Subtitle: Sage advice for sister Kathy and friend Judy going on the Camino in September:
These are a few of my favorite things:
Color coded stuff bags. I could easily find raincoat (blue), electronics plugs and adapters (green), warm clothes (black), etc. Pick your own colors, but know that your backpack will stay organized and you only have to search through four or six bags instead of 25 individual items.
Speaking of plugs and adapters, this is the one we used. Magic. Each day when we arrived, I coded in wifi passwords to our devices and plugged in all devices for recharging. This adapter has a continental plug in for Spain (two skinny plugs) and a three prong for the U.K. , plus a US plug on the back side. It has room for 4 USB connections. I got this off the internet, but similar ones are found at travel stores.
Packing cubes from Eagle Creek or Rick Steves. I put all my cold weather gear in one: light gloves, merino wool long sleeved half-zip shirt, merino wool hat, buff (never used any of it in May, but you never know). I put all my everyday clothes in the other– pants, shorts, merino t shirt, underwear, socks. Only take clothes that will dry overnight after hand washing and rolling up in a towel to remove moisture. Practice to be sure.
Backpack– the key to the entire operation. Get the right size and get it fitted with straps in the right places. You will spend a lot of time with that backpack and it needs to be comfortable. This is the daypack I used.
And this is the “big” backpack. It is only 36 liters so you could not do the Pacific Crest Trail with it but it was plenty adequate for the Camino. I went to REI downtown and they did a super job of fitting it. It has all the bells and whistles.
Electronics– almost a necessity for travel nowadays. All your itineraries, confirmation numbers, directions, etc. will be kept on your smart phone. Most train and bus stations, airports, restaurants, and hotels have free wifi. Many buses and airplanes have a USB plug built in for recharging, so as you ride and recharge yourself with a nap you can also recharge your electronics.
Phone–We each bought a SIM card for Spain at the Orange Store at the Madrid airport for 35€ and that had plenty of minutes for our needs. The SIM card changes your number to a new number in Spain, and we could call each other, hotels, and any number in the US by dialing 001 plus the regular US number.
There was one problem when I needed to authorize charges for our emergency return on my credit card. Since I was calling from a strange number in Spain, or logging onto a hotel computer and not my normal computer, I could not use my email or credit card without problems that took time to fix.
iPad– I took mine for blogging and loved having it. Smaller than a laptop and easy to fit into my daypack, yet nearly as powerful as my desk top computer for my purposes. And I could Airdrop photos between my phone and my iPad, eliminating other convoluted photo transfers. Very slick.
Camera– up to the day before we left I was going to take a camera and external memory and recharger. Boo. I just used the iPhone and it was fine.
Maps and GPS– we tried paper maps and GPS. Both worked fine. One advantage of GPS is that it shows where YOU are, which is a huge plus in the big cities where the street signs are nonexistent. One disadvantage of GPS is that sometimes in big cities the buildings are so high they block out the signal, so you have to wait till the next plaza with open space to reconnect.
Miscellaneous gear– We took a big ziplock with these items just in case. A GI can opener, safety pins, a carabiner, a couple of alligator clips, two metal sporks and a travelers clothes line. The clothes line below we used every evening; it has Velcro on both ends so it can hook doorknob to towel rack, or lamp to chair. The strange braiding eliminates the need for clothes pins; you can push one corner of a sock or two sleeves or a clothes hanger into the braiding to hold the clothes up. If you bring clothes with good synthetic or merino content, everything will dry overnight. It is called Netline and is made in Bellingham.
if you have questions, ask me in the comments. Or hey, just call me up.
Link to Autumn packing list: http://www.theroadtosantiago.com/autumn-packing-list.html
Clothes
There are lots of websites to guide you but we came to rely on these during training and travel:
Merino wool t shirts, socks, and mid-layer. They don’t smell, they dry quickly, and they keep you warm when you are sweaty and stop walking. Don’t take anything made of cotton.
Columbia or REI brand or marmot zip-away pants. Look for pockets that are big enough for your cell phone or money. Look for pockets that zip up so nothing can fall out.
Practice at home washing these items by hand in the afternoon and hanging them up to dry. See if they are dry by morning. If not, don’t take them.