To Walk Far, Carry Less : Camino de Santiago (11 page)

Scene from the Middle Ages today (photo taken with a pocket-size digital camera), Vézelay route, France

A mobile phone isn’t essential on the Camino, but it’s helpful. Here are some country-specific considerations.

France

Sometimes the only place to stay on the French routes is an inn, a private refuge, or a Pilgrim-sympathetic home, and reservations might be encouraged—or even required. Consult your guidebook at least a day or two in advance for reservation information.

It’s easier to make reservations if you have your own phone, but it’s certainly possible to walk the Le Puy or Vézelay routes without a mobile phone. If you can’t find a functioning pay phone, you can often make a metered phone call at a bar-café or a hotel. (A metered phone keeps track of the length of the call; you then pay the business owner directly.)

Also, the proprietor of a private accommodation might graciously help by calling ahead to make your reservation for the next night.

Spain

Most of the pilgrim-specific accommodations on the routes in Spain do not take reservations.

When walking during the popular Camino seasons, and on weekends or holidays, call ahead to make reservations at private accommodations such as hotels or inns.

As in France, if you can’t find a working pay phone, ask at a bar-café or hotel if there’s a metered phone you can use.

On the Camino

You can buy prepaid cards for pay phones at news agents, tobacco shops, and many grocery stores in France and Spain. It’s rare for a pay phone to take coins these days, so a phone card is essential if you’re planning to use pay phones.

Taking Your Own Mobile Phone to Europe

Review your owner’s manual, or call your service provider, to find out if your mobile phone has the correct specifications to work in France or Spain. If not, see the following sections Buying a Mobile Phone in Europe and Buying a Travel Phone Before Leaving Home for other options.

If your phone will work abroad, there are two possibilities for using it on the Camino: pay your service provider’s fees for international roaming, or buy a SIM card in Europe.

Pay Your Service Provider’s Fees for International Roaming

If you want to use your phone but it is “locked”—that is, limited to work only on your service provider’s network—your only choice is to pay your service provider’s roaming fees. Arrange for the best international plan and be sure to ask if your phone’s international roaming potential is “active” (so you can be sure it will actually work once you’re in Europe).

Some pilgrims may want to unlock, or “jailbreak,” their phone to be able to use it on European phone networks, which would no doubt be less costly. You can find information for how to do this online—but also read up on the risks involved. Independent phone shops might also offer to unlock your phone.

If your phone is not locked, then you have another option, possibly the least costly way to make phone calls in Europe from your own mobile phone.

Buy a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Card from a European Mobile-Phone Shop

The SIM card is a small data-holding chip that is inserted into your phone. Buying a SIM card in Europe gives you a local phone number.

For example: if you buy a SIM card in France and insert it into your phone, you’ll have a French phone number and the ability to access the French cellular networks at local rates.

The French SIM card (and thus the phone) may not work once you cross the border into Spain, however, and if it does, the roaming charges could be expensive. The best option is to buy another SIM card after arriving in Spain. Then you’ll have a Spanish phone number and access to the Spanish cellular networks at local rates.

Sometimes you can buy a SIM card at an airport store or kiosk after you arrive at your destination. Or ask at the front desk of your accommodations the first night where the nearest mobile-phone shop is located.

Buying a Mobile Phone in Europe

Buying a mobile phone in Europe is usually a better deal than renting a phone before you leave. The price range is about €50–100 (that should include some minutes to get you started). Any city or town in France and Spain has plenty of stores that sell mobile phones.

It’s relatively easy to buy a phone in Europe—just be sure to bring your passport with you to the shop: identification is required when buying a mobile phone. If you’re not very fluent in French or Spanish, getting what you want could be a challenge. (Buying a phone is more complicated than buying tapas or a croissant.) You may get lucky and find someone behind the counter who speaks English, or an English-speaking customer might be willing to help you out. But it’s best to take a dictionary or phrase book in case you need it.

Camino Lingo

Pay as you go (phone plan) =
de pre pago
or
prepagado

SIM card =
tarjeta SIM

Unlock my phone =
desbloquear mi teléfono

Unlocked phone =
teléfono libre

Pay as you go (phone plan) =
payable à la communication
or
forfait à carte

SIM card =
carte SIM

Unlock my phone =
déverrouiller mon telephone

Unlocked phone =
telephone déverrouillé

(For more specific language help, visit
www.wordreference.com
for a free translation dictionary. The site also has forums where you can ask specific language-usage questions.)

If you’re crossing the French-Spanish border on your pilgrimage, make sure the phone is unlocked. Then you can change the SIM card after crossing the border, allowing you to pay local rates instead of out-of-country roaming charges.

Get a “pay ahead” (pay as you go) phone plan. Then it’s easy to buy more time for the phone at grocery stores, smoke shops, or news agents. After paying a cashier in a shop you’ll receive a receipt with a set of numbers; enter these numbers into the phone to activate the credit.

Buying a Travel Phone Before Leaving Home

For those who prefer to avoid any language challenges they might encounter in a French or Spanish mobile-phone store, here are three companies that offer international phones for sale or for rent, and where you can also purchase international SIM cards (I have not used them, so I cannot personally recommend one over the other):

• www.cellularabroad.com
  
• www.planetomni.com
  
• www.telestial.com
  

A Caution for Smartphones

As I mentioned earlier, a smartphone can save weight by serving multiple functions, thus eliminating the need to bring other items.

One note of caution, however. Most data plans for smartphones and other mobile phones with data downloading capabilities charge by the kilobyte, and these charges can add up fast. One email with a photo attached may cost you more to download than you’ll pay for a night at a pilgrims’ accommodation.

Other apps, especially those that identify your location as a part of their function—such as GPS (Global Positioning System) applications—can also be quite expensive to use when abroad.

Check with your service provider before leaving home. Setting up an international data roaming plan might prevent outrageous phone bills. And it’s a good idea to also confirm whether sending an SMS—a text message—is always less expensive than making a phone call.

Otherwise, shut off incoming email and other data-rich functions when you’re not in a free Wi-Fi area.

A Caution for All Mobile Phones

Petty thieves love mobile phones because they’re easy to grab out of your hand. Be especially careful when using your mobile phone in the subway, on a bus, or when riding a suburban train. A thief can quickly snatch the phone then jump out at the next stop. In late 2010 the Paris police chief said that nearly half of the thefts on public transportation systems involved a mobile phone—more than wallets or purses. It’s likely that this type of theft is not unique to Paris, so it’s wise to use caution in other cities as well.

VoIP Calls

It’s also worth investigating internet-based voice services, also known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls. They’re increasingly seen as one of the most inexpensive ways for international travelers to make phone calls using wireless, 3G, or 4G data access from mobile devices. Some even offer free international calls. But here’s a caution and a caveat:

• Caution: Be careful when using a 3G or 4G connection for VoIP calls abroad, or you may find yourself racking up expensive data roaming fees from your phone’s regular service provider. Consider using a wireless connection instead.
  
• Caveat: Some VoIP providers provide free or inexpensive calls only if both parties are using the application provided by the VoIP provider. It’s a good idea to investigate the details before leaving home so you know what to expect.
  

Here are three examples of VoIP providers as of this writing. Skype can be used from a computer with an internet connection, but so far Viber and Truphone only provide apps for mobile devices, including some tablet computers. To keep up with the latest information on this rapidly developing technology, Google “VoIP calls” to find more options.

• Skype:
  www.skype.com
  
• Truphone:
  www.truphone.com
  
• Viber:
  www.viber.com
  

On the Camino

Wi-Fi on the Camino

You can find free wireless internet (Wi-Fi) hotspots along the Camino routes. If you’re carrying a smartphone or other device with Wi-Fi, these hotspots offer the best opportunity to check email, use map applications, browse the internet, or use other data-rich functions.

The most recent editions of guidebooks will mention where Wi-Fi is available. Hotels, cafés, libraries, and municipal buildings are good places to look for Wi-Fi when your guidebook lacks information for a particular locale.

If you feel that one of these devices will enhance your journey, and won’t be a burden, why not bring it? Just be sure to consider the added weight versus the benefits and amount of use. Also consider that guidebooks usually tell you where you can find a computer with internet access along the Camino. Many pilgrims use these access points to upload photos and to communicate with friends and loved ones back home.

Generally, I wouldn’t recommend taking one of these devices. One of the most beloved of all aspects of the Camino experience is the camaraderie with other pilgrims. A computer could turn out to be a barrier.

I understand, however, that each person has his or her own particular needs and uses for these devices; make the decision that is best for you.

Some music players and their earbuds are so tiny and lightweight that they’re irresistible. Sometimes it’s a pleasure to listen to music before going to sleep at night. In a crowded pilgrims’ refuge, a digital music player can create a little psychological space. If you suspect you might need to balance camaraderie with a bit of privacy, a digital music player is a great resource.

I’ve never seen a pilgrim listen to music while walking, although it’s likely some have. I’d guess that most pilgrims feel that the birds and breezes make the best music. Silence is popular on the Camino.

Pilgrim Stories

I had no idea real cuckoo birds existed—I thought they were only in Swiss clocks—until I walked the Camino and heard their unique call in the nearby woods. I confessed this to a Swiss pilgrim, and she told me that the Swiss also made the cuckoos in the woods.

If your digital music device can also serve as an address book or a language dictionary, and perhaps many other functions, it’s worth its weight as a multipurpose device.

The light emitted from a digital music player’s or mobile phone’s screen allows it to function as a flashlight too; it’s at least enough light to show the next few steps in front of you on the way to a toilet in the middle of the night.

No device yet exists where you can speak any phrase into it and receive back the exact translation (despite advertising that says a device can do just that). There are just too many ways to say something. A common phrase in one language is not said the same way in another. Even English has variations: a “torch” is a “flashlight.” “Take away” food is food “to go.”

Copy and paste a chunk of text from any foreign-language website into an online translator to convert the foreign phrase into English. In the resulting translation you’re likely to see examples of what you might consider an odd way of saying things. The translation might even be incomprehensible.