Last month my sister and I walked “our” camino. I don’t say “El Camino” because we did it our own way, doing a few touristy things as well as walking 21 days and 400 kilometers. For her this was truly a pilgrimage and I wanted to support her in that, and to test myself. We carried everything for this trip in packs on our backs, we didn’t make any reservations or even know what towns we would stay the night in once we started on the trail, we slept in albergues trying to stay around 15 euro per night, and my goal was to stay off my phone (and social media) as much as possible.

Our trip went like this: Fly from JFK to Barcelona. Hang out for two days staying in a hostel and visiting the Sagrada Familia, Train to Bilbao and visit the Guggenheim and the Cathedral to get our “passport.” Six days walking on Del Norte from Bilbao to Santander which is about 100 kilometers. It was beautiful and rugged along the coast. Mostly touristy areas (we stayed one night in a surf club) but the trail itself was barely crowded at all. From Santander we bussed down to Leon and started on the French way. Fifteen days and 300 kilometers later we arrived in Santiago De Compostela.

Deciding what to pack was a journey in and of itself. I read multiple blogs, talked to experienced walkers, visited REI multiple times and unfortunately also ordered a few things off Amazon based on recommendations. My most important decisions were my pack and my shoes. My brother-in-law, who was former Army, gave the advice that you are only as good as your gear so I went all out for my pack and bought the Osprey Mira 34. The features that really appealed to me were the hip support, the hydration bladder, the included rain cover and the “airspeed suspension” which means I could get airflow on my back. Although my sister had a much smaller pack (a Camelbak 22) it made her back sweat.

It was important to me to try and stick with the 10% rule, have your pack weigh 10% of your body weight. Even though the pack itself weighed a pound or so more than my sisters, I enjoyed the extra room, especially when we went to the Supermercado and I ended up carrying peanut butter and crackers for a few days. It was nice to have that extra space.

For shoes, I had been training in a pair of Salomon’s and thought for sure I was going to buy a new pair for the trail, but they didn’t have a pair I liked when I went shopping so the nice man at REI suggested I buy Topo’s. I hadn’t really heard of them before but when I tried them on and they had a really wide toe bed, I was convinced. I have bunions and a wide foot on top of that so the extra room helped. They did really well except the back of the heel wore out. Not sure if that was a me thing, a sock thing, or something with the shoes. I did end up wearing a bandage on my heel a couple of days to make sure the worn spot didn’t irritate me, and that did the trick.

My other shoes were a really old pair of Teva’s I had stuck in my closet years ago. I actually saw that another girl had taken that exact pair on her camino and that’s what reminded me I had them. It was great to have a second pair of shoes to walk in. Especially on those 30+ km days. Both my sister and I changed our socks multiple times per day but I was lucky I could also change shoes and get some good airflow going. I did wish I had something easier to slip on in the evenings, I was jealous of my sister’s plastic Birkenstock’s, but she was jealous of me too. If (when) I ever walk again, I would pack a pair or really light flip flops in addition to the Teva’s. That said, I only really got one small blister all trip so I really can’t complain. The foot care on the trail is serious, especially those who started in Saint Jean Pied-de-Port.

So what did I pack? Here’s a picture of most everything laid out before I put it in the pack. I made a few adjustments – I changed rain jackets to an old one I had that folded up a little easier, I left out the white button down, I changed the short sleeve shirt from this blue Wooland to an Onno Bamboo shirt because it had a higher neckline (to cover where the pack strap goes across your chest) and I changed the crossbody bag to an old fanny pack I had. Also of note – the small light blue bag is a blow up pillow which I got rid of night one because it wouldn’t stay blown up and we never needed a pillow anyway – the albergues always had them.

I should probably add here that our routine was; you wake up every morning, put on whatever is dry and weather appropriate, hang what still needs drying off your pack, walk, eat, coffee, walk, eat, nap/play cards/change socks, walk, find a place to stay the night, shower, wash clothes and hang them to dry, dinner, wind down, bed.

Topo Trail Shoes

Teva Tirra Sandals (from way back)

Three pairs of wool socks – One above the heel, one heel height but cushy, one old pair of black heel height but didn’t stick out too much under the Teva’s – glad I had all three

Two pair of wool underwear and one quick-dry – I probably only needed two. Two wool bra’s and one wool cami – probably only needed one bra.

Light Rain jacket

Ridge Merino Wool Hyde Long Sleeve Hoodie – Got it on clearance right before I left – probably heavier weight wise then I needed but that’s what happens when you buy last minute

Smartwool 150 Long Sleeve Top – got this on sale for $25 last year but it was an XL – I tend to wear big clothes anyway

Onno Bamboo Short Sleeve Top in Moss Green

Cotton No Sleeve dressy top – pulled something old and light out of the closet to wear when I wasn’t walking

Sierra Tank Wool Dress from Wooland – I used this dress just about every night after my shower. I slept in it. I put a scarf over my shoulders and wore it to mass. I went walking around town in it.

46×80 Black and White Cotton Scarf I bought from Ann Taylor many years ago and rarely use in my real life – this came in handy in so many ways; cover the shoulders, nap on it, play cards on it, use it as a privacy screen, a thin blanket on the chilly train.

Black Linen Long pants from Athleta – my pants are several seasons old but these are similar. I never did wear these when I was walking but they were great for the flight (mine have deep pockets) and around town.

Black “cargo like” shorts from Athleta – these were really old and the only thing I brought that wasn’t a natural fiber. I haven’t found a good pair of walking shorts in a natural material. Again, I like that these have pockets, aren’t too short (I’m talking to you French people), and an elastic waist that stays up without a tie. If anyone knows of anything like that in a natural material, please share!

Black Wool leggings from Unbound Merino – I didn’t wear these as much as I thought I would. If I put them on in the morning I was usually behind some bush changing into my shorts an hour or two into the day. Also, I never did wash them and they kept stretching out more and more so that when I did wear them I had to pull them up a lot.

A down “stadium” blanket I got from Costco a few years ago. I lost the cover but it was still easy to shove it in the bottom of my pack. I didn’t do a silk sleep sack although I thought about it – just too expensive and my sister who brought a sleep sack always wanted to use the albergue’s blankets instead. Just FYI – All the albergues give you sheets of some sort. The mattresses and pillows are covered in plastic and 75% of the time you get disposable paper like sheets but every once in a while you get the real thing. I think bedbugs were an issue a few years back but we never encountered any.

Then there were my personal care items

The Kula cloth got used more than you might think it would. Those quick dry towels – dry anything but you! I got those tin’s from Lush before I went and one has my tallow soap (from my local farmer’s market) and one has the Lush Godiva Shampoo/Conditioner bar. It worked well enough. I never did use that band-aid – I bought something better at a Farmacia. I didn’t use my swimming earplugs although I did go skinny dipping in the Bay of Biscay 🙂 The white squares are laundry sheets cut up – my sister brought the liquid camping laundry detergent – I would probably do that next time. My sister was also in charge of sunblock so I didn’t bring that but I did end up buying a SPF lip balm because both of us burned our lips on the beach.

And those other necessary things

Lost the eye mask probably around day three. Loved having a large pink charging cord for my phone. The small floral fold-up sac was one of my favorite things. That way, I didn’t have to carry my whole pack around at night but could put a water bottle, a scarf, or whatever I might need around town in it. Also, they don’t give out grocery bags at the Supermercados so I could just whip the sac out and use it. And yes, that is a “Hard Rock Cafe” fanny pack from the 80’s!

I got the plastic containers for my hygiene items and my accessories on Amazon right before I left on the advice of one blog. I probably could have just used ziploc bags but these held up well to all my in and outs, and I was able to hang the hygiene container in the shower if it had hooks (which most did) which was nice.

Here’s a few pictures from the trip so you can see the clothes in action:

And even though I was there partly to support my sister (and save her from the crazy locals) I got way more out of this experience than I ever would have imagined. When you are on the camino you feel alive. Like every decision matters. Like you can feel every emotion at once: pain/joy, hope/frustration, happy/sad, worry/relief. You share life stories with people from all over the world that you just met and you truly listen. You live completely simply and are content with that. I wasn’t 100% for staying off my phone but by the end I was barely needing the security of knowing where I am or where I’m going to sleep – I succumbed to just letting it happen.

Many people you meet along the way are on the camino for the fourth or fifth time. Many restaurant or albergue owners gave up their life back home to live on the camino and feel the energy of the pilgrims walking through. For me, I realized it’s being with the people I love that gives me energy and I found myself missing home. But, I want to bring some of that simplicity and feeling truly alive home with me. And yes, I will probably find myself on a camino again someday, soon.