Getting Ready

     Lots of research has gone into this trip, including airplanes, busses and trains, hotels, routes, weather forecast, gear, shoes, covid testing, even what is the best tasting protein bar. Really!  (Most of them are awful, just sayin).   We are starting in France, walking the first one hundred miles and then taking a bus to where we will finish the last eighty miles to Santiago.  Shout out to my brother in law Ron, the master planner, and my husband as well, who have taken care of every detail.  I love being married to someone who tells me the dates, hands me the tickets, and takes me on incredible adventures! 

So, where do you start?  Get a good guidebook of course.  Then join a Facebook group. And talk to lots of people.  Amazing how many people have done this!  How did I not know?

Now, what to take along?  There are endless packing lists and advice all over the web and from the guy at the sporting goods store, the shoe store man and the person whose brother-in-law’s niece walked back in 2009 but lives in Seattle now.  There are blogs.  There are numerous Facebook groups, Youtube videos, and Twitter accounts all with wildly varying reviews of the Camino experience. Very exciting!

Confession:  we are not going as true pilgrims.  We are taking the “princess” pilgrimage.  Apparently people like us who stay in private little hotels, (not hostels), and use a luggage transport service are called princesses.  As someone who loves a good tiara, I don’t mind the title a bit.  And I have never enjoyed climbing up skinny vertical steps to  get to bed.  Because Dick would always get the lower bunk.  Because he wouldn’t fit on the top bunk.  Or bottom either, actually.  Thus - princess I am.  Therefore, we are not as limited in what we can take along as the true pilgrims are.  And, we are also going to Paris, and meeting friends in Valencia.  So I need a few more clothes!  Let the packing begin.

First up, basic gear.  Since shoes are critical to pilgrimage success, we started there.  Went to our local “running” store Gazelle ( ironic as anyone who knows me knows I am built for comfort, not for speed!), and they were very helpful.  After trying on a bunch of cute and colorful shoe options, my big Dutch feet ended up with a homely pair of men’s shoes with toes like scows.  But, as my mother used to tell me when I lamented orthopedic shoes and ugly feet in grade school, “they work don’t they?”  And yes, they work pretty well, actually.  Maybe I’ll put some rhinestones on the toes.  

Then daypacks.  Since we are not really planning to do major hiking trips after this, we went the economy route - Facebook Marketplace.  It is mind boggling the quality and variety of “stuff” your can get!  We (meaning Dick the planner) found great “gently used” packs complete with water bladders (tee hee).  No worries, a little bleach scrub in the bladder eliminates any potential issues with invisible swimmers. (Warning: May cause harm if direct do not use or take internally)

I had originally thought it would be great to sew all my clothes for the walk.  I enjoy sewing and I figured I could make clothes that were interesting and maybe even flattering (one of my fellow sewists helping me draft a pattern for pants kindly suggested a “flat butt” adjustment, and grading out a size or two for those thighs…)

However, I soon discovered that tech fabrics are very expensive, the patterns required things like gussets and  lanyards and power mesh, and were in fact pretty fiddly.  Hmmm… Then for Christmas, our kids

gave us a gift certificate to the Outpost, our local sporting shop.  I snagged a marvelous pair of pants (complete with gussets and fiddly pockets!). I also treated myself to a great hat in a lovely shade of lavender.  Thank you Rick and Meg!    Pants on sale at Duluth ( same place Dick picked up his no stink underwear.). Then on a visit to my favorite consignment shop, I hit the jackpot!  Apparently a lot of folks had kited themselves out with all kinds of fancy high tech apparel during Covid, with the goal, I guess, of transforming their bodies by doing high tech workouts in their living rooms.  And then likely discovered it was not happening and all of the gear was sitting there unused.  And now iit was here, practically free! So, while my wardrobe doesn’t necessarily color coordinate like I dreamed, it is pretty impressive!  And cheap!

And then comes overthinking.  Seriously,  I have been tossing things on to the bed in #2 for several weeks now.  Looking at the pile, we would need a pickup truck driving behind just to haul it all.  And of course we will not need all those fancy gadgets Amazon has been enticing us with ever since we decided to go…(How do they do that?  Does Alexa report our conversations?  Does Siri surreptitiously eavesdrop and report back to someone whose job it is to update Amazon and Facebook on our well-being, plans and current location?)

  So, no to the portable fold up bidet with eco toilet paper and water bladder that comes in a discreet camo bag so fellow pilgrims will never have to know that you pee.  No to the flashlight/weather radio/siren/ red warning flasher/ phone charger/alarm clock on its own lanyard (your choice of colors).  No to the teeny sack pillow that turns into a laundry bag, repels bed bugs, and is waterproof to boot.  And sadly, no to the powdered beer, but no worries, we plan to avail ourselves of that fabulous Spanish wine!

Yes to the “no stink” underwear, wide brimmed hat and the $3 Goodwill rain pants. Yes to sunscreen, toothbrush and chapstick.  And clothes of course.  At least pants.

  And then there is the foot factor.   The  “feet stuff”  deserves a category of its own because it can make or break the pilgrimage ….  So, ”No Blister” stick, Compeed, bandaids, wool socks, extra laces, extra socks, comfy supportive shoes, nail clippers, and a needle to pop those blisters if, or should I say when, those babies appear.  Flip flops or Tevas for giving your feet a break at the end of the day.  Fuzzy socks for bedtime because even in an exhausted state, I simply can’t sleep with cold feet. And maybe a pedicure before we go, so when we are all taking off our shoes and examining our feet, mine will be at least palatable.

And a promise - I will not post feet pictures.  Unless I can’t help it. Because us nurses kind of dig that stuff.  Cuz sometimes they may be educational.  The pictures, not the feet.  

We did a lot of walking in Florida this winter (yes, we are of the Florida in the winter age) to prepare our feet and bodies for the upcoming peregrinations.  It was hot and sweaty.  We walked about 5 miles a day, and did several 15 mile walks.  Then we came home .  It was cold and gloomy.  We walked about 5 miles most days in hats and mittens.  Hot and sweaty was better.  

I think we are physically ready.  But what about the mental portion of the trip?  Will I get bored walking so far every day?  Will I focus on my body, aches and pains and stiff knees or will I be able to make good use of my time to ruminate or meditate or take in the scenery?  

In training!