My Camino Packing List

Many people have asked me what exactly I will pack with me, so here is THE LIST.

In total, I ended up with 9.91b, which was perfect to split up between my purse and my backpack, since I didn't want more than 8.5lb on my back and no more than 2lb in my purse (including bag weights).

Even though most hiking websites recommend carrying up to 10% of one's bodyweight (which for me meant 13lb), I know from my trial runs that anything over 10lb would give me a headache.

Below, I separated my pack list into sections, with the contents listed below each accompanying photo. Stuff I considered taking but decided not to take is marked with an x.

(Here's how you can tell I'm Canadian: I started in pounds and then switched to grams!)

The basic necessities:

[ ] Running shoes 0g (wear) (sprayed with permethrin) 
[ ] Extra stuff-sack backpack 82g (sprayed with permethrin) 
[ ] Silk bed liner 227g (sprayed with permethrin)  
[ ] 1 Tyvex sitting mat 15g
[ ] Survival bivvy 106g
[ ] Purse 313g
[ ] Bra money stash 0g (wear)
[ ] Ultra light umbrella 176g
[ ] Extra light-weight rope for misc use 12g
[ ] 2ft peel-back duct tape 11g
[ ] 2 plastic shopping bags (shoes + laundry) 8g + 4g
[ ] Pack cover 46g
[ ] flashlight app on phone 0g
[x] mini-flashlight 11g

[x] Heavy plastic liner bag 55g


What is this permethrin, you ask? It's an insecticide to kill and deter both ticks and bedbugs. Both of which will be in high season in June/July. After soaking or spraying material and then letting it dry, the formula will stay active up to 6 weeks.

I was told the rains can be quite heavy in Galacia, and that a heavy trash compactor bag would be most useful, both as a bag liner when it rains, and to place my whole bag inside of, when forced to leave it in potential bed-bug infested areas. I obtained one, but then decided against packing it, because of weight reasons. Besides my bag cover, all my stuff was already in ziplocs, and I could give em bag an extra coat of permethrin.  ;)

I agonized over whether to take a rain coat. Galacia has heavy rains, but only in short squalls. In between, temperatures average 25°C and higher. My coat didn't fit into my pack. I bought a shark stuff sack and some bungies to attach it to the outside my pack. I tested walking with and without it in rain and at temperatures from 10-20°C. In the end, I seemed to always have it off after about 4 blocks of walking. With ultra quick-dry clothing, I'd be dry again minutes after the rain, and have to deal a big wet plastic coat.  I kept the umbrella and poncho. If the poncho didn't work out, well it was only $1.99 and I could toss it.

Clothing:

[ ] 2 skirts: 1 short 70g + 1 long 172g
[ ] 2 black tank tops 63g + 73
[ ] Black skirt (+ use as top, PJs, scarf, shawl) 76g
[ ] 3 pairs socks 92g  (sprayed with permethrin) 
[ ] 4 pairs thong underwear 30g
[ ] Bra 0g (wear)
[ ] Pashmena 194g
[ ] Alpaca gloves 36g
[ ] 1 pair arm warmers 19g
[ ] 2 pairs tights: black + grey 90g  (sprayed with permethrin) 
[ ] Mesh bag 13g
[ ] Emergency Poncho  58g
[x] Rain coat + stuff sack 612g
[x] 2 mini bungees 22g
[x] nylon shorts: blue 70g, or red 76g, or pink 126g
[x] Sarong 216g

Food stuff:

[ ] Can opener 8g
[ ] Bottle opener 7g
[ ] 1 Spork 11g
[ ] 1 plastic mini cup 19g
[ ] Empty plastic tub + lid 17g
[ ] Snacks: ginger-peanut chews 47g, candied ginger 22g, 1 bag space cheese 73g, 4 sesame bars 93g, 2 power bars 93g, freeze dried berries 30g
[ ] s&p packs 6g
[ ] 1 bag skittles 63g

[ ] Sawyer ("life") straw 39g

[ ] Sawyer bag (for wine!) 23g

[x] Hot sauce packs 17g

As I mentioned earlier, I turned 40 this year, and Cathleen will turn 40 on the trail. So I picked up two little cups with colorful "40"s on them. You know the kind: they are usually for stagette parties.

The empty plastic tub can serve as a bowl, plate, or carrying container, as we plan to hit grocery stores as often as not, both because they are cheaper and also to accommodate our specialized diets and allergues. I also grabbed one of the plastic butter knives off the plane, since we can't fly with a blade.

A Sawyer Life Straw is a water filter that can be attached into regular plastic water bottles, or used on its own to drink from a water source. On the Camino, there are water fountains that are used for both drinking water and for soaking a poor pilgrim's feet. Most are safe, but after I read that about 30% of pilgrims get traveller's diahhrea, I invested. It's a great thing to own for camping and hiking anyway.

One surprise in this category was the power bars. HEAVY!!! I finally traded them out for balls which had a similar nutritional value for much less weight. The bagged snacks I also repackaged into ziplocs to reduce the weight.

Toiletries:

[ ] 2 barettes (multi-use) 2g
[ ] Nail clippers + emry board 32g
[ ] Contacts case 7g
[ ] Extra pair of contacts 3g
[ ] Contacts fluid 60mL 78g
[ ] Eye drops 15mL 17g
[ ] 18 Tampons 101g
[ ] Deodorant 54g
[ ] Deodorant wipes 15g
[ ] Foundation <30mL 17g
[ ] 3 sponges 5g
[ ] Tweezers 6g
[ ] Comb 4g
[ ] Lipstick 19g
[ ] Disposable razor 13g
[ ] Mini-toothbrush 7g
[ ] Mini toothpaste 6mL 9g
[ ] 42 Listerine breath strips (in one package) 5g
[ ] 3-in-1 camp soap 60mL 83g
[ ] Mini tide stick 3.5mL 11g
[ ] Hand towel 87g

[ ] Birth control pills 3g

[ ] Safety pins
[ ] Ultra thin thongs for the shower 12g
[x] 2 hair elastics 0g

Although most of our hotels supplied towels and shampoo etc, I bought a 3-in-1 soap so I could wash my clothes in the sink. With so few clothes, I needed to wash something nearly every day. I do own a travel towel, but found it didn't dry as fast as a good old hand towel I've been using for years.

First Aid:

[ ] Tylenol cold (4-5 days) 20g
[ ] Advil 9g
[ ] 6 Gas-Ex 6g
[ ] 6 Ortho Sleep 4g

[ ] 5 Ativan 0g

[ ] Tick remover 4g

[ ] Bug spray (DEET) 37mL 53g
[ ] Begbug concentrate 4mL 7g
[ ] Bedbug mini spray bottle 10g
[ ] 24 capsules diatomaceous earth (bedbug powder) 8g
[ ] 4 plastic lids for putting under bedposts with the DE 12g

[ ] 3 toilet covers 6g
[ ] Oil of oregano 2mL 3g
[ ] Antibacterial hand gel 15mL 23g
[ ] Anti-bac/fung/viral cream 20g
[ ] Blister/burn lip stick 14g
[ ] "my" elastoplast bandaids + cute bandaids for "gifts" 17g
[ ] Muscle cream <30mL 25g

[x] Compeed 22g

Again, most of this is self-explanatory. I decided against the compeed at the last minute, due to weight. I figured, I've been training at my Camino rate, and have my sock/shoe system pretty established. I don't expect blisters. 

Vitamins and supplements:

[ ] Vitamins: B12 6g, B calm 18g, C/D 21g (in ziploc)
[ ] DLPA + L-glutamine 61g + 58g (in ziploc)
[ ] Ortho Adapt 78g (in ziploc)

These are part of my adrenal fatigue regimen. I know not everyone will have to carry so many. Although, I would recommend bringing some electrolytes and/or some vitamin C and B, just to maintain proper hydration.

The annoying part about these was that I had to carry them through security in their original containers, but each row fits into the small ziploc beside it.  So I had to carry and extra bag through my flights, but will ditch all the bottles in Oviedo before we start walking. The weights above do not include bottle weights.

Paperwork:

[ ] Passport 36g
[ ] Compostela passport 17g
[ ] Camino patch 2g
[ ] Plane tickets
[ ] Train tickets
[ ] Cell phone plan printout
[ ] Hotel contact list
[ ] Games rules list
[ ] 1 Tyvex envelope
[ ] 1 clear paper cover
(all papers = 90g)
[ ] credit card + bank card
[ ] Health card + plan info
[ ] BCAA card
[ ] Driver's licence in bra stash
(all cards = 33g)
[ ] Euros 17g
[ ] Mini ziploc for € change
[ ] Copy of CC + bank card #s (on phone) 0g
[ ] Maps in phone 0g
[ ] Photocopy of passport on phone 0g
[ ] Erasable pen 11g
[ ] Load Dain Here or Emmanuel Dagher recordings onto phone's memory card
[ ] Spanish flashcards 75g
[ ] 2 bday candles 4g

The Camino passport is required to sleep in pilgrim albergues (hostels) and fit getting a Compostela certificate of completion from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.a pilgrim must collect one stamp per day until the last 100km at which point two stamps per day are required. Stamps may be acquired at hotels, churches, city halls, restaurants... pretty much everywhere.

Electronics:

[ ] 2 ultra-light locks + cable (for bag, headphones) 67g
[ ] 2 EU electrical adapters 26g
[ ] Phone + charger cable 187g
[ ] 2 portable phone chargers 65g + 75g
[ ] 2-usb entry charger plug 82g
[ ] BOSE headphones + case 402g
[ ] Earbuds 12g
[ ] Camera + charger +battery 337g
[ ] 8 AAA batteries for headphones 88g

The locks are mostly for my BOSE headphones, but can assist be used to secure my backpack. Thefts in albergues are surprisingly common. Cathleen and i plan to take turns guarding our bags while showering (pilgrims traveling alone are recommended to take their valuables into the shower stall with them. However, since we both have to sleep , I plan to lock my headphones to myself and/or my bed while I slumber. Why take such a heavy set of headphones? I will refer you to my previous posts. BOSE does make a similar product in earbud form, and I've heard they are actually even better at cancelling noise, but I struggle with earbuds hurting my ears.

A big thanks to the many pilgrims on the Camino forum  https://www.caminodesantiago.me/  who offered up their pack lists and reasonings for taking/leaving each item. More thanks to Jan, who did the same, and to Nihan, who checked off each item as I packed, and wrote "try to relax :)" as the final item on on my checklist. lol.

Sorry about the font issues. I keep trying, but I can't seem to fix them.

Ready to Roll on the Camino Primitivo: What could go wrong?

Did I really ask what could go wrong?   Why would I do such a thing??

Our flights were booked from Vancouver to London, then London to Geneva, then Geneva to Madrid. We got a great deal and everything seemed good to go. We would leave on June 28 and arrive in Madrid on June 29, then hop a train to Oviedo and begin our Camino.

The bad news struck while I was getting my daily dose of the Camino forum www.CaminodeSantiago.me (I'd like to give a grateful shout out to Ivar and all the pilgrims who contribute to this incredibly useful forum -- I'm wearing my member patch with pride on my Camino).

A Spanish Air Traffic Control Strike was called for Madrid Adolfo Suarez Barajas Airport, June 28 and 29, 2016. To make matters worse, the Spanish National Rail company, Renfe, called a strike June 24, 29, and July 1st.

I agonized and worried for 2-3 days before buying two Easyjet tickets from Geneva to Oviedo for $200, as "insurance." Actually, this is the flight we wanted originally, but when we tried to book it in advance, it would have cost thousands more to fly into Oviedo rather than Madrid. Why it was at this point only $100 per ticket confused me, but I was grateful.

So in the end, we were booked on two flights to Spain: the "long route" through Madrid, and the "express route" directly to Oviedo. The whole situation came to a head a few days before our flight.

In preparation for the many photos that would be taken this journey, I walked an hour to the hair salon to get my yearly highlights (squeeze those km's in anywhere you can!), but planned to bus back to save time. I walked out of the salon and up to the bus stop, which read: next bus 2mins. Perfect!  However, the bus driver was the biggest jerk!  He didn't stop for me while I was actually AT the bus stop, then I ran and almost caught him at the next one, and a girl getting off even tried to get him to wait as I was like 10 feet away and running, but he pulled away again. 15 mins until the next bus meant I walked all the way down to my transfer stop before the next bus passed.

But wait--it gets better! When I got to my transfer stop, I checked Google maps and the transit site... which didn't agree. Google said my express bus should be arriving in 2 mins (nope). On the transit site, the next bus was quite far away, sitting at the depot. So then I needed to gamble: take the slow bus, or hope my express bus was just running late and somehow not showing on the transit site... well, I gambled on the express bus and won!!

When I got home, I told Cathleen about my misadventures, and she said it was a message from the universe. She was right: it was actually TOTALLY like our strike issues, and strangely symbolic like a dream:

Arriving there at the bus stop (Geneva airport) and can't get on the bus (plane to Madrid). Records not matching (bus/flight schedule vs reality). Getting annoyed that I have to put in extra effort to get on, but still not getting on (running for the bus vs watching for updates and calling the agent). The lady (agent) trying to help, but not being able to get me on the original bus (plane). Using my own resources to get to the next stop (walking vs money for new flight), and in the end getting on the express bus (flight) and getting to my destination (home/Oviedo) quickly.

We cancelled our hotel and train in Madrid and banked on the express flight to Oviedo. A bonus of this route was that we would get a full night's sleep in Geneva, versus the late arrival and early morning train of our original itinerary through Madrid. I couldn't help but think that this was a stressful yet cheaper way of getting the flight plan we wanted from the beginning.

Cathleen mused, "I wonder what catastrophe we are avoiding by NOT flying through Madrid?" Then the morning of our flight, Istanbul airport explodes. Note to self: stop asking what could go wrong!!!!  Note to others: it's very difficult to get away with being a Suzie Shoplifter while everyone with a cell phone is uploading videos of said tragedy to Twitter...

The morning of our departure, I could log in to Air Canada online to get my first two boarding passes (YVR-LHR AND LHR-GVA), but for some reason I could not check-in with Swiss online, which was our flight to Madrid. Even though we were not planning to go through Madrid, we figured we might as well check in on our Madrid flight, because if there a were a strike, we could get a refund; whereas bailing it would void our potential refund. But neither of us could check-in. Another omen about the ill-fated GVA-MAD flight?? Easyjet was the easiest online check-in of all the flights. Hmmm... I'm seeing a pattern here...

Driving to the airport, I saw a plane descending to land. It passed over us while we were driving on the bridge. Looking at the clock, I was sure it was Cathleen's plane.

Colin parked the truck so he could come in with me. We hugged and I started crying (for the third time that day--the last time was saying goodbye to my dog Rory).

I headed towards the elderly man who would scan my boarding pass. He asked, "Why are you crying?"  I explained, "I'm leaving my hubby for 24 days-- the longest we've ever been apart."  He asked, "Where's the hubby?" So I pointed out Colin and waved and Colin waved back. Then the guy said, "Sometimes it's good to be apart for a while." Lol. He walked me to the bag scanners, asking about my trip. Totally ignoring all the other people's passes that he needed to scan. Lol. I went through the bag scanners without a hitch.

Just as I sat down at our gate, I got a message from Cathleen: "I'm here!"

The flight bodes well for our companionship. I nap, we eat and chat (both on the in-seat messenger app and IRL), then both put on our headphones.  :)

Foot to Earth 2: Electric Bugaloo!

After one year, I'm sure you didn't dare dream it would happen, but it has now arrived... Foot to Earth 2: Electric Boogaloo!

For those of you returning for this sequel installment of Foot to Earth, I'll let you know that a few things might be different. For one, I won't be able to spend 8 hours per day lovingly crafting each post whilst sipping Beaujolais wine.

I'll be blogging from my cell phone, whenever I hit wifi hotspots. So there will probably be fewer hilarious links. Ok, fewer links overall. And less overall crafting (sorry Nanoose Bay ladies, no crafternoons on this voyage!)  ;)

I am still working on how to upload photos.

One thing that will remain is an illustrated narrative of me traipsing through the countryside. But I'm getting ahead of myself... leaving out the wheres and wherefores... so let's get to it.

After returning from France last summer, inspired, but not as refreshed as I had hoped (I'm sure the broken rib didn't help), I spent the academic year with a drastically reduced workload, in an attempt to alleviate my ever-increasing burnout. It only somewhat worked: instead of crashing and burning, I glided that plane down to a somewhat softer landing. But on the ground I remained.

Facing 40, I had to admit that my academic lifestyle was not working for me. It turns out that Homer Simpson was right: all work and no play makes Jenny something something...

My body was giving out and my emotions were in the tanker. Over the last few years, I had poured all of my energy into my career; but without anything else to refuel me, the reserves were emptying fast.  So I completed all my pre-arranged work contracts, and let work go. Fortunately, I have a very supportive partner who is willing and able to give me this healing time.

I turned to my health professionals to get my HPA Axis back on track. The result?  A daily routine of vitamins and amino acids, adrenal supplements, no more caffeine, and much more sleep. Much much more sleep.

I also bought a set of BOSE Quiet Comfort 25 active noise cancellation headphones. Expensive, but wow a life changer for me.  For me, these are not for music, and months later, no music has ever run through them, although of course they support this function. The key for me is that they cancel out most ambient background noise, especially any "consistent" or "steady" noises, like the humming from machines or appliances, noise from blenders, fans, etc, most vehicle engine noise, and even some sirens, while letting in the "inconsistent" noises at a dampened volume (i.e. great for bus stop bells/announcements, bird song, and conversation). So I use them the way a helicopter or aircraft pilot might use theirs. They work because the headphones "capture" the outside sound, and create a wave of equal amplitude but opposite phase, which cancels out the original sound wave within the headset (this is called "destructive interference"). The reason that it cannot cancel out inconsistent or variable noise very well, is because the original wave changes too often for this system to keep up. However, my headset has, on a few occasions, successfully completely taken out a repeating variable noise, e.g. a steady cymbal line in a song playing outside, or a repeating car alarm.

Coming back to Vancouver after living in Chamelet was an acoustic shock for me. I hadn't realized how much energy I had been using fighting off ambient city noise. But with my new headphones,  living in the city became much more bearable. After listening to me rave, several of my introverted friends also bought themselves a pair of  these. (If noise bothers you, you owe it to yourself to at least check these out!  I literally sigh in relief when I click that "on" button. And no, I don't get any money from BOSE. lol.)

Taking more cues from my joy found in the French countryside, I also started eating a daily morning croissant (with decaf!), and kept walking my 10-15km every day. Vancouver Canada has many lovely walks, including a 22km stretch of seawall (around Stanley Park and False Creek), a 10km run of connected beaches (at low tide one can walk from Kits to Wreck), and the intertwined trails in the endowment land forests of UBC. I did these daily (usually with my headphones on!), but still longed for for open farmlands and the silence of the countryside.

I turned my attention towards doing things that fed my soul. I started checking things off my bucket list: a sleepover in the sloth sanctuary in Oregon. Seeing William Shatner live. Eating a seafood platter for two at Joe Fortes all by myself. Ok, maybe I dream too small, but ya gotta start somewhere!!!

The Camino de Santiago had been on my bucket list for 4-5 years, but seemed little more than a dream.

First, I didn't have a walking partner.  My first choice would be to go with Colin, since we worked together so well while hiking in France, but Colin's knees wouldn't permit the distance. So then I considered going by myself, but I was nervous about the safety of traveling such a large distance alone, as a single woman. As an introvert, and a burned out introvert at that, the idea of getting stuck with a chatterbox--or worse, a "Camino family"-- for 3-5 weeks terrified me. I only have 1-2 hours of chatting in me per day, then my eyes cross and I snap.

By chance, my cousin Cathleen was in Vancouver in January, and we had dinner together. She shared that she, too, had the Camino on her bucket list, and she, too, wanted to walk it alone, as a contemplative spiritual journey. She spoke to me of her stress and fatigue, as her husband faced a painful but so-far undiagnosable illness.  I watched her fade out after about 1.5 hours of conversation and thought: "hmmm... this could actually work!!"  My Spidey senses were tingling: here was someone on my wavelength regarding both physical fatigue and socializing. We toyed with the idea of going together. Then she returned home to Prince George.

First obstacle possibly surmounted, the next obstacle was that I never had enough time off work to complete the trek. Oh. Wait...

So after many Google messenger conversations, we are heading to Spain, to walk the Camino Primitvo, which, despite assumptions you might make based on its name, means "the original Camino." The oldest records of a spiritual pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela are from the 9th century by King Alfonso II the Chaste, who went to confirm that the relics in Santiago de Compostela did indeed belong to the Apostle Saint James.

(Green is the Primitvo; yellow is the Frances)

The Camino Primitivo is not as famous as the Camino Frances, made popular by the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen. The movie was great--maybe a little too great-- as numbers of pilgrims on the Frances jumped up to an astounding 15,000 per day. Now, I'm a hard-core introvert with a big love of open vistas. Contemplating walking nose-to-tail for 750km was almost enough to put me off the whole trip. Cathleen agreed. In contrast, with 15,000 per YEAR, the Primitivo became a very attractive option. We switched our plan to the new route.

At 350km, the Primitivo is shorter than the Frances, but a more difficult trail. It is not only more physically challenging, but also has fewer resources along the way, which means pilgrims really need to plan ahead. First it crosses the Cantabrian Mountains, then passes through pastoral land and forests. Towns are few and far between, meaning that on some days a person could walk tens of kilometers without passing a store or restaurant. Albergues and hotels are also fewer and smaller, meaning it is worth reserving in advance.

Luckily, I excel at planning.  ;)  I made up a detailed walking itinerary, booked a hotel at every town I could (there were a few towns where non-reservable albergues, aka hostels, were the only option), and entered everything into an offline version of HERE maps. Mindful that we were both suffering from burnout, I scheduled our first 10 days at 10km or less, and our longest day (not by choice) at 25km. We promised each other to stop and smell the  roses, and take lots of naps. What could go wrong?