A quick Camino post for kids!
We wanted to include a post for kids (and parents) about walking the Camino de Santiago. There is so much to cover but this is just a quick summary off the top of our heads. The Camino requires some flexibility for sure! Asha is naturally flexible and grew more so over the course of walking the Camino (we all did!). Some of this was by necessity and some of this was just a function of adaptation over time.
Here are some of our family's tips for walking the Camino:
Involve kids in the planning of the Camino early on. Explain it, make sure they are up for the adventure and encourage them to help plan the stages. Share pictures. Asha was really interested in helping plan the itinerary. We were all so excited by the time we landed in Spain!
Make sure the backpack you bring is adjustable. Before we left we tried every backpack and walked with the final selection a few times in Baltimore. We went with an Osprey XS women's pack, Tempest 20L The other kids packs were either too big or didn't fit right. We felt good about our selection. By day 2 of the Camino, however, Asha's backpack no longer fit given her loss of 1-2 lbs from walking the first 2 days over the Pyrenees! She ended up wearing our daypack instead, an REI Flash 22, that had a more adjustable waist strap for much for the Camino. For some of the longer stages, we sent Asha's packs (and sometimes our's too!) ahead with luggage transport so she could just walk and enjoy the experience.
Asha brought 2 of every type of clothing, just like we did, i.e. 2 short sleeve shirts, 2 long sleeve, 2 shorts, 4 undies, 4 socks, hiking boots, city shoes, flip flops, favorite pajamas, rain coat, puffy coat, gloves, hat, sun hat. Everything was quick dry as we knew it would have to be washed often, or rained on, and need to dry quickly.
Bring cards or small games. We did not bring this as we tried to pack light. We thought we have luck finding games in the big cities in Spain. This was not the case. We miss having cards and games and will find Uno or Set in Italy.
Always use hiking poles! Kids are tough but still need hiking poles to avoid more wear and tear on the knees later on in life.
Always have snacks! We learned early that siesta is a real challenge. We came to love the concept but it threw us for a loop at the beginning. We'd arrive in a city around 12:30pm and everything would be closed. Everything. Until about 2:30p, sometimes until 5p in big cities. We learned early on that we always needed to carry nuts, an apple, peanut butter and granola bars. We often carried boiled eggs, and cheese. We'd pick up a baguette in the morning and use it for our lunch and snacks as we walked.
Plan longer breaks and more of them. Whether it's lunch, having a juice at a cafe, leave room to rest and elevate feet and take off boots. It was never a good idea to skip or rush through cafés trying to get to the next one before a certain time. Inevitably, that next café was closed or out of everything. Stop at the cafés earlier than you think.
Always stop for ice cream. No explanation needed :)
Try new foods! Asha is an adventurous eater and this helped a lot with trying new menu items when the selection was limited. That said, each place we stopped usually had fries or pasta. We ate a lot of cheese sandwiches on baguettes. Pringles became a family go to as well as nuts and baguettes. We had to just eat what was available and that was sometimes as healthy as we eat at home (we are vegetarian) but usually less so. And we talked a lot about how that was ok and even necessary - caloric intake was important for the amount of walking we were doing each day. We did a lot of cooking on our own as much of possible to get variety and healthier meals. Many of the albergues have kitchens you can use.
Stay in airbnbs or get a private room every few days to enjoy a hot shower, do laundry and get some quality sleep. This was helpful for everyone.
Have a ton of fun learning about the history of the town, the local foods and desserts. We loved castles, museums, little libraries and ruins. And water! We loved the streams at Zubiri and Larasoaña, and the Olympic outdoor pool at Puente de la Reina!
Be prepared that walking can get boring. We came up with songs to sing, topics of conversation to discuss, had audio books to listen to, and tried to take our time smelling the roses everywhere we went.
Take toilet paper with you always. On Mondays, everything is closed and we couldn't always wait to go until reaching a bathroom...
Let them run, skip, play and explore! Asha is/was a great inspiration for having fun and letting go of any stress. One of our favorite days was our last of the Camino when we walked 21km in a downpour. Asha's delight in this experience kept us going. She jumped in puddles and loved the rain.
One on one conversations with each parent is wonderful. There's lots of time to really imagine, be creative and talk about just about everything! Listen and take in this unique experience with your kiddo.
Interacting with other pilgrims is fun! Slow down and have conversations with other pilgrims to learn about their lives. We met pilgrims from all over the world, with all backgrounds, jobs, interests, hobbies and we learned so much about different ways of living.
The Camino can be smelly! A lot of the Camino is in the country side with farms and animals and with this comes pungent smells! Be prepared with a mask or essential oil if your kiddo has a strong sense of smell.
Share the Camino map, stages and kilometer plan for the day with our kiddo and have them decide, or help decide each stage and how long they want to walk. You will be amazed how quickly kiddos can rack the mileage. Asha was game to walk up to 15 km by day 3. It was just amazing to see how far she could go.
Allow for lots of downtime after walking. After arriving at an albergue , shower and rest. Asha read on her kindle, watched Netflix, wrote in her journal and wrote post cards, and or napped. It was mostly her choice. At dinner we'd plan the next day and hang out with other pilgrims or stroll around town. Rest time was always preserved and very much needed.
Definitely do the Camino!! The Pyranees are amazing and we loved all the towns we passed through. We loved walking and exploring. It was hard, tiring and we had some tough days. But we'd do it again in a heartbeat! It would be fun to do with other families and kiddos. We hope to do it again with friends.
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