Sam has bogged before
of our preparation to be physically ready for our great 500 mile walking adventure. Now it's my turn. I have no idea how to prepare emotionally or
spiritually so I am concentrating on the practical aspects of what we will be
carrying on our backs. I now look at
everything in terms of ounces We will be
staying most of the time on the Camino in albergues (al-bear-gays, which are accommodations
similar to hostels) so we will have
no need of tents. We will be walking
through small villages as well as large cities so as far as food, we need only
carry our lunch and there are fountains all along the way to fill up our water
bottles
They say you
should carry no more than 10% of your body weight excluding water and food (that’s
10% of what your body weight should be, not what it does weight). That means a max of 13 pounds for me and 17 for Sam. How do you do that and
carry everything you need for two months?
Now we are not on the moon so we can always get more toothpaste and soap
as we need it along the way but still!
As we got
into this we discovered there are many deeply philosophical questions to be answered.
- · Water bottles or water bladder?
- · Rain suit or poncho?
- · Sleeping bag or sleeping sack?
- · Hiking boots or trail runners?
Each of these
decisions has its advocates. You do not
want to be in the middle of the passionate argument between the water bottle
folks vs. the water bladder clan. You
could get hurt!
It might help
to understand what we have been told is a typical day on the Camino. Up early and on the road by 7 am, maybe with
some coffee and a roll, maybe not. Walk
for a couple of hours and then stop for a café con leche and a croissant. Walk for a couple of hours more until you
decide to have the sandwich you packed the night before or stop for lunch in a
town along the way. Continue walking
till about 2-4 pm till you find an albergue with space for you. Once there you claim your bunk (no linens),
take a shower, change into clean clothes & sandals, and hand wash the
clothes you just took off. Then it’s
time to relax and explore, maybe find a store to buy tomorrow’s lunch or just
nap. There are special “pilgrim meals” that
are served about 8 pm available in many towns and sometimes at your albergue. Normally Spaniards don’t eat dinner till around
10 pm. After dinner it’s to bed (in the
clothes you will wear the next day) because the albergue locks its door at
10pm. Next morning the routine starts
all over again. So you really
need only one change of clothes. The
albergues have bunks but you need to bring some sort of sheet or sleeping
bag/sack. The weather in the fall can be very windy and rainy with morning temp
in the mountains in the 40s and on the plains it could get up to
the 90s so we need to be prepared for anything. We both decided to buy separate
rain pants and jacket from REI; they weigh only 12 ounces each and have worked
great so far. Thank
goodness we’ve been working on “gear” since March since it has given us time to
try out all sorts of equipment before making final decisions.
Water- I
drink a lot of water while hiking and I can’t reach the bottles on the side of
my pack so the bladder in the pack with a hose to suck on seemed like a great
solution. I tried that for a while but
they are difficult to clean when you are on the road, also relatively heavy and
difficult to refill while in the pack without getting everything wet. Finally after researching and talking to lots
of folks I found a $10 hose system from Blue Desert that
attaches to an ordinary water bottle.
Now I can drink from the refillable bottle without removing it from my
pack side-pocket. Very exciting! Sam has decided to use a couple of half-liter
bottles with no hose, so I will probably have to retrieve his bottle for him
when he needs a drink.
We have
become ultra-light fanatics. Sam has
actually cut off half the handle on his toothbrush! He says it fits into his bag easier.
Everything gets weighed. Safety pins to
hang up our clothes to dry after washing weigh 0.3 of an ounce, much less than
clothes pins. I was delighted when I
found a Patagonia
insulated vest than only weighs 7.9 ounces and a warm hat at 1.3 ounces. We have both been searching since March to
find the lightest sandals to give our feet a break. I am now the proud owner of a pair of Oofos sandals
- 8.8 ounces for the pair! Sam’s
Rockport sandals weigh only 17 ounces, less than Teva’s lightest.
Seriously
though, despite all our craziness I think the process has helped us prepare
emotionally and yes, maybe even spiritually.
It has made us think about what “stuff” we really need in life. It has given us an opportunity to pare down
to the bare essentials for the next couple of months. I’m hoping some of the lessons will stay with
us upon our return. Our lives will be
very simple if extremely challenging in the coming pilgrimage. There will also
be a paring down of our very busy lives. It will be a chance to think about
what is truly essential beyond physical things in our life; each other, family,
friends, passions. In some way, all of
you will be in our packs, taking the journey with us. I’m just glad that you,
and all that you mean to us, don’t show up on a scale.
If you are
not bored to tears yet I have included my packing list, complete with weights.
| Item | component weight | Weight | number | Total Weight | |
| Backpack | 30 | 1 | 30 | ||
| Sleeping bag/storage bag | 27 | 1 | 27 | ||
| Rain suit/storage bag | 25.3 | 1 | 25.3 | ||
| rain jacket | 14.3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| rain pants | 10 | 1 | 0 | ||
| storage bag | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Clothes/storage bag | 59.8 | 1 | 59.8 | ||
| pants | 10 | 1 | 0 | ||
| short sleeve top | 9.6 | 2 | 0 | ||
| long sleeve top | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| bras | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| panties | 3 | 2 | 0 | ||
| socks | 6 | 2 | 0 | ||
| sock liners | 1.8 | 2 | 0 | ||
| fleece jacket | 9.7 | 1 | 0 | ||
| down vest | 7.9 | 1 | 0 | ||
| warm hat | 1.3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| light gloves | 0.7 | 1 | 0 | ||
| compression storage bag | 2.6 | 1 | 0 | ||
| bandana | 1 | 0 | |||
| Sandals | 4.4 | 2 | 8.8 | ||
| Toiletries | 11.1 | 1 | 11.1 | ||
| toothbrush | 0.5 | ||||
| toothpaste | 1 | ||||
| floss | 0.2 | ||||
| comb | 0.5 | ||||
| razor | 0.3 | ||||
| deordorant | 1.6 | ||||
| soap | 2 | ||||
| face cloth | 0.7 | ||||
| towel | 3.7 | ||||
| tweezers | 0.3 | ||||
| safety pins | 0.3 | ||||
| storage bag | 0.2 | ||||
| phone | 4.7 | 1 | 4.7 | ||
| phone charger/converter | 2.6 | 1 | 2.6 | ||
| hydration tube | 4 | 1 | 4 | ||
| head lamp | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
| mini pack | 2.4 | 1 | 2.4 | ||
| sun hat | 2.3 | 1 | 2.3 | ||
| field toilet kit | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| journal/pen | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| language phrase book | 1.8 | 1 | 1.8 | ||
| sun screen | 1.5 | 1 | 1.5 | ||
| stone from home | 1.5 | 1 | 1.5 | ||
| foot care-extra toe caps/moleskin/blister aids/emory brd | 1.7 | 1 | 1.7 | ||
| vaseline/voltaren | 5.7 | 1 | 5.7 | ||
| first aid-bandaids, antibiotic,gauze pads,gloves,meds,needle thread | 3.1 | 1 | 3.1 | ||
| kleenex | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| sun glasses | 0.9 | 1 | 0.9 | ||
| rx meds | 0.8 | 1 | 0.8 | ||
| neck cooler | 0.8 | 1 | 0.8 | ||
| lip balm | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | ||
| spork | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | ||
| ear plugs | 0.1 | 1 | 0.1 | ||
| knife- buy in Spain | 1 | 0 | |||
| zip lock bags | 1 | 0 | |||
| Emergency pack | 4.6 | 1 | 4.6 | ||
| cord | 0.4 | 1 | |||
| compass | 0.2 | 1 | |||
| whistle | 0.4 | 1 | |||
| duct tape | 0.8 | 1 | |||
| extra reading glasses | 0.7 | 1 | |||
| extra head lamp batteries | 1.3 | 3 | |||
| storage bag | 0.8 | ||||
| 209.3 | Oz | ||||
| TOTAL | 13.08 | Lb |
