How much baggage should I carry?

[William Garza]

I find myself surrounded tonite by..things...
Physical things
Mental things
Emotional things
Mind-body-Spirit things

And ime afraid I may take...things with me when I go.
Things important to the moment, things I think that I may need
Just in case things...

Fuel for the the Bonfire of my Vanities.

That was now
This was then

Its breaking in my heart like an endless scratch in the record..always skipping back
Repeat
Repeat..etc

The ashes of the funerals of the fires over and over smeared onto sad faces.
Dreams...impossible weights of fancy weigh the heart and slow the mind enough to cause lackluster and impotent desires.

In my photography, all I really need is 1 body,2 lenses and a battery and I can do what needs be done.
Learn and learn again that the simplest of gear and simplest of desires yields the best of outcomes.

I think i will be lighter at the end than the beginning.
Things only have the value attached to them.
Its not gold nor fabricated things I seek.

The echoes of passions...a wind blown across the coals
Sparks flee upward desperate to reach the stars while they burn hot
The stars... burn with desire

I think I'll burn a little longer...

 

[henrythedog]

A couple of times in my life I found that I was exceeding the hand-baggage allowance, but needed encouragement to start checking some in. Metaphorically, of course.

Perhaps talking to someone who knows you would help?

 

[Walking Lover]

I find myself surrounded tonite by..things...
Physical things
Mental things
Emotional things
Mind-body-Spirit things

And ime afraid I may take...things with me when I go.
Things important to the moment, things I think that I may need
Just in case things...

Fuel for the the Bonfire of my Vanities.

That was now
This was then

Its breaking in my heart like an endless scratch in the record..always skipping back
Repeat
Repeat..etc

The ashes of the funerals of the fires over and over smeared onto sad faces.
Dreams...impossible weights of fancy weigh the heart and slow the mind enough to cause lackluster and impotent desires.

In my photography, all I really need is 1 body,2 lenses and a battery and I can do what needs be done.
Learn and learn again that the simplest of gear and simplest of desires yields the best of outcomes.

I think i will be lighter at the end than the beginning.
Things only have the value attached to them.
Its not gold nor fabricated things I seek.

The echoes of passions...a wind blown across the coals
Sparks flee upward desperate to reach the stars while they burn hot
The stars... burn with desire

I think I'll burn a little longer...

I managed with 10 lbs.

 

[Bernice M]

That's the good thing about caminos, you get to slough off a lot of stuff en route - mental, emotional and physical stuff. And when you get back home the chucking out continues as the relevance of stuff to your life diminishes.

Back in 2015 Ryanair lost my back pack, so I started out from Arles with a new pack, one more T-shirt, another bra, an extra pair of socks, some knickers and a microfibre towel, plus the contents of my hand luggage that contained medication and a down jacket. Gradually I added stuff as it got colder, but it was truly a lesson in making do. I recall someone reminding me that Spain has shops if you're really desperate to buy stuff. I picked up a silk liner near the beginning and finally got a sleeping bag somewhere after León. If in doubt, leave it out. And for the fashion conscious, will you ever be passing through there again? No? Then who cares what you look like?

 

[William Garza]

That's the good thing about caminos, you get to slough off a lot of stuff en route - mental, emotional and physical stuff. And when you get back home the chucking out continues as the relevance of stuff to your life diminishes.

Back in 2015 Ryanair lost my back pack, so I started out from Arles with a new pack, one more T-shirt, another bra, an extra pair of socks, some knickers and a microfibre towel, plus the contents of my hand luggage that contained medication and a down jacket. Gradually I added stuff as it got colder, but it was truly a lesson in making do. I recall someone reminding me that Spain has shops if you're really desperate to buy stuff. I picked up a silk liner near the beginning and finally got a sleeping bag somewhere after León. If in doubt, leave it out. And for the fashion conscious, will you ever be passing through there again? No? Then who cares what you look like?

It's the build up, the what ifs,it's, catastrophication and mental hoarding against the unknown.
If..IF I had a more adventurous bone in me, I would take my camera and attendant gear and just show up on Spain Doorsteps and get what I need along the way.
Thats letting go to the fullest most complete extent and trust fate to the Highest Power.
You did and that was magnificent!
Liberating to be cast loose from the weight of uncertainties...the casting off of the stones.

Ime saving nickles and dimes and waiting till times are better for my turn

 

[William Garza]

A couple of times in my life I found that I was exceeding the hand-baggage allowance, but needed encouragement to start checking some in. Metaphorically, of course.

Perhaps talking to someone who knows you would help?

My friends can't figure me out..HAA!
I..am too much..too little..to far...somewhere around to catch up..
Lucky my musical friends are deep enough to begin to try to suss whats going on in my head..my "squirrels" as they put it are always on the run.

I'm a simple man...music,moment,synchronicity,luminosity,
Deepness
Lightness.

The members here who have been-there..leaving me to wonder

Will I be enough?
A stoic who values the emotive movements that make up the day.

Yall get me and thats enough to stop the noise.

Oh Lort...the wanderlust just ambushed me and the longing for other lights of other days in the far and away.
The sound of rain on tin roofs
The smell of wet pavement..of freshly wet limestone in the hill country
The sound of wind over the tall bent grass out there where people get frightened of the silence..its overwhelming you know..to be caught unawares in your own head
Some look into THAT void and grow mad because they cannot understand that silence is the way
To
Grow tired enough to burn away the dross and find the stillness inside.

The void is a mirror,a pool in dark places..the echoes of ones own voice when still enough to listen to whats being said and 7nderstandung its not the real voice, only echoes.

I am found in the away places and lost amid the crowds.

I can't envy, that...is a bad thing..I do have a gladness for you who have walked out there..a shared joy between travelers.

Well, that went south quickly no?
I hope your journeys are fruitfull!

 

[henrythedog]

I’m tempted to ask what time the pubs shut wherever you’re posting from, but perhaps not.

On further reflection I’d suggest something around 30 litres. Osprey seems to be a cult-brand hereabouts.

I hope your squirrels carry on running for a long time to come. That’s not a sentence I’ve used before.

 

[Roland49]

I was happy with ~5kg backpack in summer 2019.
The mental weight is impossible to measure.

But be sure, you'll be welcome and you'll find comradeship all over the Caminos.
You can be in solitude or you'll find company if needed.

BC
Roland

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

Amazing how, as years go by, needs diminish, with wants.

 

[David Tallan]

(Recognizing that this is an old thread that has been resurrected and just riffing off the thread title)

You can carry as much baggage or as little baggage as you want, but when walking the Camino Frances I prefer to concentrate all of my baggage into a small stone and leave it behind at the Cruz de Ferro.

 

[Roland49]

It's not that old ;-)

 

[David Tallan]

It's not that old ;-)

It's amazing how long a week can seem in 2020.