It’s about this time of the year when I start to plan for another Camino. I return to my guidebooks and scour the internet. The questions that often arise are a) what route will I take? b) where will I start and end? and c) how will I get there? The question… “will I be able to afford it?” has never cropped up….until now.

At this point, I haven’t truly decided if I will make a return in 2016. In the last month, I received some great news that I can’t share just yet and it has made me reconsider a return for next year. Ah..but the Camino is not going anywhere, I hear you say! You can make a return in a few years, surely? You may very well be right (you are actually!), but I had my heart set on a return, and the heart is never wrong! I guess I will know a definite answer in the coming weeks.

If I do return, I plan on taking an alternative route. The reasons for this are many. Firstly, the Pope has announced 2016 as a jubilee year for pilgrims and the amount of people walking the final stages is expected to increase. Secondly, I have already walked from Sarria to Santiago in 2011 and wish to try something different. And finally, I would like a bit of solitude. I am interested in the Camino Ingles and have ordered Johnnie Walker’s guide from the csj website. The Camino Ingles starts in Ferrol in Galicia, in the north of Spain and is just over 100km long. It is perfect for a week’s walk.

My return all depends on how everything goes with this “great news” but I should know in January if one of the Caminos will expect my rucksack and shell.