beginning the Camino

[Martin Ray]

Hello Antonio da Silva and others --
Antonio, the single best resource I've discovered since joining this
chatroom is a small book put out by the UK organisation www.csj.org.uk
that I plan on using as my Camino "bible" during this walk.  It's called
"Pilgrim Guides to Spain -- 1. The Camino Frances".  95% of the
questions you may have before the walk, and 95% of those you may have
DURING the walk later on, are carefully gone into, in an organized,
simple fashion.  Believe me, I know how many necessary details there are
to cover in advance, not having done the camino yet myself, but now I
finally feel confident in my preparation, knowing this guidebook will
accompany me.  Footcare, guidelines as to the proper gear (& no more!),
first aid kits, thumbnail descriptions of the available resources in
each town & village, distances, warnings, alternate routes, etc, etc,
are discussed in just enough detail.... get this guide and read it
before you leave, you will not regret it!  (order online for about 7
Euros)
      Then you can discover the many other benefits the wonderful people
at THIS site will share with you -- like Sue's miracle, the personal
revelations many peregrinos experienced on the fierce, lonely plateau
called the meseta, avoiding the industrial outreaches when approaching
Burgos, leaving a stone from home (and one's own obsessive cares) at the
Cruz de Ferro, taking salt! as well as enough water, & much much more.
But first get your main course, the framework of details (the guide),
and then you can add the gravy (and the dessert) here....
       Antonio, I am also 57.  My name is James David Martin Ray (go by
Martin), live in Raleigh, NC, and have booked a ticket leaving here on
April 9 to Madrid.  I now plan to begin in Roncevalles, rather than in
St Jean PdP (thanks to thoughtful advice given here), and now feel
(again, from here), that this pilgrimage may take longer than I
originally planned.  As a further suggestion, have you given thought to
starting much further back (like in Roncevalles, Somport, or even le
Puy) and doing only what you can do?  Then you would really have
something to look forward to for next year, and be further prepared in
ways you can't even guess at yet.  This would also take out the very
real pressure to finish!, and to finish from an arbitrarily selected
beginning, which may be confusing to you at the moment (& even up to
your departure!).  Please give some thought to that, Antonio.  Having a
goal constantly in mind may also cause you to make some decisions that
you are likely to regret ("have to push on, even though I'd like to look
around this town, it's raining hard, and I'm injured and exhausted!").
You thereby allow yourself to be just where you are, and space for the
unexpected -- which you will certainly encounter!
     Whatever you decide, ultreya! and buon Camino!  (That goes to
everyone here, too)            Martin