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Recent content by Oravasaari

  1. Oravasaari

    To poncho or not to poncho?

    Horses for courses. Warm weather + showers + windy + quick change + getting wet from the inside + wet pack -> Rainjacket Warm weather + rain all day + dry pack + avoid getting wet from the inside -> Poncho
  2. Oravasaari

    Apple Air Tag

    I carry items of any value on my person at all times, however I will use one on my next trip, mainly for interest. The tags are useful to chase after (track) a recent theft, but are no good after a while since the tag will send an anti-stalking message to the thief (if they have an iPhone) that...
  3. Oravasaari

    Am I packing too much?

    Cheese, choritzo and fruit eaters 🙂 But some foldable spoon tools also have a servicable serated edge.
  4. Oravasaari

    Am I packing too much?

    I've honed down my own list over six caminos and aim for a out 4 kg (5 including 1 litre water worst case). This has been light enough that its pretty easy to forget I have a pack on. As others have said though, If you're ex forces and are happy with 20 kg then knock yourself out :-)...
  5. Oravasaari

    Days from Leon to Santiago

    10 days is common (especially for many people coming to the end of a longer camino i.e. Pretty fit by that stage), however there is quite a bit of altitude to negociate, so I’ve always taken 12 days ~ Leon, Hospital de Orbigo, Astorga, Foncebadon, Molinaseca or Ponferrada, Villafranca del...
  6. Oravasaari

    90 days to go and feeling nervous

    I’m starting from Seville 25 March - Although I’ve walked the northern caminos I too am undecided on some equipment choices. I usually take my 33l pack at a max 5 kg fully packed. This time I’ll fit a 1.5 litre bladder which I never bother with on northern caminos (since there are cafes and...
  7. Oravasaari

    Is pre-booking accommodation the new normal?

    I’ve never pre booked albergues and have had few problems in the past - apart from one year when I started off at Belorado and had walk on past St Juan and Ages because they were completo (and ended up walking 55km that day to Cardenuela Riopico)! But I still don’t book ahead because I hardly...
  8. Oravasaari

    To check or not check your backpack?

    As others have said, take your pack as hand luggage sans the prohibited items. A 33l Osprey Talon is well within limits and having a small pack makes you slim down on pack weight. I never carry more than about 5kg these days. I'm also off the plane and gone within 10 mins of landing (Shengen)...
  9. Oravasaari

    How much route planning is actually needed?

    Plan how to get there a f back home and maybe book your first night's accommodation. No plan survives its first contact with reality/ contingencies/ events. Go with the flow (unless you have medical or mobility issues). The camino is very forgiving in the sense that there's always a bed of some...
  10. Oravasaari

    War in Ukraine - not political!

    I'm going early April. I'll walk for peace.
  11. Oravasaari

    Extra day if you're not a city person

    Just be aware that for those walking the whole way from St Jean, and having got into their daily routine over the early weeks, then two nights with a whole day in between can seem like an eternity. I know I still walked about 20km around Leon sightseeing on my "day off" and was on the road...
  12. Oravasaari

    Finances to Feet

    Just to add to what others have said concerning your foot and the challenge of SJPdP to Roncesvalles; the "start" at St Jean is only a choice of starting point on the trail, the real start is actually when you close your frontdoor. I've walked 4 times now but only started in St Jean the first...
  13. Oravasaari

    Best all purpose soap

    I've not got any hair, so a bar of Marseilles soap does for both showers and laundry.
  14. Oravasaari

    Socks (i hate cold feet)

    Wear a hat. Goodbye cold feet.
  15. Oravasaari

    The Camino Isn’t A Pilgrimage Anymore

    This 100%! I found the camino due to a combination of unemployment in my late 50s (lots of time, no money and poor fitness). A cheap holiday? Maybe…Not a pilgrimage at all since I don’t have a religious bone in my body. Hiwever, I did need to get out and do something, just about anything in...
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