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Thinking about taking your new family member to Camino de Santiago (or any other hike)? Here is how we prepared
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If you are like us, love to hike and travel and have a kid, your world is not over. You can still travel with your precious new family member, it's just a bit different.
So what do you do?
Research
A good chance that you are not the first. Try to find information on the subject, ask people that did it before (maybe read a specific blog :D). We found plenty of people online that shared their experiences, and we even found some among our friends. We researched the route as well to see what is possible. If your research gets you results you're not happy with, it's a good enough reason not to do the hike.
Consult professionals
No, your cousin that says that it's not safe for a baby to be carried around doesn't count, especially if that cousin's only travel was to stay at an AirBNB in the closest town. We consulted our pediatrician and our physiotherapist. The pediatrician advised to wait until our son holds his head and to limit the time in the carrier both per day and at once. The physiotherapist gave us some exercises we can do with our baby to help him develop on the go.
Plan your trip
Once you get your research done and the green light from the doctors you can start planning. We decided the following:
We are going to go for 6 weeks
We are going in April, when our baby is 7 months old, the weather is not too warm and the trail is not full of people yet (as it is before the official start of the season)
We will walk about 10-15km per day (about half of the speed of normal people doing the Camino)
We will walk for about 4 hours per day
We will be making a stop every 1.5-2 hours to let our baby out of the carrier and give him time to play and exercise
We have enough time, so if we need a rest we can take a day off
If at any point either of us feels that it is too much for us, we pack up and go for vacation in the closest city and from there home
We downloaded and used the Buen Camino app to plan our stops on the go.
Choose your starting point
You can start walking almost at any point, even from your own home, as long as you have your pilgrim credentials (yes, people do that). Based on our time and speed we chose to start at León, and got our credentials at the Association of friends of the Camino once we arrived.
Choose how the baby is walking
The obvious answer is a carrier, which is what we did. But there is also an option to do the Camino with a stroller. Some of the terrain is not very friendly, so a stroller would have to be doing the bicycle route - on roads and highways. So, doable but I wouldn't recommend it.
Which carrier to choose?
One that is comfortable for the baby
One that is comfortable for you
In that order. We opted in for a Moyo carrier. It was comfortable for all 3 of us, and as a bonus I didn't feel extra pressure on my shoulders when I tried it together with my backpack (yes, I brought a full backpack to try on baby carriers)
Pack your stuff
You are carrying an extra person, and equipment for him, so keep it light!
Leon's stuff:
Thule alltrail 45 backpack | Flip flops | Pocket knife |
Kuhl fleece jacket | Sunblock | |
2 long sleeve t-shirts | Columbia rain jacket | Toothbrush and toothpaste |
2 short sleeve t-shirts | 5 pairs of socks and underwear | Beef jerky (for tough times) |
Hiking pants (can be made into shorts) | Traveling towel | A few instant soups |
Shorts | Boll Karma Plus sleeping bag | Medications |
Our son's stuff:
Winter hoodie | 3 pacifiers | Baby spoon |
Warm fleece jacket | Sleeping sack | Baby bottle |
3 pairs of pants | Package of diapers | 1 bag of purridge |
3 onesies | 3 changing mats | Small titanium mug (for warming baby food) |
4 pairs of socks (take more!!) | Package of wet wipes | Breastmilk pump |
Pijama | Bepanthen cream | Moyo carrier |
2 hats | 2 chewing toys | Sunblock |
Picnic blanket | Medications | Small umbrella |
Lucy's stuff:
Ortovox Traverse 28 S backpack | Odlo thermal shirt | Boll Karma Plus sleeping bag |
Sketchers | Rain coat | 2 pairs of pants |
Flip flops | Warm jacket | 4 shirts |
La Sportiva hiking boots | 5 pairs of socks and underwear | Shorts |
Flip flops | Winter hat | Cap |
Final verdict: Leon - 14kg, Lucy - 8kg, baby weights 8kg.
Final thoughts
Remember that this is your choice, don't let these words convince you to do something you are not comfortable with. It is not an easy thing to do, and the purpose of these posts is to show you that it is possible to walk Camino de Santiago with a baby, not to make you do it. The important part of walking the camino with a baby is to prepare.
We enjoyed our walk, and our baby seemed to enjoy it as well.
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