Camino de Santiago...how much time can you take?

Right now my family and I are in Jaca (in the Pyrenees), which is on the route of the Camino de Santiago. My dad and I have been thinking about walking it for a while, but he doesn´t get too much vacation time in the summer (when we would be able to walk). I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a limit on how long you can take to walk and complete the entire Camino. What we would have to do is start in the summer and stop when he has to go back to work, then continue the following summer. Can you take more than 1 summer?
Thanks! *Marisa*

Hola Marisa,
I hope that you and your family are having a wonderful time!

A pilgrim sets his own path, Marissa, so if you and your Father with to do this journey over time, that's wonderful. It's wonderful because you will always remember this experience.

There is no "set time" it takes as long as it takes. When you focus on time, you lose sight of the importance of the journey itself! It's the experience of the journey that is important to a pilgrim. A true pilgramige is a soul searching experience, the wonder of your pilgramige is that you will be sharing it with someone you love.

I found this little poem in a book titled The Pilgramige Road To Santiago
The Road has no beginning,
and the Road has no end.
The towns they run together
and they run apart again.
Right now is the only moment,
and Time is the time to go
and make yourself a pilgrim
on the Road to Santiago.
¡Buen Camino!

hey everybody

the caminho seems to be made for doing the whole way from roncesvalles to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA. at least in my opinion of course. BUT..since your quite young though possibly in good health like alot of youngsters your age, I would say try from from leon,not ponferrada or o cebreiro but LEON. anyways its almost in the exact middle of the caminho.

hola,

The 'entire' camino is from wherever you wish to set out. The 'end' of the camino could also be Finisterre after Santiago, but for a pilgrim the 'camino' never ends. The memories of pains, pleasures and wonders live on a lot longer and the spirit absolutely continues it's journey, never mind if you're religious/spiritual or not.

People cycle the route, walk the route, do it in a month or even over years, a week here a week there, it's not important really. A lot of people fit it in in different seasons because of work/study, as long as you know when the refugios are open/closed you can plan when is most suitable for you.
As for a starting point, well on route you will meet many people starting from their own country as far away as Norway, Italy, Germany, Austria etc etc. France of course is the most popular starting point like Paris, Le Puy, St Jean Pied de la Port, Biarritz, BAyonne etc etc.
Officially the last 100km from Santiago will be recognised as the least amount of distance required to get your compostela. This is 3/4 days of walking and is just as valid as starting from anywhere else.

Menos agua y mas vino, asi es el Camino!!

Buen Camino peregrina!!

Marisa & Tom:
I looked all through a guidebook to the Camino that I have and didn't find any reference to how many years you have to complete the pilgrimage. But you will need a Credencial de Peregrino validated along the way in order to claim your la Compostela at the Oficina de Peregrinacion whenever you do complete your pilgrimage.
¡Ultreya!

hello everybody

eddie

ULTREIA NOT ULTREYA
HEHE :p

From Roncesvalles (or Canfranc if you are on Jaca) to Santiago de Compostela you will have to plan from 20 to 30 days.

The minimum distance to get a pilgrim credential is 110 kilometers.
From Triacastela (in the border between Galiza and Castile) to Santiago plan about 7 days. That's more or less 110 kilometers.

The best parts of the Camino for me were the last 100 kilometers and those from Roncesvalles to Logroño (though I did also the part from Canfranc to Puente de la Reina in Aragon).

You won't regret walking through the Camino

Fernando

I think you question was actually whether you could come and do a "tramo"...and then "pick up where you left off" a year later, etc.

The answer is yes. If you're walking, you need only complete the final 100k in "one fell swoop" or if cycling or on horseback, 200k. The rest is up to you.

Since you get to keep the credential anyway, you can stamp it whenever, wherever, etc. I know of pilgrims that completed the camino over the course of 10 years. I actually met one along the way last year.

While it is traditional to make Roncesvalles the "start", as has been mentioned here and in other fora, the pilgrimage begins where you would like. I began a little further back on the road at Valcarlos, and many consider the French border town of St. Jean Pie-de-Port their start. [It wouldn't be the Camino Francés if you didn't at least sniff France!!]

Marisa & Tom:
So it looks like you have to complete the final 100km (62.5mi) in one fell swoop (walking) to earn the la Compostela; but 100km is really all you have to walk, in total, to earn that certificate. If you are biking (or on horseback) I believe it's 200km (about 125mi).

fmiketheman writes: Is that in Galego-Portugues (one of the recognized official languages of Spain - mainly in the Xunta de Galizia) or Castellano (another)??

Eddie, a little correction: Galego is a different language from portuguese.

Both are dialects of a primary and old language which is the one you mentioned: Galego-portuguese.

To be true, they are quite similar. As far as I know (I don't speak any of them) someone speaking in galego is mostly understood by a portuguese and viceversus (it seems that galego is more influenced by castilian, which would be easily understandable).

Fernando

hey everybody

eddie
ultreia
is in galego
i thought you knew that with the good spain knowledge that you have.

Linguistically, from the use of "y", it would seem that "ultreya" is the galego version of the latin "ultreia".

For reference, note that "Santiago" in galego is "Sant Yago", while in Shakespeare's Othello [set in Venice and Cyprus...much closer to Italy and its Latin] it's "Iago" not "Yago"...

Either way, you certainly don't see it written as often as you hear it spoken along the camino!

hey everybody

are you sure calibasco

spanish and galego linguistic comparisons for you

yolanda=spanish
iolanda=galego

iago=galego
yago=spanish

ultreya=spanish
ulteia=galego

theres many more cool comparisions between galego and spanish
a cool site on this is
www.fillos.org

another one
hijos=spanish
fillos=galego