Early preparations for the Camino

| iva at the frontier

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I think that for most people, a countdown of 17 days would not be labelled “early preparations”, but I remind you dear reader, that I am the queen of procrastination, and as such this is positively premature as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve spent the weekend watching some camino videos on the various internet video platforms.

My favourite is from Andrew Suzuki, concise, helpful and entertaining. The thoughts overall are “pack light” and remember that Spain is not a third world country and you will probably be able to pick stuff up along the way.

Jaén has a tiny outdoors shop “Campingmania” near San Ildefonso.

I’ve got a ridiculously low budget for doing the whole thing – this summer probably has to come in under €1000, and I’ll be sharing my purchases and expenses here, partly to keep myself in check. I agree that probably some time spent crawling the internet and online ordering could have saved me some cash, but I prefer to support local shops (and er, I haven’t really left myself that much time…).

I’m using my sketchbook to help me plan!

I do have some good quality gear from other adventures to kick me off (phew):

1. 1 pair TIVA walking sandals (broken-in in India 🙂 )

I’ve added this link because they’ve got quite a nice Instagram photo competition on the go for the photographers out there 🙂

2. Goretex Waterproof

3. Trusty Sigg waterbottle

and today I added to this:

4. Ferrino 36l backpack  €86

5. Ferrino XL travel towel €22

Additionally, I’m going to get a whistle, light, hat, knife and walking poles. I’ll get to my local pharmacy as well to stock up on some first aid items :-).

I don’t think I need much else, equipment-wise, but any thoughts from seasoned walkers would be interesting.

I’ll have my Spanish mobile with me, rather than my computer, and I’ve downloaded wordpress to my mobile. I doubt I’ll be posting lengthy reflections, but hopefully I’ll get some pictures up!

12 thoughts on “Early preparations for the Camino”

    1. Ok, that’s settled it, I do have a very comfortable pair of running shoes, and I was wondering about keeping the pack weight down and if my feet might get a bit sweaty in them, but as you say, alternating the pressure might keep my feet in better shape!! Many thanks!! The toe nail clippers too! Have you done this sort of thing before?

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  2. I am fascinated by this trip, so have looked up the Camino on line to see what it is. Living in Australia I have no experience of the pilgrimage. Could you tell me more about what you are going to do. Are you on a set route, will it be from your door to your destination, will you be joining others? Totally fascinating I look forward to following you on your journey. Karen

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    1. Hi Karen, thanks for your interest! it is theoretically (and was and historically) possible to walk from Jaén to Madrid and then north on the “Camino de Madrid”, but the distance between villages is at times greater than a realistic day’s walking so I’d have to camp and the meseta/plateau of mid-Spain is a punishing environment mid-summer, so I’m going for something more manageable, travelling to the north of Spain and then walking across the Basque Country, Cantabria Asturias and Galicia to reach the city of Santiago. It’s probably best if I try for a quick drawing of my route :-). I’m going alone but my understanding is that I’ll occasionally meet other “pilgrims” along the way!

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      1. Thank you for the details, I have had to look it all up on the map, my Spanish geography is not very good. I can understand not wanting to walk through the centre of Spain in the heat, but your route looks great and you will have such an adventure. I look forward to following your preparations and journey.

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