Family Camino – Teri and Her Kids

Hundreds of families walk the Camino de Santiago each year. They come in all shapes, sizes, and combinations. From solo mothers walking with young children to grandparents walking with their grown-up grandchildren, we see it all. Sometimes family groups even have three generations walking the Camino together!

Teri has walked a couple of different stages of the Camino. Her first trip was the last 100km of the French Way into Santiago de Compostella for her 60th birthday. Her second, at the age of 65, was an incredible 28 night trip with us. She walked from Burgos to Santiago and members of her family joined her for a few stages along the way.

When she turns 70, she is planning to do the beginning stages of the Camino Frances (Pied de Port, France, to Burgos) with us as well so that she can say she has completed the whole thing.

Teri is quite active, as you might be able to tell from her ambitious journeys! She looks after her active grandchildren and works as an Activities Specialist for a group of care homes. In saying that, this was still quite out of her comfort zone as she hadn’t really done active holidays in the past. She trained for a year to get fit enough to walk the Camino, with the support of her family.

Family Walking Companions

Two of Teri’s four sons did the walk with her, as well as her daughter-in-law. In the beginning, it didn’t seem like anyone would be able to join her, but she managed to convince them just in time!

Sharing the experience of walking the Camino with your sibling can make it even more special and that is why we created a blog where you can find everything about siblings on the Camino!

I asked Teri why she decided to walk the Camino again, she said “Spirituality was my main reason. I was in the company of like-minded people.”

“Walking the Camino with my children was OUTSTANDING. Katherine made it so easy!” She said, “My first 25 miles was with last son Trevor and his wife Stephanie. The left their baby and started me out on the journey before taking off to Portugal. I loved our time together, it was short and sweet and I loved sharing my son with his wife.”

The next 5 days Teri walked by herself, with time to think and pray. After that, she was joined by her 3rd son, Trent.

“It was awesome because I had a lot of time with him and yet he gave me space to pray as he did as well. Yes at times it got tough, one day we had to walk 19 miles. I was pooped, and we had 2miles to go. So Trent plugged in The Beatles and we listened to them the last 2 miles into Astorga!”, She told me.

Teri’s husband also joined her for the last few days of her Camino.

Incredible Family Memories on the Camino

When I asked her what her highlights of walking the Camino with her family were, she said “Just the fact they wanted to come with me. To leave their jobs and join and support me in this adventure.” She especially enjoyed going to mass with one of her sons and sharing special meals with him.

The trip has changed her relationship with her third son, Trent, who she walked about 100 miles with. They are closer now, after this “trip of a lifetime”.

Teri believes that Trent grew during the Camino. He wants to go back with her again when she walks the Camino to celebrate turning 70 years old.

A Family Holiday Teri Would Do Again

“Would you recommend the Camino with your children to other mothers?” I asked.

“Yes, yes, yes! No questions.” She replied. “Trent was a huge support to me when there were long days. When would I have experienced that in day to day life?”

She is “ABSOLUTELY” planning on doing it again. She has even pencilled in the dates – 2024.

We are so looking forward to welcoming Teri back to the Camino, hopefully with even more of her family!

If you’re interested in walking the Camino with your daughter, with your son or even both of them, another great example of how bonding walking the Camino with your children could be is the story of Ane and her daughter who walked the Portuguese Way with us in 2019!

If you are interested in a family holiday that is like no other, get in touch with us.