All Alone, I'm so All Alone

Often the first thing that people ask me when they hear that I am about to embark on this trek is whether I am going alone.  Usually, though not always, people seem surprised that I will be "going it alone".  The thing is, while I may be leaving on my own (Dan has promised faithfully that he will accompany me as far as the Moncton Airport), I will not be walking alone.   As I have mentioned before the Camino de Santiago does not actually meet the definition of "call of the wild"  and  to be honest,  one of the things that drew me to it is the social aspect:  The chance to meet and talk to people all along the way.  

Over 200,000 people make this journey to Santiago over various routes and I will hardly be by myself:  There will always be someone ahead of me and someone coming up behind, particularly on the Camino Frances,  as it is the most popular route. Granted, some people go in groups, but a lot don't.  And even if you do go with someone its not a guarantee that your walking will be "in sync" so to speak: one may be faster than the other, and either having to speed up or slow down as the case may be doesn't make anyone happy.  

Not to mention the fact that there will be days that I will want to walk in silence and introspection, and others I will be more social,  and the Camino has room for both.  Then there is that once in the alburgue, it is an exercise in communal living and privacy will be a minimum.  Did I mention that the dormitories do not separate the genders?  Unless you want to spend the extra money and stay in a "casa rurale" (b&b) or spring for a hotel room that's the way it is.  Which reminds me, another necessity is ear plugs, apparently snoring can be a huge issue.

Gadgets R Us Pas Deux

Well, now that the sleeping bag issue has been dealt with, we move on to other things, like clothes.  Needless to say, the Camino de Santiago is not a fashion show: my wardrobe will be limited greatly:
1 pair of shorts,
1 pair of pants (either cargo, or those funny ones you can zip off at the knees.  Pockets are a must)
2 micro fiber t shirts (they wash and dry fast)
1 sleep shirt
1 long sleeve t-shirt
3 or maybe 4 pairs of underwear
2 sports bras
3 pairs of merino wool hiking socks so (I will always have one to wear, and one clean pair, and one extra)
1 Rain poncho (to cover me and my backpack in case of rain)
1 wind breaker
1 fleece sweater or similar if it gets chilly
1 pair flip flops (to wear in the shower and give my feet a "change of pace" at the end of the day)
1 pair hiking boots
1 hat
1 belt

One thing you may notice is that there are no jeans.  You may find this odd, considering that is what I tend to live in.  However,  jeans and the Camino do not mix well:  they are heavy, and  take a long time to dry.  One individual, who was unprepared to say the least, wore jeans and was thoroughly soaked in the rain.  They did not dry, and having no reserve had to be worn the next day.  Damp heavy cotton chaffs, and he spent the next couple of days walking like a bad case of saddle sores.

Now the Camino does not live by clothing alone, there are other things that I need:

Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Deodorant (one individual I read about thought he would do without the 75 gms of a deodorant stick.  He came to regret that)
basic sewing kit including safety pins.
basic first aid kit - I have added a few things to that like blister patches and a tensor ankle brace because my right ankle has a tendency to give out every now and again due to a high school volley ball injury.  Out side of that, there are things like ibuprofen, Aleve, cold meds and Voltaren   Now Spain is not a third world country: supermercado abound, and the farmecia carries things that pillheads can only dream of around here.  Unfortunately when I need such things, I need them right nucking fow!  And I don't want to go hunting for them when I mostly want to curl up and feel sorry for myself.
Sunglasses - apparently I need them.  I wear glasses all the time:  first thing in the morning I put them on, and last thing at night I take them off, but I don't use sunglasses regularly. go figure.
Soap - this could be a whole entry unto itself:  Apparently the proper peregrina (me) should have one bar of soap that should do for body, hair and laundry.  Then the debate began on what type of soap to bring on the Camino Forum, I never knew that soap was so important.  First there was the boutique soaps, then the artisanal soaps.  It seems that the proper peregrina must have soap that is eco friendly, carries only good Karma and be made of the farts of unicorns that were fed only organic granola.  And here I am with Ivory Snow. Oh well.
microfiber towel - lightweight and fast drying.
prescription meds - 2 months supply
ziplock bags - these are useful for many things, such as keeping things dry, plus being repositories for used toilet paper after one has to answer a call of nature on the trail from the usual mod.cons.  My research has led me to believe that drifting used toilet paper is a problem on the Camino, and it is considered good form to place such refuse in a ziplock bags and deposit in the next convenient trash receptacle.
Small trowel - for covering up evidence of the above.
Toiletries - soap falls under this category, but there is more to it than that.  Firstly, I will not use bar soap on my hair.  It is thick, curly, fine textured and longish.  Therefore, unless I want to bear a strong likeness to Shrek the late New Zealand sheep who made a break for it and went unshorn for 5 years. so I will have conditioner and one of those travel size bottles will only last me a day.  Also here comes chapsticks, hand sanitizer (see above) nail clippers (imperative to keep toenails trimmed)
Then there are electronics:  The medieval pilgrim was not bothered by these modern trappings as the cellphone signal was not great in the 13th century.  Granted, they had to worry about Black Death, small pox and how they were going to manage 500 miles or more in soft slippers.  However, after a decade of being without a mobile phone, I bit the bullet and purchased a unlocked smart phone, and will buy a simcard for it in Europe where mobility is much, much cheaper than in Canada.   I also have a small mp3 player to keep the beat,  (this is much easier on battery usage than the phone.  And as I have heard that electrical outlets are at a premium in the albergues, I have a small solar charger as well as an eu usb charge.  I also have my blood sugar monitor.  They all take the same charging cable so there is that at least.

Finally, I was gifted with a Lifestraw  by Dan's niece, Michelle, for use in the unlikely event that I should have to drink out of a puddle.

You see, individually, none of these weigh very much, but all together, they add up.   So I will be doing some careful consideration over the next few days.

The Tao of the Backpack Or "Gadgets R Us" Part 1

As I am going to be carrying everything I need on my back, the time has come to separate that which I want to have with me from that which I need to have with me; as the two are definitely not the same.  Since the day I decided that I might actually lace up hiking boots and begin this undertaking I have been doing a lot of research from many sources, both online and books:  many, many books.  Thus, you can say, I have learned several things:  The less you can get away with, the better, so the back pack I have is a 40L and the target weight I have is 14lbs or about 6kg for the metrically inclined:  less than that if I can get away with it.  But this experiment in "minimalist living certainly puts me in touch with the detritus of everyday living.

Now, granted, I am not walking the Appalachian or the Pacific Coast Trails so, there are a lot of things that I will not need.  As I will be skipping jauntily from alburgue to alburgue I will not need:

a tent
cooking utensils
dishes and eating utensils (though I will be taking a spork, and a utility knife)
sleeping pad
and probably several

Now this does away with a lot of the weight right there when you think of it however one never actually realizes how much stuff weighs: one man stole his wife's  kitchen scales to weigh his underwear; others, for reasons I don't understand, have taken to sawing the handles off their tooth brushes to save weight.  There are tables outside the alburgue in Roncealles (sp) loaded with gear free for the taking, all brought by people who thought it was a good idea at the time.

Then there are priorities: mine are not the same as yours, and that's ok.  However there are some the beggar belief, such as The couple who walked the Camino with the complete paperback collection of the  Game of Thrones and the young woman  who said she had to have her 2 kg (close to 5 lbs) of makeup.  I leave this to your imagination along with the young man who drilled holes in his toothbrush handle to save weight.

The good thing about having a backpack on the smaller end is that I am limited what I can actually get into it.    Now, I have a sleeping bag, the lightest I could find at my Local Canadian Tire that said it weighed 1 lb.  Today, as I placed it on (Yes!) my kitchen scales weighs 1 lb, 15.75 oz!  They lied to me!  That's almost a full kilogram!  I feel betrayed.  Ha!  Amazon.ca and it will be here by Friday and less than 800 grams.

Ticking Down to Departure Time

Okay, my loyal readers, I am getting down to the wire: In one month and one day I will depart for Moncton, and there to get on a plane, and fly (via Montreal) to Paris CDG.  I will arrive on the morning of the 14th, from there, I get on the train for Bordeaux and transfer to Biarritz.  I will likely spend the night there, and I will be jet lagged to death.  The next day, the final push to St Jean Pied de Port; about an hour by train.

Once I am there, I use the day to wear off the jet lag, and pick up various incidentals such as my pilgrim credential and a utility knife for such things as slicing bread and cheese on the road.  Also pick up stuff my lunch the next day and a couple of bottles of water that I will refill along the way.  After that I am booked into Gîte Le Chemin vers l'Etoile for the night and on the morning of the 16th,  I set off on The Camino De Santiago.

There are many ways of "walking The Camino":  There are at least 5 different routes to Santiago de Compostella:  The Camino Englis, The Camino Portugues. The Camino Frances, The Camino Primativo and the Camino Nord.  I chose the Camino Frances because it is the most popular route and as such it is the best marked and with the most amenities - such as alburgues (Hostels). cafes, fountains with potable water, and shops to replenish my supply of trail mix.    There are "walking tours" that offer "a taste"of the Camino which are sort where you stay in 5 star hotels, and everything is planned (check out the National Geographic tours.  There are services that will ferry your backpack from alburgue to alburgue (which a gentleman of my acquaintance can't seem to get though his head that  I WON'T be using).  As I am not that infirm (the jury is still out on aged) I plan to carry my own backpack.

The point that I am making is that this is NOT the Pacific Coast or the Appalachian Trail which I wasn't looking for anyway

So with that, I offer two differing views of the Camino:

10 Reasons Why El Camino Santiago Sucks

 And:

Why do Adventure Snobs Hate The Camino de Santiago?