In April, our little family of four is set to embark on quite the adventure. We are going to walk the Camino de Santiago — an 800-kilometer pilgrimage across northern Spain. We will start in the south of France in a town called St. Jean Pied-de-Port, and we will walk west until we reach Santiago, Spain, approximately 6 weeks later.
This adventure has been planned and dreamed of for years. When I was pregnant with Addie, we talked about walking the northern route of the Camino de Santiago as a family of three, and those talks shifted into a plan to walk just after Addie’s first birthday. We’d begun training and then covid happened. The world shut down, and we grieved the trip we thought would never happen. We could carry a one-year-old on our backs. How could we walk with an older child? How could we walk with more than one child?
But Addie was adventurous and easy-going and we started to think “what if?”
What if we altered our plans slightly? What if we brought a double stroller instead of a back carrier? What if we went while baby #2 was still not mobile? What if we stuck to the traditional route with its built-in infrastructure, instead of taking the less-traveled northern route?
I got pregnant and we began to cautiously plan, for a second time, to walk the Camino de Santiago, knowing fully well that it was dependent on who our new little adventure buddy turned out to be.
When Eloise was born, we knew within the first hour that she would be the perfect Camino companion; she was laid back and content from the start, and suddenly the Camino seemed possible again.
We booked our flights for April 14th, and we plan to start walking on the 21st. That means we have just under 6 weeks until we fly to France and 7 weeks until we begin our walk. As such, our preparation and training has kicked into high gear.
Last week, we took a little weekend getaway to Victoria, and we packed for the airport like we will for our upcoming trip. Two backpacks, a diaper bag, two car seats, a safe sleep space for the baby, a stroller…
This short practice flight ended up illuminating what will work for us, as well as what won’t.
- Our BOB revolution duallie stroller handled like a dream in the airport, even when packed to the brim with kids and bags. It was easy to fold down at the gate, despite one flustered flight attendant who seemed quite panicked at the sight of the massive stroller heading toward the little airplane, and it made it easy to navigate through the airport, not having to try to convince Addie to walk alongside us the whole time (a lesson we’d learned the hard way on a previous trip).
- We brought our Graco Pack n’ Play as a safe sleep space for Eloise, and we quickly realized that it would be too heavy and unwieldy to bring to Europe with us. For this trip, we were able to check it quickly at the airport, but we realized that we needed to look into lighter and more portable options for the Camino. We plan to send our packs ahead each day, so we won’t carry the Pack n’ Play for 800-kilometers, but we still need something that we can carry with ease as we navigate airports and train stations.
- Addie’s car seat was also a bit unwieldy on this trip, but will not be coming on the Camino with us. We ordered the Ride Safer Travel Vest to carry with us instead, for any taxi rides we may need to take. The XS size is good for 22 to 40 lbs (age 2 and up) and the vest is both a safe and legal option. It is only a couple lbs and fits nicely in our bags. Perfect for travel safety and peace of mind.
If we had any takeaway about flying with two kids, it was that people were generally very willing to help, especially if it meant a chance to hold a baby. Keeping our toddler occupied on our long flight will be more of a challenge than flying with an infant. Eloise slept through both flights (just as Addie did at this age), and I’ve come to find this infant stage is the ideal time to fly with a child (I really hope I don’t have to eat these words on our transatlantic flight).
Victoria also gave us a chance to test out our Camino clothes, in weather that will be more similar to Spain than Edmonton’s winter weather. I was worried about how we would be able to keep Eloise dry in case of rain, but our rain cover worked well enough, even with the car seat installed on the stroller. I still want to pick up a good lightweight, waterproof jacket, but otherwise, we came home feeling fairly confident with our packing list.
So, with our packing list mostly finalized, and the air travel ironed out, all that really leaves is the training component of our preparation.
Having only recently recovered from pregnancy and a c-section, I knew that training would be difficult for me and that I wouldn’t have a lot of time to train. Add to that winter conditions, and I knew we’d have a hard time fitting our training in.
The other day, we completed our first long training walk: a 15-kilometer boring slog through the city. It was cold, the sidewalks were snowy, and the city was drab and depressing looking. Normally we prefer to hike in the river valley, or on nature trails outside of town, but those aren’t an option for training walks, as the snow and ice on those trails aren’t navigable with the stroller. So, we sucked it up and chose a city route. It wasn’t our favourite walking route, but it wasn’t all bad, either. We stopped for chai lattes along the way and had a picnic lunch in the mall to warm up. Eloise slept the entire walk, and Addie kept in good spirits until the final few minutes.
On the Camino de Santiago, we plan to walk an average of 20-kilometers per day, though there are some days (like the first day crossing the Pyrenees) where we will need to do about 25. I was tired and sore after 15, which tells me I still have a good deal of training to get to the point where I can walk 20 kilometers per day comfortably. Our goal is to fit one long (15+-kilometer) walk in each week, with at least one other walk each week at half the distance.
Time will tell if our training plan works out for us.
In the meantime, we are all very eagerly counting down until April 14th. Our bags are in our living room, where we gaze at them and dream. Addie has started practicing Spanish with me in the car, and she now proudly says “buenas noches,” instead of good night. When she gets upset, for comfort she says “talk to me about my Camino,” and she has me talk about the trip until she calms down and/or falls asleep. We listen to our Camino de Santiago playlist in the car, where we sing along to “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers, over and over again.
Physically, I’m not ready yet, but mentally we’re all already there. April cannot come fast enough!