I suggest that you start with something small and slowly build your confidence.

I Don’t Know Where To Start

I remember the first time I joined a camino forum and started reading posts about the Camino.  It was a whole new language. 

I didn’t know what albergues or credentials were and I thought there was only one Camino.  Camino veterans felt a little scary, place names were unpronounceable and gear choices were overwhelming and I felt totally disheartened.  Learning about the Camino seemed almost as hard as training but you don’t need all of the answers at the beginning.

Route Choice

When I first decided to walk, I assumed the Camino started in St Jean and ended in Santiago.  I thought you had to walk the entire route and that there was only one route.

I know now that there are a great many routes and that you can walk for five days or fifty.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the choices, my online camino planning workshop has an entire module dedicated to just this subject and I also have a post that might help you decide. 

Planning, Travel and Logistics

I was a complete novice but I found online forums (Facebook groups didn’t exist then), I read Camino books, learned about John Brierly and his stages, watched films like The Way and little by little I pieced it together and accepted that yellow arrows really would guide me across Spain.

Since then, having travelled independently across more than 60 countries, I feel much more confident planning complex journeys.  If logistics are the only thing holding you back, then don’t let them.

Join your local camino groups, join online communities, ask questions (there’s no such thing as a bad question) and slowly you will learn the jargon and feel more confident.

And if it helps, you could always book a one-to-one session with me and I’ll walk you through everything I know. Or buy my workshops, where I have modules on travel and planning and even Camino jargon!

What You Can Do Today

Knowledge is power.  Most people start dreaming about their Camino long before they take their first steps. 

I’ve Heard The Camino Has Changed

I’ve read this in one form or another from would be pilgrims who feel that they have missed their chance.  Maybe they’re read it will be too hot or too busy or too touristy, or that Spain no longer welcomes pilgrims.

I don’t believe this is the case. The Camino is evolving but it’s been evolving for over a thousand years and thank goodness for that!

It’s Too Busy

I’ve read worries about over-tourism on the Camino and in Spain, and while I don’t dismiss them, I can tell you that in the thousands of kilometres of walking, I have never once slept on a church porch or felt trapped in a bed-race. And no matter how poorly behaved a few pilgrims can be, Spain genuinely welcomes pilgrims.

If solitude is what you’re after, consider quieter routes like the Vía de la Plata or the Levante or the beautiful but short Camino Lebaniego.

Time your walk outside the busiest months and you’ll find far fewer pilgrims. May and September see the highest numbers but I left Pamplona one mid-October and had glorious autumn weather with barely a dozen other pilgrims on the trail. The Pilgrim Office website publishes pilgrim numbers by route and month and they are well worth a look.

Also remember the recent Compostela rule change: In 2025, the Cathedral in Santiago updated the requirements for the Compostela. You no longer have to walk specifically the last 100km.  Instead you need to walk any 100 continuous kilometres, plus the final stage into Santiago. Do remember though if you’re walking from Porto, 75 of your kilometres must be walked in Spain.

To avoid the crowds:

It’s Too Hot

It’s true; it can be very difficult walking in the heat of the summer.  But again there are options.

Walk at a cooler time of year.  Earlier in Spring and October onwards bring cooler temperatures and beautiful light. Do take note though that the Napolean Route is closed from St Jean to Roncesvalles 1 November to 31 March; the Valcarlos route is open and very beautiful.

If summer is your only option, head north, the coastal routes, Galicia, or a Celtic Camino all offer far more shade and cooler air. When walking in summer, invest in a UV hiking umbrella. I would not have completed the Vía de la Plata without mine.

And plan shorter days, stop before noon and walk shorter distances to avoid over exertion.

What You Can Do Today

If heat and busy trails put you off the easiest solution is to walk in a different season.

I’d Love to Walk the Camino, But…

I wish I had a euro for every time I’ve heard that sentence because I would have funded my next Camino.

I won’t pretend that every obstacle can be removed because some people genuinely cannot and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise. But for many would be pilgrims there are options and smaller steps that you can take to set you on your path.

Walk the Camino in sections, take several years to finish, put a start date on the calendar, even if it’s five or ten years from now.  Join your local Friends of the Camino, join a walking club or start walking trails closer to home.

Before I walked my first Camino, almost everyone I knew tried to talk me out of going.  I’d had cancer, I was overweight, I had never done this before and I had very little confidence. And yet I did walk and that walk changed my life. 24 Caminos later, I’m still going and I have no plans to stop.

If you dream of walking, please don’t let the but stop you. I know it sounds so cliche but it really is the things that we don’t do which are the ones we regret. So start planning!