Assuming it was 'weight-free' what luxury would you take?

[Br. David]

I know we strip our kits down to the minimum, buy lightweight wherever possible and so on .. but .. I was wondering - if the weight didn't matter (perhaps there is a servant to carry it) what luxury item would you like to have with you on the Camino?

For me, I think it would be a Wok. (Or perhaps a small solar-powered fridge packed with vanilla ice-cream)

 

[annakappa]

A third pair of shoes - besides the boots, the crocs and ??? - I would love to take a pair of better looking footwear (in my case sandals)! Anne

 

[Anniesantiago]

A bathtub to soak in! :!:

 

[wawpdx]

A soft, comfortable chair to sink into at the end of the day!

 

[Gailsie]

Something other than my Brierley guide to read. As a retired librarian, I read every day and found it difficult not to have a book in my hand in the evenings. I stopped at the Brazilian hostel and they had a library with a camino book written by a Canadian and I read and read and read all afternoon. On my completion of the camino I travelled to Madrid and my first stop was a bookstore to get an English language novel.

 

[viajero]

A thick, absorbent, oversized towel.

 

[johnnyman]

My bed ...

 

[SisterPearl]

A bottle of J'Adore perfume by Christian Dior. (Which I actually am seriously considering really taking with me -- hooray for duty-free shops in the airports!.) Just because I will be on the trail for five weeks does not mean I have to smell like it, lol :wink:

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I'll take the dryer, then (since we can take only ONE thing, or is a washer-dryer set counted as just one thing?).

 

[johnnyman]

How stinky can I expect to get in 30 days, anyway? Seriously ...

 

[Davroos]

A bottle of vintage champagne to drink at the end of every day

 

[Anniesantiago]

:::getting down on her hands and knees and begging SisterPearl:::

Please don't take perfume!
Those of us with allergies or chemical sensitivities will be driven out of the alburgues.
Just shower... you smell fine... please?

Here.. I have an idea..
Let ME carry it for you.

OOPS!
Oh my gosh.. I'm SO sorry!

I dropped it!

 

[dutchpilgrim]

How stinky can I expect to get in 30 days, anyway? Seriously ...

Well,
Known greetings between pilgrims:
"Hi there, nice smelling you again"
:roll:

Ultreya,
Carli Di Bortolo

 

[hel&scott]

The luxury good we always take is the freedom of having left all the burdens of our normal lives behind us. It's not heavy at all, actually quiet liberating not to have "stuff" to worry about.

 

[Br. David]

Yes, you don't realise how heavy those chains are until you unshackle them.

Some pretty good ideas coming up here :lol: :wink:

 

[Deleted member 3000]

A sunny disposition, but maybe that is not a luxury, just a coping skill for the physical stress of the walking, and the emotional stress of getting along with other pilgrims.

 

[Kitsambler]

I heard a great line in a song last night, that's apropos: "I don't want what I haven't got."

Something to aspire to, anyhow.

 

[+@^^]

id take a full-sized duck-down pillow from Granny Goose
.
i can sleep naked on razorblades in a fridge, if i have a good pillow
.
as it was, i carried a luxuary - a mini half sized down pillow which i compressed down to a fraction of the size
http://www.grannygoose.com/pillows/spec ... illow.html
.
the comfort factor was greater than the weight

 

[carolgibney]

Something other than my Brierley guide to read. As a retired librarian, I read every day and found it difficult not to have a book in my hand in the evenings. I stopped at the Brazilian hostel and they had a library with a camino book written by a Canadian and I read and read and read all afternoon. On my completion of the camino I travelled to Madrid and my first stop was a bookstore to get an English language novel.

Why not invest in an e reader (kindle for example). I am an avid reader and always take at least three books on holiday with me. I am also a "late adopter" when it comes to technology but I have to say my Kindle is THE best thing ever. I can load up to 4500 books on it and it is much lighter than one paper back novel. It also holds charge for almost a month at my daily read level. No more hard copy books for me! AND electronic books are half the price of the hard copy.

 

[Trudy]

I'd love enough English language detective novels to last me the whole Camino. As I only walk 15 to 20kms per day, so get to albergues around lunchtime, I get really bored during the afternoons and would love reading material. I'm also old-fashioned and prefer real paper books!

On previous pilgrimages I've managed to find room for a Sudoku book, nail polish, small mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, and perfume. Don't worry AnnieSantiago, I only wear the perfume when staying in hotels and on rest days, but it's nice to know it's there!

 

[WanderingChristian]

Only one luxury item, eh?
Okay. I think I would bring a few of my favorite cigars in a travel humidor, a butane torch and a cigar cutter. The idea would be to have one cigar at each major stop along the way (Paris, SJPDP, Pamplona, Burgos, Leon, Sarria, Santiago).

For the record, my favorite cigars are "Hemingway Untold Story" by Arturo Fuente, Dirt Torpedo by Drew Estate or Double Chateau by Arturo Fuente .

But this begs a question: is it okay to smoke a cigar at an albergue? I've heard of peregrinos having a cigarette or two, but would management frown upon a cigar smoker?

De Colores y Buen Camino,
8) Wandering "pass me my stogies" Christian :arrow:

 

[julie]

But this begs a question: is it okay to smoke a cigar at an albergue? I've heard of peregrinos having a cigarette or two, but would management frown upon a cigar smoker?

Don't know about management but I wouldn't mind betting the other pilgrims have something to say

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

If it was 'weight free' I'd take a Portaloo [free standing enclosed toilet]!
Buen camino!
Stephen.
http://www.calig.co.uk/camino_de_santiago.htm

 

[WanderingChristian]

Ah, a Sudoku puzzler! I'd bring a book of crossword puzzles...

 

[annelise]

I guess that a negative response might also be in place. As to a luxury item: None, and rethinking your question once again – really hard – then none again.

I guess that my mind-set is very much focussed on 'minimum/low weight issues'. There are a few things which I will wish to replace by slightly more light-weight items for my next camino. My backpack weight came to about 6 kg when going on the camino in May 2011 (without food and water, and the occasional book I bought along the say).

This response is somewhat dull, but so be it.
annelise

 

[Anniesantiago]

I just had to Unpack my memory foam travel pillow as it weighed a full pound.
That's the second item I'd take along with my bathtub.

 

[fraluchi]

- if the weight didn't matter (perhaps there is a servant to carry it) what luxury item would you like to have with you on the Camino? For me, I think it would be a Wok. (Or perhaps a small solar-powered fridge packed with vanilla ice-cream)

A Wok! Too many rainy or cloudy days for a solar fridge to keep your ice-cream palatable. :cry:

 

[mikevasey]

I would have a person who could give me Chinese Foot Massages . Did my last training pre-camino on Sunday and my feet are aching

 

[methodist.pilgrim.98]

I would take my wife.

She absolutely, utterly and completely refuses to walk with me; she has short legs, bad knees and fibromylgia.

But I miss her and above all when I come home there is no one first hand to share the experience with.

The world is split into two groups. Those who have and those who haven't and there is a communication gap between the two.

 

[methodist.pilgrim.98]

I would have a person who could give me Chinese Foot Massages . Did my last training pre-camino on Sunday and my feet are aching

Mike I could have used your feet to carry your hands to the letter boxes to which I needed leaflets delivering for the council elections.

(just one more leaflet delivered and I'm sure it would have brought me the other 2,000 votes I needed to get elected :twisted: )

 

[WanderingChristian]

Okay,
I know that I have responded at least twice already, but I thought of a luxury item that could also be classified as a necessity: a caffeine source. I like coffee most of the time, but sometimes it makes me jittery. Growing up, I developed a taste for tea. Irish Breakfast or Earl Grey are regular favorites of mine. So; my idea was to keep a canister of tea in my ruck along with tubes of sweetened condensed milk and an immersion coil heater. I was thinking that most of these items would fit into a large travel mug and a ziplock bag.
De Colores,
WanderingChristian

 

[FrancesK]

I would have a person who could give me Chinese Foot Massages . Did my last training pre-camino on Sunday and my feet are aching

Totally agree!! In Molinaseca one of the other guys staying at our albergue gave my sore ankle a massage and oh my gosh it hurt but it felt so much better the next day!

 

[David]

hhmm .. was wondering ... how big a helium balloon would one need to cancel out the weight of the rucksack? :wink:

 

[WanderingChristian]

hhmm .. was wondering ... how big a helium balloon would one need to cancel out the weight of the rucksack? :wink:

Given how heavy some of the rucksacks some folks carry, that'd have to be a WEATHER BALLOON :shock: .

 

[David]

:lol: :lol: