I collect several packing lists from Web sites related to the Camino. What I like about two of them is that the writers included addenda of items they jettisoned along the way or didn't bring on return trips.
July 4
While at REI to buy boots, I also purchase a pair of convertible cargo pants, an all-weather hat, a backpack rain poncho, and a super thin, super absorbent camp towel. I'm reluctant to spend that amount of money, but Jim teaches me an important lesson. He asks if I will consider each item well worth the price at the end of the six weeks. Very good way to look at it.
July 6
After more research, this time about backpacks, we head to REI to look at some. I describe to the salesman what I'll be using the pack for and he suggests I take their Travel Light class before purchasing a backpack. He says the class will make me rethink what I need to take and how much backpack I will need. Seems like sound advice to me, so Jim and I sign up for the class on the 26th.
July 10
The Camino Guide I ordered arrives today. I turn right to the section on preparing for the trip. You may wonder why I'm concentrating on the preparation aspect of the pilgrimage. Besides the fact that I need to be prepared, physically and materially, I don't want to know too much about the actual journey. I got a taste of it from The Way, but I don't want all the details. I want the journey to be fresh, unexpected, wondrous.
July 17
Talking with my sister and mother, we wind up on the topic of what I've gathered--and still need to gather--for the trip (I'd made my own list from the ones I'd found online). The discussion leads to sandals (to wear each evening while boots and feet get a rest and air out). Mom orders me a pair of orthopedically designed sandals that she and my sister swear by.
July 24
In one of the e-mails back and forth between Jerri and me, she mentioned that I'm supposed to bring a rock from home. From the beginning, I told myself I wasn't going to go specifically rock hunting; I would just wait until--anywhere, anytime--one spoke to me. Today I spot it, in the landscaping along the sidewalk while walking. Nestled in the dirt, it looks like a speckled egg. My immediate thoughts: "something hatching," "something being born," "rebirth." It seems the perfect representation of my view of this journey as a "pregnant" opportunity. The weight of it in my pocket makes me think that maybe I'm supposed to carry it on the pilgrimage, just as I would carry the weight of whatever burden I'm supposed to let go of. Maybe, just maybe, when it's time to do whatever we're supposed to do with our rocks, I'll be ready to let go of the burden. I take it and add it to the growing pile of items I've gathered so far.
July 26
Make a run to Walmart for some of the more common items on my list: ear plugs, dry bags, sports bras.
Later, Jim and I attend the REI Packing Light class. The information is very enlightening and some of the "smart" products fit my needs for this trip. I note the items I would consider buying--things that are lightweight and compact. I suspect such "smart" products are high-end items. After the class, as Jim and I check out some of them, I have to keep asking myself if I would consider the money well spent at the end of the journey. I buy a second pair of convertible cargo pants, replacement rubber tips for my walking poles, a sleeping bag liner, a moisture-wicking, ventilated safari shirt, and an amazing backpack (weight: 1.5 pounds). Considering that the prevailing recommendation is that your full backpack should weigh 10% of your body weight or 15 pounds, I want my pack to be as little of that weight as possible. After I pay, I tell myself that, except for the sleeping bag liner, everything I've purchased or will purchase for this trip I will continue to use for the hiking and day trips Jim and I take. It helps the cost go down easier.
July 28
Jim and I go to REI's garage sale. I find another safari shirt like the one I bought. Inside the store, I tick more items off my list: the duffel that folds into its own pocket, sock liners, a bandana, and the compactable jacket we'd seen at the class the night before, which I'd turned down because of the price tag. I am resigned that there are products that are the perfect fit for my purposes and I will pay for that rightness.
For instance, this insulated, water-resistant jacket--made of recycled fabrics and plastic bottles--weighs 10.5 ounces and rolls up into its pouch. For comparison's sake, that's a size-6 sandal.
I've brought my backpack so a staff member can show me what all the straps and things are for. The salesclerk has me try some others so I feel comfortable with the choice I've made. She's very patient, knowledgeable, and doesn't pressure me in any way. I decide to stick with the backpack I bought. She adds weighted pillows to the pack and then teaches me where the weight should sit on me and how to adjust the various straps.
On to Walmart for more basic supplies.
July 29
With almost everything on my list purchased or gathered, I begin to sort them into packable groups. Then I start experimenting with packing the backpack until I find an order that satisfies me.
July 30
Another trip to Walmart for the last odds and ends. I'm anxious to have everything so I can start walking with the full pack. When everything is in or hanging on the bag, it weighs 14 pounds. I empty the bag, reevaluate each item, discard a few, then add the items I will have to pack at the last minute. All in all, it still weighs in at 14 pounds.
August 1
Since my smart phone will be the means of taking photos and making posts to the blog, the search for a protective case is on. I finally find one that even has a carabiner to hang from my backpack.
August 19
After having returned some items and bought alternates, I reweigh my pack--16 pounds! How did that happen? Did my alternate purchases make that much of a difference? Jim helps me go through each item again. I trade one item for a lighter option. The next weigh-in--on two different scales--is 13 pounds. Seems I was mistaking the 10-pound mark for 15. Phew!
Now, with the backpack just the way it will be when I leave, I make another trip to REI. I've been dissatisfied with the feel of it during my recent walks. I'm sure I haven't been adjusting it properly. Sure enough, the clerk undoes the straps except at my waist, which are fine. He then takes the time to show me how to work them and then lets me adjust them myself. I feel the difference right away. I think it's good to go.
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