A backpack is enough

[Kanga]

When I first come back from a camino I feels waves of gratitude for a choice of clothes. And shoes. A drawer full of moisturisers, real shampoo and hair conditioner. Books. TV. A choice of saucepans in the kitchen.

Then, after a few weeks, I start to feel claustrophobic. All that stuff that surrounds me. The decluttering starts. Off to the charity shop go the clothes that I no longer wear. The bookshelf gets pruned. Face creams, cakes of soap saved from hotels, makeup bags; all get tossed. The weevils in the flour make that decision easy.

I'd like to get rid of so much more. Everything I really need fits into a backpack.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It is not so much about how much you need, but how little you need.

 

[Shades of Narnia]

I am now trying to hold everything with an open hand.
<><

 

[domigee]

When I came back last December, after months of living out of my (very light) backpack, I was overwhelmed by everything I owned. So...I bought this book (oh great, more clutter said my husband )
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...joyfully-declutter-your-home-from-marie-kondo

 

[Anniesantiago]

Kanga, isn't it amazing how the Camino grounds you and makes you realize just how little you need to make you happy?
Each time I return, I go through a purge.

 

[Kanga]

Gran: "Wow! This house is tidy. What happened"

Naomi (4): "Mummy did it. Nana was coming to dinner"

Gran: "It looks great".

Naomi: "But Gran, I can't find my princess dress anywhere"

 

[Kerstinh47]

Kanga - I love your light tone, and it makes me smile. I also have an undying desire to down-size post camino- but I have a husband - and I don't want to down-size his life, too when he is perfectly happy status quo. I get frustrated now and then sharing the same home we have shared for years that now feels like too much; too much stuff, too much to clean, too many bathrooms.... just too much. It's not a McMansion, but it's a far cry from the peacefulness I came home with after my camino last year. Here, Here, for the number of things you really need - all which fit into what can carried on one's back. I did a silent toast with my vino tinto before posting

 

[Anemone del Camino]

And while we think the Camino brings us closer to simplicity we spend a fortune on techincal clothing, back packs and other items. We pay small fortunes to carry an item that are just a few grams lighter. What I carry on a camino is close to 1 500 C$ of stuff I would not use back home other than at the dog run!

Sleepingbag: 200
Backpack: 20o
Shoes: 200
EVA Birkies: 50$
Macabi: 115
Pants: 150
3 merino socks: 60
pacer poles: 250
2 tech Ts: 60$
Fleece: 75$
Iphone, Ipad etc...

Yet we feel we are becoming minimalists

 

[LeAnn Blackert]

I am sitting in my living room tonight after a nice long hike in my favorite rugged park today (pretending I was on the Camino). In our guest room, the bed is piled with clothing I am saying goodbye to after a major post-Camino purge. After the closet and dresser, the boxes in the garage (moved here five years ago and combined households with my partner and still stuff sits out there waiting for a new home). This packrat is a changed woman! Will I ever stop missing the Camino? Already saving and planning for my second visit.

 

[zzotte]

And while we think the Camino brings us closer to simplicity we spend a fortune on techincal clothing, back packs and other items. We pay small fortunes to carry an item that are just a few grams lighter. What I carry on a camino is close to 1 500 C$ of stuff I would not use back home other than at the dog run!

Sleepingbag: 200
Backpack: 20o
Shoes: 200
EVA Birkies: 50$
Macabi: 115
Pants: 150
3 merino socks: 60
pacer poles: 250
2 tech Ts: 60$
Fleece: 75$
Iphone, Ipad etc...

Yet we feel we are becoming minimalists

Hahaha you are so right

 

[Tincatinker]

The apparent obsession of some with lighter, better, best, with brands and labels and the perfect gear for the perfect camino is a topic that has been thrashed (a word chosen carefully) on this forum more than once. But while some may only ever wear that gear on their one time, tick-off Camino others will wear those boot soles to a shine and those pack-straps to threads. The stuff I wear on Camino is the stuff I wear on all my other hikes; its the stuff I wear in the woods in mushroom season; its the stuff I wear at music festivals as I stand in the rain in the road-way keeping the traffic moving; its the stuff I litter-pick in; fish my local rivers in, and walk the dog in . Many walk the Camino in what they have or what they can borrow, beg and even - no, not steal.

As for minimalist: no one who owns 14 fishing rods could ever call himself a minimalist but there is no item in my wardrobe that is not worn in its purpose and no tool in my workshop that gathers dust for long and indeed one of those rods will be bent, I hope, every week of the year.

Hiking the Camino with that little bundle of absolute essentials gives a sense of freedom, of managing, surviving, thriving with the minimal of comforts. No wardrobe choices, no spare just in case, no radio in every room interconnected pour a gin turn the heating up lets plan a shopping trip the freezers got some spaces and I'm bored....

Kanga, you have reminded me - its time I cluttered up a charity shop...

 

[Julie H]

I felt the same way after I came home from a year banging around India/Nepal in 1983-84. All my "stuff" was just so overwhelming....had a huge purge and felt almost enlightened. I still gather "stuff" (mostly books) but purge often.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I have one dresser, given to me by my mother, that I'm not attached to.
However, the things ON that dresser are my treasures and these are what I drag around.
They are mostly rocks and minerals, a couple of vases that belonged to my great grandmother, and a figurine from my childhood.
I have a hard time letting go of these.

And photos...
I have 3 boxes of vintage photos of my family that I don't know what to do with.
I doubt my grandchildren will ever want them, though I do love looking through them on occasion.
They hold so many memories for me, but once I'm gone, who will want them.

My backpack and sleeping bag, a dozen books...

All the rest could go away and I'd be fine.

 

[jsalt]

I have 3 boxes of vintage photos of my family that I don't know what to do with.

Hi Annie, when you have time, you could scan the photos into your computer. When I got tendonitis on the SW Coast path in England, and couldn’t walk, I stayed at my late mother’s apartment, just before it was sold, and I scanned over a thousand family photos, dating back to the 1800s. It took me over 2 weeks. I then made backups, which I gave to other family members. The orginals are now in my sister’s attic, and no longer a problem if one day they get lost or thrown out. There was a reason I got the tendonitis! Jill

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Are we really living with less when we long distance walk? We can easily say that all our possessions are on our back but we rely on other's household belongings. Pots and pans, kitchen utensils food supplies, in some cases bed covers and household cleaning supplies and on and on. Rarely do we carry 11 pounds on our backs when we go to our local market or to work or to the pub.

Isnt it more of a self induced euphoria to believe life with 11 pounds is a credible goal?

 

[Kanga]

You are right @Scott Sweeney, although I think we made a pretty credible attempt when we walked the Norte with a tent. Our packs were a lot heavier than we usually carry.

 

[Siobhan02]

Are we really living with less when we long distance walk? We can easily say that all our possessions are on our back but we rely on other's household belongings. Pots and pans, kitchen utensils food supplies, in some cases bed covers and household cleaning supplies and on and on. Rarely do we carry 11 pounds on our backs when we go to our local market or to work or to the pub.

Isnt it more of a self induced euphoria to believe life with 11 pounds is a credible goal?

Great point, I suppose it's kind of like a hitch-hiker feeling like they have lightened their 'load', yet they happily get in a car that someone else pays for petrol, servicing, insurance and purchasing...and then they say they don't burden the planet by having a car. But I do totally see the point you are making Kanga, it is great to truly feel liberated by carrying the very reduced weight of our world on our shoulders, literally

 

[lbpierce]

I, too, have the same feeling of being overwhelmed with too much stuff when I return from Caminos and always go through a purging process. This year on my return I also gave up meat. I'm really not sure why. It didn't feel like a conscious choice. It just felt that I didn't need or want it. Perhaps meat felt too "heavy," after living lightly (relatively speaking) for a month.

 

[Michael Islander]

And while we think the Camino brings us closer to simplicity we spend a fortune on techincal clothing, back packs and other items. We pay small fortunes to carry an item that are just a few grams lighter. What I carry on a camino is close to 1 500 C$ of stuff I would not use back home other than at the dog run!

Sleepingbag: 200
Backpack: 20o
Shoes: 200
EVA Birkies: 50$
Macabi: 115
Pants: 150
3 merino socks: 60
pacer poles: 250
2 tech Ts: 60$
Fleece: 75$
Iphone, Ipad etc...

Yet we feel we are becoming minimalists

I fully expect to continue hiking the local trails and using most of what I'm taking on the Camino. That's why I bought a bit larger pack than needed, 58 liter, in the anticipation that I'll use it to then carry cooking gear, tent and food. Why end the pilgrimage in Spain is how I'm thinking of it.....