Janbrovold
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Francés 2013
Francés (2015)
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Thank you for asking this question @Janbrovold . I, too, was wondering what to do with my backpack once I head to the shower. I'm sure it will all fall into place. The suggestion of taking your valuables with you to the shower makes sense and I hear consistently not to lay your backpack on the bed. I guess it is on the floor. 1 month to go! OMG, this rookie is so excited.I'm excited to be heading back in a few weeks for my second Camino. I'm walking with two friends for whom it will be their first time... we are all 60+++. Could members please refresh me on backpack etiquette especially in albergues? Thanks so much!!
Thank you, this really helps.Chairs are for sitting, not storing a backpack.
Put a loop of rope on the pack hoist loop, and you will be able to hang the pack from most bunks.
Half the space below the bunk belongs to each of the top and bottom occupants.
Don't lie directly on the mattress.
Packs can be pretty dirty, which is why you should avoid putting them on beds.
Lights out at 2200 generally.
Almost everyone will be getting up at 6 a.m. in the summer. If you want to sleep in, albergues are not the right place!
Lights will usually be turned on at or before 7 a.m.
Hospitaleros will probably throw you out at 8 a.m., sometimes quite rudely.
Never set your alarm.
Phones on vibrate (no one wants to hear it ring at two in the morning).
Share the hanging space on the ends of the bunks.
Prepack if you plan to leave early. Don't use "crackly" plastic bags.
Bring ear plugs. You cannot control the snoring of others, so plan to accommodate it.
Take showers of modest length. Often hot water heaters are under-capacity units.
And that goes for any alarms that you think you have to set - vibrate only please.Phones on vibrate (no one wants to hear it ring at two in the morning).
As so often, "Tinky", you make me laugh!Just don't ever put it / leave it on your bunk. Don't leave your valuables in it when you are showering or out in the evening. And if it is stolen by a teenage member of a minority ethnic group, don't worry - you will get to go to a great spontaneous party and someone will carry your pack for you to the city boundary.
Would a "standard" carabiner also work for this? Seems like I always carry one.Put a loop of rope on the pack hoist loop, and you will be able to hang the pack from most bunks.
And that goes for any alarms that you think you have to set - vibrate only please.
Would a "standard" carabiner also work for this? Seems like I always carry one.
I think at least part of the point of not putting your pack on the bed is to avoid the transmission of pests like bedbugs that might be on your pack. Hanging your pack on the bunk bed would defeat that objective. I think packs, like boots, belong on the floor and nowhere near bedding.Put a loop of rope on the pack hoist loop, and you will be able to hang the pack from most bunks.
I think at least part of the point of not putting your pack on the bed is to avoid the transmission of pests like bedbugs that might be on your pack. Hanging your pack on the bunk bed would defeat that objective. I think packs, like boots, belong on the floor and nowhere near bedding.
Please don't ever put your backpack on a chair.
Chairs are for sitting on, in albergues and cafes.
Thanks!
Jill
When with other people, like walking in a group or in a city, don't turn around suddenly and slam your pack in someone else's face...
Hang it up if you can on a peg. Harder for bed bugs to hitch a rideThank you for asking this question @Janbrovold . I, too, was wondering what to do with my backpack once I head to the shower. I'm sure it will all fall into place. The suggestion of taking your valuables with you to the shower makes sense and I hear consistently not to lay your backpack on the bed. I guess it is on the floor. 1 month to go! OMG, this rookie is so excited.
Good advice.Early on during my walk, I stayed at an albergue where the lady was almost paranoid about bed bugs. So when we arrived, we were told to take out what we needed for the stay, whilst we were still in the lobby. Then she gave us thick plastic bags, into which we put our packs. Then we were told to hang the bagged pack from a hook from the end of the bunk.
Later on, after picking up bed bugs myself, I adopted a similar strategy, though I had no plastic beg. By then there was no way I was going to leave my pack on the floor for the night. Instead, I would hang my pack from the frame of the upper bunk using a piece of string I just happen to have. The pack was suspended between the two beds, touching neither.
Live and learnI hadn't realized that my iPad alarm would sound for everyone to hear even though I had plugged in my earphones (so I didn't annoy anyone). So sorry!!!!!!
- I am looking forward to the expanse of human ingenuity which will be on display. You also answered another - solitary or group showers. Bueno Camino!Teeth. Sometimes the door handle is a useful shape. Or you get lucky and there is a hook. People have all kinds of ingenious solutions.
The backpacks on furniture thing is a mystery to me. It never has crossed my mind to do it, as communal chairs and furniture are for backsides to rest on, not backpacks. Yet rude pilgrims do it.Please don't ever put your backpack on a chair.
Chairs are for sitting on, in albergues and cafes.
Thanks!
Jill
Just don't ever put it / leave it on your bunk. Don't leave your valuables in it when you are showering or out in the evening. And if it is stolen by a teenage member of a minority ethnic group, don't worry - you will get to go to a great spontaneous party and someone will carry your pack for you to the city boundary.
Thank you for asking this question @Janbrovold . I, too, was wondering what to do with my backpack once I head to the shower. I'm sure it will all fall into place. The suggestion of taking your valuables with you to the shower makes sense and I hear consistently not to lay your backpack on the bed. I guess it is on the floor. 1 month to go! OMG, this rookie is so excited.
Just don't ever put it / leave it on your bunk. Don't leave your valuables in it when you are showering or out in the evening. And if it is stolen by a teenage member of a minority ethnic group, don't worry - you will get to go to a great spontaneous party and someone will carry your pack for you to the city boundary.
Brilliant!View attachment 32894
I always pack one of these in my toiletry bag. Set me back €2,50, worth every cent. Holds about 5 kgs of stuff.
Oh and preferably don't have a liner that makes a massive rustling sound at 5am.
This! I was surprised on the Camino Frances how normal it seemed to be woken up by a chorus of alarms around 5.00 am...Never set your alarm.
- I am looking forward to the expanse of human ingenuity which will be on display. You also answered another - solitary or group showers. Bueno Camino!
There's a group shower in Lugo, on the Primitivo. Weirdly in a very modern albergue. It also has a mysterious dining room without a kitchen. Blame the Xunta de Galicia. I normally do.I haven't stayed in every single albergue on the Camino, but I have never ever encountered a group shower! Don't worry.
At the better albergues there will often be hooks, at others you might need to supply you own removable hook (a simple suction one) and or a length of twine to tie your stuff to the door handle or anywhere suitable - up off the wet floors. CheersDetails, details. Those valuables we are supposed to bring with us into the showers - are there generally hooks to hang a shower kit or do I have to hold it in my teeth as I bathe?
I think at least part of the point of not putting your pack on the bed is to avoid the transmission of pests like bedbugs that might be on your pack. Hanging your pack on the bunk bed would defeat that objective. I think packs, like boots, belong on the floor and nowhere near bedding.
When with other people, like walking in a group or in a city, don't turn around suddenly and slam your pack in someone else's face...
Lack of organization, lack of practice, lack of awareness. To name three.Why do pilgrims dump all the crap out of their pack, and put it back in all the time? I never understood that. It's a pack. Everything is in arm's reach. Reach in and grab it and remove it. Then when you are done with it, put it back in.
To find stuff? To get at the stuff that's at the bottom? To get everything reorganized after it's been disorganized and jumbled from pulling stuff out and putting stuff in all day?Why do pilgrims dump all the crap out of their pack, and put it back in all the time? I never understood that. It's a pack. Everything is in arm's reach. Reach in and grab it and remove it. Then when you are done with it, put it back in.
To find stuff? To get at the stuff that's at the bottom? To get everything reorganized after it's been disorganized and jumbled from pulling stuff out and putting stuff in all day?
I do that. Would never have dreamed that would bother someone whom it has nothing to do with!
Exactly. That's what I'm talking about.@tillyjones:
If one does it in the sleeping area at zero-dark-thirty, while others are still trying to sleep, the noise alone is quite bothersome. And if one does it on the lower bunk, the person occupying the upper bunk is likely to become more than a bit upset -- possibly even a little seasick.
Awareness, as they say, is the first step toward meaningful change.
@tillyjones:
If one does it in the sleeping area at zero-dark-thirty, while others are still trying to sleep, the noise alone is quite bothersome. And if one does it on the lower bunk, the person occupying the upper bunk is likely to become more than a bit upset -- possibly even a little seasick.
Awareness, as they say, is the first step toward meaningful change.
Exactly. That's what I'm talking about.
Five in the morning. Lights are still out in the sleeping area. People are still trying to sleep.
Not the most logical time and place to inventory a backpack.
This! I was surprised on the Camino Frances how normal it seemed to be woken up by a chorus of alarms around 5.00 am...
My biggest bugbear was the selfishness of folk with plug sockets. Fair enough, first in first use, but you don't need to charge your phone or tablet for 3-6 hours. There are only so many sockets to go around! Quite often i'd have to do a 1hr stealth charge in the middle of the night. I'm bringing a double socket this year if a neighbour needs to share.
To find stuff? To get at the stuff that's at the bottom? To get everything reorganized after it's been disorganized and jumbled from pulling stuff out and putting stuff in all day?
I do that. Would never have dreamed that would bother someone whom it has nothing to do with!
And don't sit down on a log or rock or backless bench while wearing your pack. If you do, you're almost certain to wind up lying on the ground behind it. Then (as if that wasn't sufficiently embarrassing) try getting up!
Just be glad said cow hadn't recently made a deposit where your faceplant took you....Never had the backward drop, but I had the forward topple once when I wanted to pick something up. My pack slid up, made me topheavy and I there I went, face first. Good thing I was alone, but I could have sworn that cow in the meadow was laughing at me.
That is a good idea for my next Camino! Just bought one this weekend, but hadn't thought of that opportunity yet.Does anyone else Fitbit? I'm using mine this camino. It has a very convenient vibrating alarm.
To find stuff? To get at the stuff that's at the bottom? To get everything reorganized after it's been disorganized and jumbled from pulling stuff out and putting stuff in all day?
I do that. Would never have dreamed that would bother someone whom it has nothing to do with!
Never had the backward drop, but I had the forward topple once when I wanted to pick something up. My pack slid up, made me topheavy and I there I went, face first. Good thing I was alone, but I could have sworn that cow in the meadow was laughing at me.
Just be glad said cow hadn't recently made a deposit where your faceplant took you....
I've never encountered a better reason to leave the windows of an albergue open overnight........on transmission of bedbugs........ They hunker down until meal time (aka the middle of the night, when they sense the CO2 in the air)
"Pack explosions". That's a good term for it. Saw that several times. The entire contents of the pack all over the floor, in the pathway between the bunks and a couple of occasions on the floor next to the bunk where I was sleeping, so I'd have to pick my way through scattered clothing and equipment when I climbed down.I was often amused by the pack explosions I saw in the evenings. Maybe mildly annoyed at the occasional one that was all over the floor around my bunk area that I had to repeatedly step over.
I understand @Mckarash - I am bringing a power=pack has 3 USB slots so can charge my iPad/iPhone and room for anyone who needs help. CheersMy biggest bugbear was the selfishness of folk with plug sockets. Fair enough, first in first use, but you don't need to charge your phone or tablet for 3-6 hours. There are only so many sockets to go around! Quite often i'd have to do a 1hr stealth charge in the middle of the night. I'm bringing a double socket this year if a neighbour needs to share.
Or you can wait until most pilgrims clear on out and you are one of the few left. Then, and only then, you can make all the noise you wish!Don't put it on the bunk. Don't put it on a chair. Don't hang it from a ladder. Don't dump out the contents on the floor next to the beds. Don't inventory it noisily in the dark, in the sleeping quarters early in the morning while pilgrims are still in bed.
Do get it ready the night before, place it on the floor, upon waking take it and all your stuff and go out into the albergue common area or outside, and do whatever you need to do.
That's what I do at home before leaving for the Camino!Or like I observed two weeks ago in an albergue in Ledigos. A very OCD man checking six times ( in the very very early morning ) his pack by packing and unpacking everything. And checking with a torch ( also six tmes ) if he did not forget something under the bed... But I digress
I hope the bedbugs hitchhiked a ride on his stuff that night and left you alone!"Pack explosions". That's a good term for it. Saw that several times. The entire contents of the pack all over the floor, in the pathway between the bunks and a couple of occasions on the floor next to the bunk where I was sleeping, so I'd have to pick my way through scattered clothing and equipment when I climbed down.
I've read that bedbugs can climb anywhere and everywhere, even on string, but hopefully that helps.Early on during my walk, I stayed at an albergue where the lady was almost paranoid about bed bugs. So when we arrived, we were told to take out what we needed for the stay, whilst we were still in the lobby. Then she gave us thick plastic bags, into which we put our packs. Then we were told to hang the bagged pack from a hook from the end of the bunk.
Later on, after picking up bed bugs myself, I adopted a similar strategy, though I had no plastic beg. By then there was no way I was going to leave my pack on the floor for the night. Instead, I would hang my pack from the frame of the upper bunk using a piece of string I just happen to have. The pack was suspended between the two beds, touching neither.
I used good quality earplugs every night. I was amazed at how I never heard the bag rustlers or scurrying around in early morning. When I finally would wake up and took them out I was surprised at all the noisy racket going on around me. Gotta love those earplugs!Exactly. That's what I'm talking about.
Five in the morning. Lights are still out in the sleeping area. People are still trying to sleep.
Not the most logical time and place to inventory a backpack.
I don't think that will have any impact on transmission of bedbugs. If you set a bag on a bed during daytime hours, they're not going to jump off the bag onto the bed. They hunker down until meal time (aka the middle of the night, when they sense the CO2 in the air) Wherever a contaminated bag sits, they will come out of hiding, find a nice meal and then find somewhere to sleep it off, maybe the same place they came from, maybe a different place. If the bag is in the same room, they're going to find you. Only well outside is a safe place for that purpose, I'd say.
Thank you for asking this question @Janbrovold . I, too, was wondering what to do with my backpack once I head to the shower. I'm sure it will all fall into place. The suggestion of taking your valuables with you to the shower makes sense and I hear consistently not to lay your backpack on the bed. I guess it is on the floor. 1 month to go! OMG, this rookie is so excited.
Encouraging me to upgrade my earplug choice.I used good quality earplugs every night. I was amazed at how I never heard the bag rustlers or scurrying around in early morning. When I finally would wake up and took them out I was surprised at all the noisy racket going on around me. Gotta love those earplugs!
Perfect! Bring us back to our true purpose and goals here - thank you from the bottom of my heart. I read your note an I thought of the thousands of pilgrims over the centuries which undertook this journey with not much but their faith. Buen Camino!Does anybody else reading these posts ( and many others in other threads) in a purely non- judgemental way of course think "first world problems"!!!!! Met a Spaniard on the Sanabres who sang as he walked and all he carried was a staff and assorted plastic shopping bags hung around his body containing his few possessions and some food. Everytime we met up with him he was singing. Made me feel humble in my hi tech expensive clothes, backpack and assorted hi tech gadgets that might be lost or stolen.???
I bet he would not get his gear stolen by a "young person from a minority ethnic group" whose father would return the plastic bags and make the minority ethnic group young person then carry his plastic bags to the edge of town.
Awesome, thank you!You will have a wonderful Camino!! I asked this question about etiquette because I remembered some conflicting info in the past: don't put them on the bed, don't put them on floor, and don't use the chair. Sooo... I will check what others are doing and for sure avoid the bedBuen Camino!!
My biggest bugbear was the selfishness of folk with plug sockets. Fair enough, first in first use, but you don't need to charge your phone or tablet for 3-6 hours. There are only so many sockets to go around! Quite often i'd have to do a 1hr stealth charge in the middle of the night. I'm bringing a double socket this year if a neighbour needs to share.
And for hosting bedbugs is a few places. So the floor is the safest placePlease don't ever put your backpack on a chair.
Chairs are for sitting on, in albergues and cafes.
Thanks!
Jill
Bring along a tent and avoid all these pitfalls.I'm excited to be heading back in a few weeks for my second Camino. I'm walking with two friends for whom it will be their first time... we are all 60+++. Could members please refresh me on backpack etiquette especially in albergues? Thanks so much!!
I guess what I would consider common sense (such as turning off your electronics or putting them on vibrate) are not always apparent. I expect I will be tested a few times, but heck I'm not perfect so I'm sure I'll annoy somebody with my sunny morning disposition. lol
Thank you for asking this question @Janbrovold . I, too, was wondering what to do with my backpack once I head to the shower. I'm sure it will all fall into place. The suggestion of taking your valuables with you to the shower makes sense and I hear consistently not to lay your backpack on the bed. I guess it is on the floor. 1 month to go! OMG, this rookie is so excited.
Which earplugs did you have? I'm a light sleeper and haven't found anything fantastic. TiaI used good quality earplugs every night. I was amazed at how I never heard the bag rustlers or scurrying around in early morning. When I finally would wake up and took them out I was surprised at all the noisy racket going on around me. Gotta love those earplugs!
Last year I carried an 'S' hook to hang my bag from the bunk, it was big enough to use on all the alberque bunks I encountered. It was also useful to attach things while walking. Buen CaminoWould a "standard" carabiner also work for this? Seems like I always carry one.
Exactly!!! Good point!!If you put more than 1 person in a bedroom, I don't care if it's 2 people or 80 people. Everyone is gonna do something that someone else doesn't like or understand lol
There is a gentleman who lives on the AT practically, does many utube vids and he recommends the swimmer type plugs and definitely not the foam variety.Which earplugs did you have? I'm a light sleeper and haven't found anything fantastic. Tia
You have to be a bit cracked for the humour to shine out. Only the damaged people can do that. The world would be dead without us.Thanks @Doogman. Sometimes I'm just a grumpy old pagan with no sense of humour: and sometimes my humour shines through
Last year I carried an 'S' hook to hang my bag from the bunk, it was big enough to use on all the alberque bunks I encountered.
....Do get it ready the night before, place it on the floor, upon waking take it and all your stuff and go out into the albergue common area or outside, and do whatever you need to do.
Just before I leave the albergue I always try to go back and make one last check on and around my bunk to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. I try to do that with minimal noise and light. Despite that, I've still forgotten stuff at an albergue, not discovering that mistake until kilometers later. Too late. Oh well. ha haI took my stuff into the kitchen or some other place where there was ample light away from the dorm. If you do have to look for stuff in the dorm in darkness, don't use a headlamp that will flash about off walls, the faces of sleepers and generally annoy everyone but you.
Bob M
At the better albergues there will often be hooks, at others you might need to supply you own removable hook (a simple suction one) and or a length of twine to tie your stuff to the door handle or anywhere suitable - up off the wet floors. Cheers
Just before I leave the albergue I always try to go back and make one last check on and around my bunk to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. I try to do that with minimal noise and light. Despite that, I've still forgotten stuff at an albergue, not discovering that mistake until kilometers later. Too late. Oh well. ha ha
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