Walking the Camino de Santiago
Equipment, its purchase and use.
The pilgrim routine at the end of the walking day is largely unchanging. Check into your albergue. Take a shower. Wash your clothes – almost always by hand, but every now and again by machine. Journal if you’ve got ’em. Explore the village/town/city neighbourhood. Dinner. Somewhere in there, usually all in there, is socialization with other pilgrims. Honestly, if there’s […]
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The quickest way to start an argument amongst pilgrims or on a Camino Forum is to pronounce your opinion on one of two hot-button issues: footwear and rain gear. So, of course, I thought I’d tackle one of those today. The usual caveats apply – every human is different, has different preferences, and different body types. My solution may not be […]
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In France, one of the great things about the Camino routes is the availability of public toilets along the Way. Despite my hurry, I stopped here to use the facilities and to have a quick bite to eat. I dug into my stash and ate an apple and some cookies before continuing. Getting into the stash involves removing my pack. Here […]
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Steve took this photo of me as we entered Aumont-Aubrac. This was my stopping point for the day, though Steve was pushing on a bit farther. Our plan was to have lunch in town and then say our goodbyes. In this photo you can see my mascot, Dobbles the penguin, as well as my forward-facing water bottle holsters. A word […]
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Early this morning, I had my follow-up visit with the podiatrist. He was extremely pleased and somewhat amazed with my rapid progress. We discussed a Cortizone shot, but given the level of improvement, he wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. So that’s off the table. Most importantly, he cleared me for my Camino. I am convinced that my rapid recovery is […]
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Ten years ago today, I posted here about my “nervousness, elation, and even fear” as I got ready to fly to Spain to walk our first Camino. To my great surprise, 137 days from today I will fly to Lyon, France for another adventure. From there, I’ll take light rail from the delightfully named Aéroport de Saint-Exupéry to the train […]
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Halfway between Astorga and Rabanal seems an unlikely place for a pilgrim to purchase a shell or stick, and yet this shop in the village of Santa Catalina de Somoza is one of the more photographed businesses on this part of the Camino. Three years later, it came in pretty handy. On our 2016 Camino, Francine somehow lost her shell […]
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Knowing that you’ll be carrying everything with you for a month, you try to pack light. It’s never light enough, as a long string of “free to take” boxes in the albergues along the Camino will attest. We pack our fears. Still, I don’t know of anyone who brought a clothes iron. Now a coffee machine… You’ll notice that this […]
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You will see these little monuments all over the Camino. I’m not talking about the random plinth – though those are everywhere as well – but rather of the abandoned footwear. I’m not really sure how this happens. Shoes blowing out is common enough; I had to replace mine in León. But who, having replaced their shoes, thinks to carry […]
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Today is the Feast of Santiago! May you have all the joy of the feast. Today’s photo is the second in this second series. Like the first, this photo was taken while still at home in Tacoma. Here we see my gear, all laid out, with the pack I carried it in. While I did ultimately use every bit of […]
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