@Shredder
That's pretty much the way to go, I think. I can let things go if I've done a bunch of preparation. Than I feel confident I'll manage. Otherwise it'll lead to stress in the field. I'd mostly use the calculator in the preparation phase, to get a better feel for the landscape, so to speak. I lack a lot of that, since I've lived in a flat country my whole life. I'm used to think in amount of time per km, but my reference doesn't make any sense in the mountains. An 8km walk taking three hours just doesn't compute in my Dutch mind. Lack of experience is the bottom line. Working on it...
Figuring out the logistics is turning out to be bloody complicated. I'm aiming to go from central Portugal to the starting point of the Camino Frances in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (SJPDP) around Easter. Public transportation shuts down almost completely during school holidays in this region in Portugal. At first it looked like I wouldn't even be able to get away other than walking long distance over the mountain. Now I found a bus that should go on week days, roughly 3 hours walking up hill from where I'm at. If I leave around 4AM, I should be able to catch it. It'll drop me off in the middle of nowhere, where I have 7 minutes to catch the bus to an actual town, the only chance left that day. From there, there is a direct bus (like greyhound) to San Sebastian in the North of Spain. It's a night bus, which hopefully saves me the hassle of staying at a hotel somewhere.
But I found out that these bus companies get horrific reviews on trustpilot. I'm speaking 1.5 out of 5 stars on average! Not showing up, departing half an hour early, cancellation just a few hours before departure, stolen luggage, no toilets, no eating or drinking allowed, dropping people off somewhere else. I've traveled with them before and never had any problem, but this is making me nervous. The thing is, there isn't much of an alternative. I could do parts by train and parts by bus. It would mean more chances of missing transfers, having to book hotels somewhere, getting to it, getting from it to the next train or bus the next day, etc. I prefer doing as much of the journey in one go as possible and afterwards recover. It's what I've done to get to Portugal thus far. That makes for a very long and tough day, but it works for me if I make it to each transfer. In case of getting to SJPDP, that makes two of those days in a row, with a night on a bus in between. Combined with social anxiety and a sleep disorder, it could mean a big blow to the system.
Landing from this in a social situation at an albergue, sleep in a bunk bed in a dorm, and doing the most brutal day of the entire Camino the next day (over the Pyrenees), I don't think is a good idea. I'm still uncertain if there will be a bed available on the other side of the Pyrenees. I get mixed messages about that. Apparently making a reservation for a night in SJPDP is already (near) impossible due to popularity. The last thing I found out is that more people than usual are planning to start at SJPDP right after easter this year. This would make the bed issue even worse. I wanted to avoid all of this by going off season. Now I'm considering to stick to my initial plan to start at the end of March. I had abandoned this idea because I thought only a few nutcases would be there, which would defy my primary reason for doing this in the first place.
There's a high route and a low route over the Pyrenees. The high one is only open starting from April if the weather permits. The low route is through the valley and less rough. I'm thinking about walking only 10KM my first day and staying at an albergue in a tiny town. Apparently most people march on to the next town, which is the same end point for most who take the high route. Taking it slow in the beginning, especially with this stressfull travel madness the days before, sounds like a good idea. The next day I could realistically continue beyond Roncesvalles, where most people sleep, and avoid another bed bottleneck.
I really dislike having to make a reservation for a bed on the Camino. That makes it into a planned endeavor, which goes against what I'm aiming for and what many say the spirit of the Camino. I'm planning to stay in public albergues if I can. Apparently they have a first come, first serve policy and don't take reservations. Yet, some seem to allocate a percentage of beds for reservations. The vaguery around it drives me nuts. Since the Camino has become so popular, the race for albergues has become a real thing. I wonder if I can avoid it by going off season. I can imagine this daily stressor is something that would put me off so much that I'd rather quit.
At some point I'm going to have to let go and take the jump. The last thing I want this pilgrimage to be is five weeks of survival. If it's about anything, it's about letting go, learning to trust things will work out, don't worry. Physically, socially, emotionally, mentally. Letting go means being able to be present and connect. With the environment and with the fellow pilgrims I meet. This is a tough challenge for my anxious mind. My Camino has already begun.
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