So let's take a peak into my pack....scandalous I know. Besides the boring minutia that centers around toothpaste, sunblock, and soap, there is the obvious big ticket item: sleeping gear. It will be warm most of the time we think, so we are not taking sleeping bags, but sleeping liners, actually a sleeping liner within another sleeping liner for each of us, so that the outer liner can be sprayed with some sort of bug repellent (spoiler alert!!!) that will make contact with the mattresses in the albergues/hostels. If it gets cold, I'll add clothing layers or steal from my man. Duhhhh! Attached to the outside of my pack I will carry a thin sleeping pad, which looks like a long miniature egg carton and has seemingly enough padding to help soothe my bones for the first five minutes of horizontal rest. Eh, it will be a good kneeler along the way, probably for when I'm tearing my pack apart looking for that one thing. I hesitate to mention the blowup "pillow," as it really seems more in line with a pathetic seat cushion for a small child. Ugh, I'm moving on. A human rain tarp is included in my gear, not that I care about getting wet. Rain would probably feel nice and be an easy personal cleaning method, and I really don't worry about looking like a drowned rat on the trail. Anyway, the looks ship sailed when I decided wearing/carrying any makeup or post-shower hair products was a burden this beast couldn't bear. No, the reason we pilgrims don't want to get wet goes back to the condition of our feet-wet feet mean blisters even faster, and who knows how long wet boots take to dry, not to mention all the gear that could get soaked. By the way, all this stuff will be in plastic zip bags, hermetically sealed and tucked away in perfect balance within my bright orange beast of burden, that is until it's time to find that one thing. Another very important item I'll carry is the small quick dry towel/privacy curtain for showers and on the trail bathroom breaks...is that too much information? It's a fact of life, so I guess I'll just employ the technique I've used before on mission trips: I'll suck it up. Here's an oddity in my bag: a rubber drain stopper, one size fits all! "They" say it's good to have for washing clothes in the albergue sinks. It was about $7, so I'll probably take in other pilgrims' nightly laundry for a small fee to compensate. That's how I roll. My better half is against this gizmo, but I'll not leave it home after buying it, gracious sakes alive. Other than super strength vitamins, one change of clothes and two extra pairs of socks, that's about it. What is on my "not sure if I'm taking" list? Would you believe my biggest conundrum is hair conditioner? "They" say to buy it over there in small bottles, as needed. Ladies, help me out here. When you find the right conditioner, you may just be willing to carry 50 oz. of it across the country of Spain. Small bottles? Ha! That's not even a serving size for me, so I may either carry my own bottle or bum some olive oil from the kitchens I pass through. Perhaps I'll not have as many shower days as I think. Perhaps my lovely sherpa husband will carry it. He's got our first aid kit, snacks, etc, etc. One more bottle won't bother that strapping young man! Hummm, I sense a little impending tension surrounding these pack items. Surely it can still be a buen Camino!
Last week the blog centered around shoes, which are the essential piece of equipment for a long hike (so I am told, although I'm thinking surely chocolate trumps all...amend that...chocolate coffee). That actually makes quite a bit of sense, as hurting feet make for miserable walking, and miserable walking leads to whining, and no one likes a whiny, petulant pilgrim for let's say 6 or 7 hrs a day for over a month. After the shoes get nailed down though, other equipment must make its way into the pack a pilgrim will carry for those same 6-7 hours a day. These choices cause great gnashing of teeth for hikers in general, for each piece must be necessary, lightweight, and durable. Interestingly, I've also read that while the gear must be high quality to do the job correctly, it must also be disposable at the end of the pilgrimage: traditionally pilgrims burn clothes, shoes, and all other highly cursed impedimenta that has come to the pilgrim's attention along the way. I'm thinking this will be my favorite part of the hike. Burn baby, burn!
So let's take a peak into my pack....scandalous I know. Besides the boring minutia that centers around toothpaste, sunblock, and soap, there is the obvious big ticket item: sleeping gear. It will be warm most of the time we think, so we are not taking sleeping bags, but sleeping liners, actually a sleeping liner within another sleeping liner for each of us, so that the outer liner can be sprayed with some sort of bug repellent (spoiler alert!!!) that will make contact with the mattresses in the albergues/hostels. If it gets cold, I'll add clothing layers or steal from my man. Duhhhh! Attached to the outside of my pack I will carry a thin sleeping pad, which looks like a long miniature egg carton and has seemingly enough padding to help soothe my bones for the first five minutes of horizontal rest. Eh, it will be a good kneeler along the way, probably for when I'm tearing my pack apart looking for that one thing. I hesitate to mention the blowup "pillow," as it really seems more in line with a pathetic seat cushion for a small child. Ugh, I'm moving on. A human rain tarp is included in my gear, not that I care about getting wet. Rain would probably feel nice and be an easy personal cleaning method, and I really don't worry about looking like a drowned rat on the trail. Anyway, the looks ship sailed when I decided wearing/carrying any makeup or post-shower hair products was a burden this beast couldn't bear. No, the reason we pilgrims don't want to get wet goes back to the condition of our feet-wet feet mean blisters even faster, and who knows how long wet boots take to dry, not to mention all the gear that could get soaked. By the way, all this stuff will be in plastic zip bags, hermetically sealed and tucked away in perfect balance within my bright orange beast of burden, that is until it's time to find that one thing. Another very important item I'll carry is the small quick dry towel/privacy curtain for showers and on the trail bathroom breaks...is that too much information? It's a fact of life, so I guess I'll just employ the technique I've used before on mission trips: I'll suck it up. Here's an oddity in my bag: a rubber drain stopper, one size fits all! "They" say it's good to have for washing clothes in the albergue sinks. It was about $7, so I'll probably take in other pilgrims' nightly laundry for a small fee to compensate. That's how I roll. My better half is against this gizmo, but I'll not leave it home after buying it, gracious sakes alive. Other than super strength vitamins, one change of clothes and two extra pairs of socks, that's about it. What is on my "not sure if I'm taking" list? Would you believe my biggest conundrum is hair conditioner? "They" say to buy it over there in small bottles, as needed. Ladies, help me out here. When you find the right conditioner, you may just be willing to carry 50 oz. of it across the country of Spain. Small bottles? Ha! That's not even a serving size for me, so I may either carry my own bottle or bum some olive oil from the kitchens I pass through. Perhaps I'll not have as many shower days as I think. Perhaps my lovely sherpa husband will carry it. He's got our first aid kit, snacks, etc, etc. One more bottle won't bother that strapping young man! Hummm, I sense a little impending tension surrounding these pack items. Surely it can still be a buen Camino!
4 Comments
Carla
3/19/2015 03:44:40 am
..if you have long hair...take the hair conditioner ... walking in the sun, wind, rain for 7-8hrs made mine look and feel like a birds nest... definitely worth the few extra grams... and good luck with your Camino, I'm off for my 2nd in May
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AuthorLinda Barrett, high school English teacher and Christian counselor, loves to get out of town on adventures at each opportunity, while meeting people at every turn. Archives
August 2015
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