Camino Madrid
After an almost three year absence, I am returning to the Camino de Santiago.
Deb and I have booked our tickets for the flight to Madrid, and from there we will walk the Camino Madrid to Sahagun.
Description of the Camino Madrid
Total Length: 322 Km (200 miles)
Number of Stages: 13 -15
Average Length of Stages: 20 - 25 Km
Checklist (redacted):
- Vaccines/Boosters
- 72 hours prior to departure, complete the Covid requirements (if you don't have a EU Digital Covid Certificate:
- Passport
- Global Traveler
- Travel Insurance
- Notify Bank of travel outside of USA
- Any Bills to Pay
- Test electronics
Checklist (in full):
- Vaccine and boosters. Spanish Health Control Form if you don't have EU Digital Covid Certificate
- Check passport for expiration date.
- Verify any visa requirements. (Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland)
- Currently, US citizens can travel to Europe for up to 90 days without any sort of travel authorization. Starting with 2023, US citizens visiting parts of Europe will need authorization from the European Union.
- The European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, will require "pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area.
- I plan to hike in Switzerland (requires entry to France and exit in Italy), Spain and Portugal. These countries are in the Schengen Area. Note that Great Britain and Ireland are NOT in the Schengen Area.
- Consider getting a TSA Global Entry Card
- Expedites processing on your return to the U.S.
- Can also be used for TSA Precheck within the U.S.
- Consider getting the TSA approved Mobile Passport app for your smart phone.
- Health Care: Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the U.S. Purchase travel insurance the provides for, at least, major medical, transportation while injured/sick and return of remains to U.S.
- Check expiration date on credit/debit cards.
- Notify bank of travel outside of USA so that they don't lock card due to suspected fraud.
- Auto-pay any bills or pay early.
- Plane ticket.
- Test out all your electronics, e.g. chargers, tablets, cables/cords, phones. Bring equipment designed for your electronics.
- Have your power adapters available. Adapters differ among the U.S., Great Britain/Ireland and Spain/Portugal. See pictures below.
Camino Stages:
I used this excellent planner to explore various ways of combining stages. It lets me play easily with various options to compensate for stages that would be too long, especially in June.- Rutas a Santaigo (Follow the link for a good description of the Camino Madrid.)
Adapters
Be very careful of voltage and/or current surges when connecting your electronics to wall outlets. Best procedure is disconnect your device from the power cord. Insert the adapter into the wall outlet, then the power plug of your device into the adapter and only then, connect your device to its power cord. It is not uncommon for voltage and / or current surges to arc across the wall outlet, into the transformer and then travel to your device, possibly damaging some of its features or even crippling the device.
Spanish/Portuguese Power adapter
Having the USB ports (type A) is very convenient.
Great Britain / Ireland / Switzerland Power adapter
On the right-side image, you can see where one inserts Spanish / Portuguese plugs.
