Donald Bowes

Senior Camino Donald Bowes

Senior Camino is a basic guide for seniors who are contemplating walking the Camino de Santiago, a 1200-year old pilgrimage in Northern Spain, but who may not know how to get started or where to go for information that pertains to their particular set of circumstances, specifically regarding their advanced age. How do I get there? Where will I stay at night? What is the food like? Can I really do this? These pages include the answers to those questions and many others. They also provide advice for physical, mental and spiritual preparation, as well as practical training to be ready to meet the challenges of a 30-40 day walk over 500 miles along the Camino Frances route. The author also presents a day-by-day chronicle of the experiences of his two "caminos" in 2013 and 2015, both having occurred when he was over the age of 70. The days are filled with the ups and downs of an amazing journey, the aches and pains of sore muscles, broken bones and blisters, encounters along the way with phenomenal people from all over the world, the frustrations of slogging through wind, rain and mud, and the unmitigated joy of finally arriving in Santiago de Compostela. The adventure of "walking the Camino" is one of encountering fears, discovering one's inner strength and spirituality, and learning to live moment to moment. Senior Camino encompasses all this and more.