I’m an introvert. I was quite happy to do my whole Camino alone, and I was never interested in making friends or joining any groups. Body language is just as important: I don’t give any indication that I’m seeking company. Only once did one person join me against my will. I stuck with it for s while because it was kind of a novel experience for me, and because I figured it would build character to try and remain polite while arguing for hours, while walking full-tilt, with someone on the completely opposite side of the ideological spectrum. With that said, at the first opportunity where they wanted to rest and stay for a while, I took my cue to take off and walk fast enough never to meet them again.

On the other hand, I keep running into a group of people, where I would pass them, then they would pass me, and after a while it was unavoidable to remark on that, make fun of it, and yes, walk together for a bit and chat. But they never invited me to join them, and viceversa. We respected each other’s quiet moments, and when we split, we split, happily and with a “maybe I’ll see you in the next town”. When we met again, we could walk together for a bit. When either party wanted to continue, there was no pressure for the other to join. We lost track of each other close to Sarria. That was fine.

I believe it is a feature of the “Max” subscription, which I’m trying for free for now. Regardless, it is available in French, but not in Dutch.

I quit Duolingo after a continuos daily streak of about 3 years. I felt I was stuck on the same level, and wanted to switch to a more “serious” and in-depth tool, like Babbel. I found out the following: 1. Turns out, somewhat to my shame, that I am a sucker for the gamification system used by Duolingo. 2. Babbel is indeed a more sophisticated, “serious” learning tool, and provides a significantly more in-depth level of instruction and understanding of the language 3…. But… 4. …I find Babbel boring. I don’t feel motivated to engage and continue every day, twice a day, like I was doing with Duolingo 5 I also discovered, on a recent trip to Amsterdam, that I did learn something during those years of practice. I can understand a fair bit of written Dutch, and I can carry some basic conversations ( Ik vind trappistenbier lekker, en de beer vindt het ook 😜) 6. I returned to Duolingo a few days ago. I’m still stuck more or less on the same level of complexity, but hey, I’m practicing every day again. And because I already paid for the year subscription to Babbel, I check on that one also every now and then
7. However, as I retook Duolingo, I also started the French course. I was thus utterly appalled to discover how plain, feature-poor, and underdeveloped the Dutch course is compared to French. In Dutch, the characters have only two voices, there are no extra features, and you get no explanation for the answers provided. In French, on the other hand, each character has a distinct voice, there are stories, virtual AI-driven interactions (not bad at all), and also an AI-driven explanation for each answer provided.

I understand that Dutch is nowhere near as popular as French, but the difference is so huge as to be insulting, both to the paying learners and to the Dutch people!!

Got mine done at Ethan Clay. Excellent service, and they were offering a discount when I got there earlier this year.

Not sure what the fuss is. Maybe during peak season getting a stamp is a big hassle, but I did my camino between March and April, and it easily easy enough to get a stamp from just about any public establishment, hostal or albergue in the way. I don’t know how picky they are at the Pilgrim’s office in Santiago; they probably have enough experience that they can tell at a glance whether what you claim more or less matches what you said. I know when I handed in my credential, the clerk looked at it, but I don’t think he spent enough time counting ever single stamp and checking every single date. For reference, I started in Astorga and made sure to have at least two stamps per day. I ran out of space and my last couple of stamps ended up in the backside of the credential. Nobody at the office remarked on that either.

I noticed that there is some concern expressed among the replies about strategies for hand-washing period underwear (or anything else for that matter), which is fair enough.
Do keep in mind, however, that in most towns there is almost always the option of finding a public laundromat, and or a number of hostels that offer a washing service.
It is not cheap, to be sure, and you have to pay in cash, but you do not have to assume that the only option is always going to have be handwashing.

I concur to the reply from Shot-Artichoke; in Camino Francés there aren't necessarily a lot of really secluded, fully private spaces. However, as I walked, I had plenty of opportunity to see people - mostly females, taking a side trail every now and then, presumably to take care of some private business.
My observation is that all other pilgrims on the road simply carried on, and nobody seemed to be interested in peeking to see what the offshooters were doing.
Having said that, For Goodness Sake, please!!: if you do have to attend to some kind of bodily function while on the trail, that results in the generation of refuse (i.e. wipes, sanitary towels, tampons, etc, kindly pleeeze pick up your trash, put it in a plastic bag, and carry it with you until you come across a proper trash bin!
It was rather unpleasant and infuriating to come across a not insignificant amount of wipes, paper towels, and other trash strewn around the trail, utterly spoiling an otherwise gorgeous landscape.

The link posted by bored candle is accurate, but in Spanish. In short, the main door ( Puerta de Platerías) is not really wheelchair accessible. Once inside, the space around the main naves and the altars is wide enough. However, you must stand and walk in order to see the apostle’s tomb and to “hug de Saint”, as the spaces are very narrow and have steps on them.

There is a side entrance mentioned in the equalitasvitae page, that says: “There is an alternative itinerary accessible through the Plaza de la Quintana.” This is technically far more accessible. However, this entrance is what is known as “La Puerta de Santiago” or “Puerta Santa”, which as far as I can tell is only opened on the December 31st preceding a Holy or Xacobean year, the next one being on 2027. Hardly an “alternative itinerary”, in my opinion, but what do I know.

Anyway, I encourage you to continue your research and see if you can get in touch with any wheelchair users that managed to get inside. Out of the tens of thousands of pilgrims that visit each year, someone is bound to have some first-hand-experience insight to offer.

I have not been to Portugal but my daughter, who is much thinner-skinned than I am has, and she loves it there. She has several good anecdotes about how lovely and friendly the people are, and no, she doesn’t speak Portuguese.

Having said that, I believe everyone’s entitled to having a bad day, and there are bound to be a few rude people wherever you go. I have traveled quite a bit in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia, and I wouldn’t categorize “the people” in any one country as being rude. I have mostly encountered nice, helpful people wherever I go. Sure, I have met my share of sourpusses, scammers, and outright chauvinistic people… but those have always been an exception, and never enough to categorize the whole population of the country as being rude.

Another vote against cotton. No cotton anywhere on your body; it just gets quickly soaked and keeps you damp. Like many others, I was perfectly happy with light, breathable, moisture wicking synthetics.

My spouse is not able to walk that sort of distance and trail difficulty, and I am very introverted, so I walked alone, with her blessings. It was, in fact, partly her gift to me. I was happiest in the long stretches that I had the trail all to myself. I simply reported daily via Whatsapp.

Hah! We probably met somewhere along the trail. And I observed exactly the same thing. The contrast was shocking, because up to O Cebreiro, I hardly saw any other pilgrims at all, and walked completely alone for long stretches.

I think it depends very much on how much of an outdoors and sociable dog your dog is, and how used the dog is to walking long distances in all sorts of weather.
I just completed a segment of the French camino, and after O Cebreiro I began to encounter a number of pilgrims with dogs.
I didn't really see many (any?) before that, but regardless, this is what I noticed that could be of use to you:
At some points we got heavy rain, wind and the weather was cold. Some of the dogs I encountered then didn't seem very happy about that. Don't take along a dog that can't take hours of cold rain, or walking in the hot sun at a time.
There are, of course, farm dogs to be seen along the road, and then you may encounter other pilgrims with dogs. I didn't witness any incidents, and all lose dogs on the road kept their distance from the trekkers. So again, as long as the dog is sociable and not easily tempted into a barking match of a fight, it should be ok.

Many of the farm dogs, by the way, would just stand unsheltered on their side of the fence, regardless of the weather. I would say that's the kind of dog you could happily take along.

Best summary of the camino routine ever!