- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances SJPP to SdC Oct/Nov 2015
Frances Burgos toSdC March/April 2016
W. Highland Way August 2016
Camino Somewhere September 2017
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...At this point, I've used most of my allowance budget (yes, I do try to control my spending on this stuff) on a lot of shoes...
...
Here is a question for you....how long were you able to sustain the excitement when first you decided to go? ...
Do take only two pairs of shoes, one for on the road, one for off the road.
As for your second question: For years, still dreaming and planning for the Big J ;-)
Buen Camino, SY
Do take only two pairs of shoes, one for on the road, one for off the road.
As for your second question: For years, still dreaming and planning for the Big J ;-)
Buen Camino, SY
Well, here I am, sitting at a full eight months of fairly excited sustained obsession about going on El Camino de Santiago, Camino Frances. I feel rather proud of myself, for sustaining this interest, but in fact, it has gone through stages tantamount to other various stages (my name is Deb, and I am a camino-holic...).
Some interesting parts of my obsession:
1. becoming very well-known at REI and having become a member, get rewards and feel better when I return stuff which is often, because initially I made purchasing mistakes. For example, I just returned a sleep sack that was 54 dollars, as I've decided that since I'm starting in October, I should just take my super light down bag. Good.
2. going through a lot of shoe experiments. At this point, I've used most of my allowance budget (yes, I do try to control my spending on this stuff) on a lot of shoes: Vasque ultra waterproof boots, which are amazingly comfortable (probably will take them); Salomon trail running shoes, which I love (work out with them doing trails); Keene water sandals (like Whispers, but heavier)--and I'll probably return them. Yep, they keep pebbles out, but my little toes poke out of them; Teva sandals, which are super light and feel amazing. They will go with me; Cascade trail running shoes, which I have not used much, but I will use them and love them here at home. They may or may not be something I take.
3. my previous backpacking around SE Asia has helped me tons with super-light packing. It will be two shorts, two pants, three undies, two bras kind of packing. I can do that, but my color scheme is going to rock the Iberian Peninsula. If it's not red, it's purple or turquoise. And I have enough buffs to outfit a giraffe. I will probably take two or three : )
Now, my current obsession is getting to my finish line with teaching. In one month and seven days, I will be done. So with the Camino plans--departure 28 September, and return 14 November--and my daughter's marriage in September (the 19th, and I will be a buff little mama by that point!), I'm set.
Here is a question for you....how long were you able to sustain the excitement when first you decided to go?
Do you ever feel frustrated that you can't go "right NOW"? I've been fighting that just a little, and the planning is a good way for me to cope. I also feel like deferring reward is a very good practice for me. Do you think of the deferred reward?
Waiting to hear....and "Buen Camino" to all. May your walk be joyful and sunny.
Kuznitz--my first membership to REI was back in 1993, twenty-two years ago. Unfortunately, it was in my ex's (and my) name, but in order to put a halt to the awkward conversations, explanations, look ups on my "old" name, yada, yada--I just cancelled that one and get a brand new one, in my name (sigh of relief). I absolutely applaud you for getting your wife to go along with your obsession, and good job on getting her to go with you. My husband is an uber fit guy of 60 who tries to mimic me calling him from Spain: "Honey! I've decided I'm just going to take a bus to Barcelona and get some new shoes..." He has, in the past, persuaded me to go on major hikes by misrepresenting their difficulties, so he's experienced my digging in my heels and dropping my pack and staring him down.I decided to do the Camino Frances in June of 2014, having convinced my wife that it was a good idea (or at least that she was willing to go along with my obsession). Originally we were going to wait for my retirement, but I couldn't wait, so now we are heading out around both of our 60th birthdays. We're now just over a year away from our journey (starting May 10, 2016) and I still am combing this forum for info (and some funny stories). We've also been to REI quite a bit as of late (but have been members for years - my wife has a membership card that maybe on papyrus). We now have shoes, socks, jackets and shirts, but are waiting to invest in the backpack and sleeping bag. It is hard waiting, but fun planning and reading about the journeys of others.
In the meantime, wishing you a Buen Camino.
I did my first Camino with little planning and no obsession...I hadn't seen The Way, and didn't know about the forum. I just packed my pack and went.
Of course it was then that the Camino got under my skin.
Years! This is such a good post and I am now looking up all your shoes to see your tastes and maybe steal a few ideas...lmaoWell, here I am, sitting at a full eight months of fairly excited sustained obsession about going on El Camino de Santiago, Camino Frances. I feel rather proud of myself, for sustaining this interest, but in fact, it has gone through stages tantamount to other various stages (my name is Deb, and I am a camino-holic...).
Some interesting parts of my obsession:
1. becoming very well-known at REI and having become a member, get rewards and feel better when I return stuff which is often, because initially I made purchasing mistakes. For example, I just returned a sleep sack that was 54 dollars, as I've decided that since I'm starting in October, I should just take my super light down bag. Good.
2. going through a lot of shoe experiments. At this point, I've used most of my allowance budget (yes, I do try to control my spending on this stuff) on a lot of shoes: Vasque ultra waterproof boots, which are amazingly comfortable (probably will take them); Salomon trail running shoes, which I love (work out with them doing trails); Keene water sandals (like Whispers, but heavier)--and I'll probably return them. Yep, they keep pebbles out, but my little toes poke out of them; Teva sandals, which are super light and feel amazing. They will go with me; Cascade trail running shoes, which I have not used much, but I will use them and love them here at home. They may or may not be something I take.
3. my previous backpacking around SE Asia has helped me tons with super-light packing. It will be two shorts, two pants, three undies, two bras kind of packing. I can do that, but my color scheme is going to rock the Iberian Peninsula. If it's not red, it's purple or turquoise. And I have enough buffs to outfit a giraffe. I will probably take two or three : )
Now, my current obsession is getting to my finish line with teaching. In one month and seven days, I will be done. So with the Camino plans--departure 28 September, and return 14 November--and my daughter's marriage in September (the 19th, and I will be a buff little mama by that point!), I'm set.
Here is a question for you....how long were you able to sustain the excitement when first you decided to go?
Do you ever feel frustrated that you can't go "right NOW"? I've been fighting that just a little, and the planning is a good way for me to cope. I also feel like deferring reward is a very good practice for me. Do you think of the deferred reward?
Waiting to hear....and "Buen Camino" to all. May your walk be joyful and sunny.
Funny! MEC is my favourite store too.To see how long my obsession with the Camino has been maintained, look under my avatar at the "Joined" date. I have a 35-year-old membership at MEC (the Canadian equivalent of REI) and a Gortex jacket I bought there at the time! It is the only place I like to shop. My daughter had a friend whose bridesmaids all wore little khaki-coloured hiking dresses from MEC. Has your daughter considered that? They have great mother-of-the-bride clothes, too!
P.S. The hardest wait is to retirement! Once that was done, I became more patient with my plans.
Yes, Yes and, of course...lose the "might needs"
Every single DAY! Next flight is three weeks today and that is 21 days too many!Do you ever feel frustrated that you can't go "right NOW"?
Years! This is such a good post and I am now looking up all your shoes to see your tastes and maybe steal a few ideas...lmao
big hugs!
@Al the optimist, how is the fasciia treating you? I leave in less than two weeks and the pain has come back with avengence last week. Now all the time I spend sitting is spent with a frozen bottle of water under my feet, with 3 Advil a day. I think I will go looking for a different pair of treking runners this week, a pair that is completely stiff, from heel to toe. I keep thinking I might be better off walking with my plastic cast boot I used a few years ago after breaking a few bones in that same foot. (Latest purchase and what I now wear daily with orthotics are Salomons which I loved, until the podiatrist changed my orthotics and the pain came back ;0( !)Every single DAY! Next flight is three weeks today and that is 21 days too many!
I want to say firstly I am not saying you should take drugs...lol. But. I have had back surgery...have permanent nerve damage in my one leg and foot and struggle with pain on a daily basis. I would highly recommend asking your doctor for something like tramadol. I use it regularly...it is specifically for people who need a pain killer long term. It has very few drawbacks for me... I don't get sleepy or high off of it and it is taken at regular intervals and should not be skipped. In fact if you talk to someone who specializes in pain issues they tell you do NOT take pain killers including advil when the pain sets in. It can take up to an hour or more for an advil to take affect even the fast acting ones and you should be taking them at regular intervals to prevent the body from getting to its pain threshold and therefore causing you to have to stop and sit and ache and ache and ache. I have learned the hard way with that not wanting to rely on them. But I now realize that taking my pain meds regularly is the same as taking my bipolar medication...it prevents the problem rather than just keeping it at bay.@Al the optimist, how is the fasciia treating you? I leave in less than two weeks and the pain has come back with avengence last week. Now all the time I spend sitting is spent with a frozen bottle of water under my feet, with 3 Advil a day. I think I will go looking for a different pair of treking runners this week, a pair that is completely stiff, from heel to toe. I keep thinking I might be better off walking with my plastic cast boot I used a few years ago after breaking a few bones in that same foot. (Latest purchase and what I now wear daily with orthotics are Salomons which I loved, until the podiatrist changed my orthotics and the pain came back ;0( !)
As for @AugustCaminodeb and her shoe fetish, yeah, I have that as well ;0) But only bring 2 pairs: one for walking during the day, one to rest in the evening. I would not recommend the Tevas if you plan on wearing them in the shower, because of the ribbon straps. But if not wearing them in the shower by all means: I got a pair of Northland treking sandals in Astorga after no longer being able to stand my lovely boots, but they would not dry quickly. Fine fo the occasional shower, in fact perfect (loved not having to worry about getting my shoes wet and muddy as they would clean as I went) but would not have liked wet and cold feet evening after evening. This year will be swapping by trusted, though slippery, Crocs for a pair of EVA Birkenstocks for better arch suport. Time will tell if it's a wise decision.
BTW, I know there are little bags of chemical you can activate to get heat - they serve as a heating pad - but what about something I can just activate and get cold on my feet?
@Al the optimist, how is the fasciia treating you? I leave in less than two weeks and the pain has come back with avengence last week. Now all the time I spend sitting is spent with a frozen bottle of water under my feet, with 3 Advil a day. I think I will go looking for a different pair of treking runners this week, a pair that is completely stiff, from heel to toe. I keep thinking I might be better off walking with my plastic cast boot I used a few years ago after breaking a few bones in that same foot. (Latest purchase and what I now wear daily with orthotics are Salomons which I loved, until the podiatrist changed my orthotics and the pain came back ;0( !)
As for @AugustCaminodeb and her shoe fetish, yeah, I have that as well ;0) But only bring 2 pairs: one for walking during the day, one to rest in the evening. I would not recommend the Tevas if you plan on wearing them in the shower, because of the ribbon straps. But if not wearing them in the shower by all means: I got a pair of Northland treking sandals in Astorga after no longer being able to stand my lovely boots, but they would not dry quickly. Fine fo the occasional shower, in fact perfect (loved not having to worry about getting my shoes wet and muddy as they would clean as I went) but would not have liked wet and cold feet evening after evening. This year will be swapping by trusted, though slippery, Crocs for a pair of EVA Birkenstocks for better arch suport. Time will tell if it's a wise decision.
BTW, I know there are little bags of chemical you can activate to get heat - they serve as a heating pad - but what about something I can just activate and get cold on my feet?
Unfortunately they appear to be 1 time use only and can not be reactivated.Apparently there are cold packs too.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000S0PS6I/?tag=casaivar02-20
@BShea , I have not but will take a good look at the link you sent me. I have been wearing "traditional" stiff orthotics, and more recently Vasyly Dananbergs which were recommended first to give my feet a rest from the hard orthotics and now to alternate with them. http://www.vasylimedical.com/products/product_howard_dananberg.html. What do I know. I just hope to get better. Thank you for your input.I think my post got lost, so I'll try this again... Have you tried using super feet insoles? I can't walk without them. http://www.superfeet.com/en-us/blog/article/plantar-fasciitis-explained.
So are the little hot packs for warming finger and toes. That's why they come 24 in a box. I'm not recommending them, just pointing out that they are available.Unfortunately they appear to be 1 time use only and can not be reactivated.
I too love Superfeet. I also like Soles. I am able to walk in Teva Sandals without them but not in Keen sandals anymore. I have them in all of my other shoes and boots.I think my post got lost, so I'll try this again... Have you tried using super feet insoles? I can't walk without them. http://www.superfeet.com/en-us/blog/article/plantar-fasciitis-explained.
I do plan on buying an Aquarius Free whenever I can I ask for 'ice on the side" ;0) but I would have loved to have found a pack that I could recharge in the evening. Business opportunity anyone? ;0)So are the little hot packs for warming finger and toes. That's why they come 24 in a box. I'm not recommending them, just pointing out that they are available.
Have you been reading @Robo 's blog? He seems to have no trouble getting ice for his mid day icing. Of course he's on a busier route than you will be on so might not be as easy for you.
And they are only C$50 0r so. I just called and asked for them. They seemed to know who was recomending them. I never sent in a Rx. Apparently you can mold them to your foot with a hairdrying and remove little bits here and there depending on the problem, but I just wear mine as they are.Wow. Those insoles look amazing. I'd never heard of them. Probably better than mine. Super feet were recommended to me by a podiatrist and meet my needs... but I don't think I'm dealing with a problem as serious as yours. Hope you're able to find relief.
And they are only C$50 0r so. I just called and asked for them. They seemed to know who was recomending them. I never sent in a Rx. Apparently you can mold them to your foot with a hairdrying and remove little bits here and there depending on the problem, but I just wear mine as they are.
@AugustCaminodeb , have we hijcaked your thread with my bad feet? My appologies. Are you sure you don't have flat feet, fasciitis or anything else relevant to what I have send your thread into ;0)
It made me laugh hard for sure...I always wonder how they get those jobs...lmao. It seems to me they have far too much time on their hands. Deal with things that matter like guns not dogs in heat and the occasional joint. I honestly don't have issues with either..lmao after all I am Canadian!Pattii, thank you for your advice. I know Tramadol if widely used in the US. Here in Canada perhaps not so much, although one of my dogs got a prescription for it and I have wondered if it might help me. I will head to the walking-in clinic associated with my regular doc and ask about it. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? ;0) Thank you for letting me now how it works, and how it doesn't.
As for not 'taking drugs" let me tell you a story. A year ago I headed down to NYC to see my accupuncturist - yes, he is that good that I go once or twice a year and find relief, so he is well worth the travel time and expense. At home one of my bitches (female dog for those who may be offended ;0) ) was in season. As I went by bus so not to drive and still stay within budget, we had to stop at the border. They had us take our bags off the bus, and sit in the waiting room while Fido sniffed us. Fido did spend a quarter of a second more on me than on the others. Then I see my bag being walked in and the border staff (as if I am about to call them 'officers'!) asked who owned it. ME! They proceded to take me aside, ask me all sorts of questions about drug consumption, went through my bag. I didn't care as I knew they would come out empty. So, being a bit cheeky, I asked the civil servant with the dog if the dog was a male. "I am not at liberty to discuss my dog" says the civil servant. "Because if he is, he needs to go back into training because he can't tell the difference between a bitch in season and drugs". He was not please but had to let me go. Backlash: just travelled within Canada and every time was asked to submit to the 'random" extra test. Next time I travel within Canada I will do so with my Spanish passport ;0)
Pattii, thank you again for this wonderful and candid advice. I hope I was able to repay you for it with a good laugh with my story about the US civil servants activating themselves at the border ;0)
Sorry guys slightly off topic, how do you answer individuals comments by inserting @Waka for example?
Thanks for asking and I am sorry to hear that your foot is imitating a female dog. I have a heel spur. It is a calcium deposit on the back of my heel. The lump of bone will not go away, so I am stuck with it and it's pain. Fortunately it is not bad all the time and sometimes it is only an ache so I rarely have to resort to a painkiller (I don't like to take them anyway). However it does affect my walking speed and often causes me to limp. I have not been able to train so will be crossing my fingers when I go. I will try to be disciplined and walk short stages slowly with lots of stopping. I know this will mean my having to lose many new friends almost as soon as I have met them, but on the bright side I will meet more of them and they will not have to suffer me for too long!@Al the optimist, how is the fasciia treating you?
Pattii, thank you for your advice. I know Tramadol if widely used in the US. Here in Canada perhaps not so much, although one of my dogs got a prescription for it and I have wondered if it might help me. I will head to the walking-in clinic associated with my regular doc and ask about it. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? ;0) Thank you for letting me now how it works, and how it doesn't.
As for not 'taking drugs" let me tell you a story. A year ago I headed down to NYC to see my accupuncturist - yes, he is that good that I go once or twice a year and find relief, so he is well worth the travel time and expense. At home one of my bitches (female dog for those who may be offended ;0) ) was in season. As I went by bus so not to drive and still stay within budget, we had to stop at the border. They had us take our bags off the bus, and sit in the waiting room while Fido sniffed us. Fido did spend a quarter of a second more on me than on the others. Then I see my bag being walked in and the border staff (as if I am about to call them 'officers'!) asked who owned it. ME! They proceded to take me aside, ask me all sorts of questions about drug consumption, went through my bag. I didn't care as I knew they would come out empty. So, being a bit cheeky, I asked the civil servant with the dog if the dog was a male. "I am not at liberty to discuss my dog" says the civil servant. "Because if he is, he needs to go back into training because he can't tell the difference between a bitch in season and drugs". He was not please but had to let me go. Backlash: just travelled within Canada and every time was asked to submit to the 'random" extra test. Next time I travel within Canada I will do so with my Spanish passport ;0)
Pattii, thank you again for this wonderful and candid advice. I hope I was able to repay you for it with a good laugh with my story about the US civil servants activating themselves at the border ;0)
W
Now, my current obsession is getting to my finish line with teaching. In one month and seven days, I will be done.
W
Here is a question for you....how long were you able to sustain the excitement when first you decided to go?
I think it totally depends on dosage and if its sustained release or not. But no med is for everyone. They doctors call it a cocktail when medicating for pain or for mental disabilities...what works for one will not work for another. It is definitely a trial and error situation. But at the end of the day one has to work with what works for them. Meds like tylenol and advil are very hard on the kidneys and liver, and sometimes instead of taking mega doses of the over the counter meds its better to find something a little stronger that works without having to over medicate. ANY MED SHOULD BE DISCUSSED WITH A DOCTOR. And if you work it out its better in the long run. Quality of life is important to me. Living in pain is not quality of life. So I found tramadol and it works for me. I am happy it does. ALSO talk to pharmacist; they often know better than a doctor what meds are worthy of a try. My pharmacist has saved my world many a time. Good luck finding the right one for you.My cat was given tramadol and it turned him into a fierce attack cat! I was given it for a dental problem and it caused severe nausea and vomiting. Not for everyone.
My feet...true confessions. About six years ago, I developed a bad habit that had me sitting a lot for long stretches of time. Don't ask. I developed plantar's fascitis and achilles tendonitis, one on one foot, and one on the other. I had to go through serious physical therapy for about six month, and adjusted my lifestyle.
I also have a problem after 10-12 km, in the metatarsal area of one foot. I think it was bruised from some hard walks on concrete sidewalks. It is somewhat better now after 4 months including weeks of rest and even anti-inflammatory, but I am nervous about how it will stand up to day-after-day of 20 km. I already use custom orthotics.My feet are great until I hit 10k then they start to get sore. I do not know if I strained them on a 33k one day...
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