Should You Go?

The first and most important question you should ask yourself about the Camino is if you should do it at all.  My mom heard about the trip from a woman at her church, and my sister and I just jumped at the chance to go to Europe without thinking about it too much.  Mom, of course, thought about it a lot more, and was hoping to have a real religious pilgrimage.  The spiritual aspect was much less important for me and Susan.  Here are some important questions for reflection I recommend to help you decide if the Camino is for you.

1.   Are you doing the Camino for primarily religious reasons?

Pro: There is a lot of time for private, internal meditation.

Con: Mom was very disappointed by the lack of churches on the route.  She got to go to church just once while we were on the Camino, and again in Santiago.  The towns you will pass are often so small that they do not offer daily mass, and you will certainly not want to wait around until it's mass time if you arrive at a town with a church hours early.

2.   Are you doing the Camino for personal renewal or spiritual reasons?

Pro: Getting out and walking all day every day is refreshingly (and surprisingly) not-boring.  It felt good to concentrate on where my feet should go next, and to be so unplugged from daily life.  I loved being outside all day, and it feels good to not sit in a car.  There is something very refreshing about walking wherever you want to go; there is something deeply satisfying about being outside all day.
Con: The last stretches of the Camino (roughly the last 80 or so km) are crowded and unpleasant.  Much of the walk is either on or directly next to a blacktop asphalt road, sometimes a major highway.  This is incredibly unpleasant and disruptive if you are trying to unplug / meditate / enjoy nature.

3.   Are you doing the Camino for sport purposes?

Pro: We did the minimum 100km in just one week, which included a holiday.  So, we only had to use 4 vacation days from work.  Compared to the Appalachian Trail or similar in the US, the Camino was good because there were cafes and hostels readily available, meaning we did not have to pack food or tents. 
Con: Unless those pros are a major major deal to you, DO NOT walk Sarria to Santiago for sport.  You will be sorely disappointed by the commercialism, crowded trail, and frequent road walking.  You will probably also be disappointed in the difficulty of the hiking: many serious hikers consider this portion of the Camino to be "flat" (though it is absolutely not flat--more on that below).  Additionally, I admit my mom and I were both looking forward to losing weight and we did not!  In fact, we both gained weight.  So, don't count on this trip to trim your figure.

These first three questions correspond to the three categories that are options when you arrive in Santiago at the pilgrim's office.  But there are other factors:

4.   How athletic are you?  (Are you physically prepared?)

Pro: The Camino has relatively good access to moderately-sized towns which have pharmacies and other facilities in case you have problems on the trail.  It's also not at all uncommon for people to take taxis between towns (see our experience on the Itineraries page) and for people to take extra days as "rest days" to heal blisters, sore feet, etc.
Con: As I mentioned above, the last 100km is often billed as "flat".  This may be true, but only compared to crossing the Pyrenees!  If you are only doing the last 100km, however, you will not have that frame of reference and the trail appears very hilly.  You do need to be in moderate shape to do even just the last 100km.

5.   How well do you cope with travel annoyances?

Pro: Hostels are pretty cheap (most are 10€).  There are occasionally hotels along the route, and you can call ahead to many hostels and they will reserve you a bed.  The rain I experienced (which I was told is typical) was not hard most of the time--rather, it was misty or cloudy most days.  I am not a morning person, but it was very easy for me to adapt to getting up early and hitting the trail.
Con: Hostels are not for everyone.  People snore or get drunk on wine and stay up late giggling.  The showers are not especially private, usually, and the bathrooms are out of toilet paper more often than not.  Other peregrinos have reported bed bugs, although we never saw any signs of them.  These are precisely the reasons my dad opted not to come with us.  It's an important factor, since you will not get any reprieve unless you shell out money on a hotel.


6.   The basics: Can you afford it?  Can you take time off work / caring for your family / etc.?

Pro: It's relatively easy to tailor your trip to your needs.  This was a main factor in our decision to do the minimum 100km (time off work).  We also found the trip very affordable: we averaged 33€ per person per day, including all food and lodgings (but not including airfare and train tickets).
Con: You'll need to decide if, given all the above information, it's worth it to make the short trip.  If you can, I recommend that you do the whole Camino (other websites can give you better info on the whole French Way and other routes).  If you can't do the whole thing, think about your motives carefully and consider just staying in Santiago and touring the town itself (which is fabulous).

The bottom line
As I mentioned above, this was my mom's idea and I just wanted to go to Europe.  If I could go back in time, I would have much rather just spent time in Santiago (and perhaps Madrid and Barcelona), seeing art museums, touring historic sites, and visiting the cathedrals.  Alternatively, if we were more prepared physically and could have taken more time off work, the Camino would have been more meaningful as a true pilgrimage if we would have walked the whole way.  Another option would be to just do a portion of the route farther away from Santiago, as it's less crowded and more beautiful.  However, I am very glad that we did even just this minimum Camino, because the experience was valuable as personal development for me and I really enjoyed unplugging and being outside so much.

If you want to go because you read about it in one of the (many) famous Camino books and you would be doing it as a sort of tourism, consider planning a different kind of trip. If you want to go because you are interested in the sport, consider doing only a portion of the trail farther away from Santiago.