sending excess luggage SJPP to SDC

[LesR]

Starting from SJPP on 12 September - the day seems to be getting 5 days closer each day....

I plan to send surplus clothes etc. ('essential' for travelling before/after Camino but not required on the Camino) to Santiago from SJPP. Postage is my first preference (on the basis of cost).

I plan on forwarding the surplus clothing in a fabric duffel bag (used to protect the backpack on the plane).

Question - what type of labelling will be acceptable to the postal service(s)?

I have the usual plastic luggage swing tags (12 cm x 8 cm) that are attached to the bag by a plastic loop (or light rope), but no real means of attaching a printed address (such as can be done with a cardboard box). The are no flat surfaces on the duffel bag and adhesive tape will no stick well enough to the fabric. I will be placing identification inside the bag, then padlocking it, but I am concerned about how I can adequately and securely address the bag such that the addressee is clear, and acceptable to the post office.

Plan B is to acquire a cardboard box and pot the duffel bag/clothing in it, tape it up and write the address on the outside - assuming that robust boxes are readily available in SJPP.

Plan C is Express Bourricot - they seem significantly more expensive, but if I cannot resolve the labelling issue, they may be far simper (and I have no wish to unduly complicate life on Day -1 of the CF!

Grateful for any advice from seasoned travellers.

 

[jo webber]

Plan C, while more costly, is what we have chosen.

 

[trecile]

I also chose plan C. More expensive, but so easy. I simply went to their office near the pilgrim's office in St Jean, and they gave me a tag for my suitcase. Then all I needed to do was leave it at the hostel that I stayed at, and it was picked up in the morning. It was waiting for me 5 weeks later when I arrived in Santiago, at Hotel LaSalle, who gave me a discount on a room, since I had used the service.
Besides figuring out how to securely package my suitcase, I was worried about sending it through the mail from France.

 

[GettingThere]

Starting from SJPP on 12 September - the day seems to be getting 5 days closer each day....

I plan to send surplus clothes etc. ('essential' for travelling before/after Camino but not required on the Camino) to Santiago from SJPP. Postage is my first preference (on the basis of cost).

I plan on forwarding the surplus clothing in a fabric duffel bag (used to protect the backpack on the plane).

Question - what type of labelling will be acceptable to the postal service(s)?

I have the usual plastic luggage swing tags (12 cm x 8 cm) that are attached to the bag by a plastic loop (or light rope), but no real means of attaching a printed address (such as can be done with a cardboard box). The are no flat surfaces on the duffel bag and adhesive tape will no stick well enough to the fabric. I will be placing identification inside the bag, then padlocking it, but I am concerned about how I can adequately and securely address the bag such that the addressee is clear, and acceptable to the post office.

Plan B is to acquire a cardboard box and pot the duffel bag/clothing in it, tape it up and write the address on the outside - assuming that robust boxes are readily available in SJPP.

Plan C is Express Bourricot - they seem significantly more expensive, but if I cannot resolve the labelling issue, they may be far simper (and I have no wish to unduly complicate life on Day -1 of the CF!

Grateful for any advice from seasoned travellers.

@LesR I think I would probably tend towards Plan C too, if you have concerns about the bag. However if you lean towards Plan B I can confirm that the Post Office in St Jean does sell boxes, although depending on how big your parcel will be you may have to find a larger one elsewhere (eg the local supermarkets). We sent some unwanted items home from there all the way to NZ 2 years ago, in one of their boxes (which they kindly assembled for us!) and all arrived safely.

If posting from St Jean to Santiago you could consider the luggage storage service offered by Ivar who runs this forum - see this helpful thread for information on the best way to forward luggage from St Jean, as well as some alternative services: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...-suitcase-how-do-i-ship-it-to-santiago.45855/

 

[LesR]

I think I would probably tend towards Plan C too

Thank you for that advice - my initial concern is what form of labelling/addressing of the bag would be required by the postal service - the swing tag is about the best I can think of, and if that wasn't going to be good enough, then I needed think of an alternative - which, by drafting this post, I have now done - Plans B and C .

Had intended to send by post to Ivar if possible - sending by ExpressBurricot is much simpler but also about twice as expensive...

Decisions, decisions....

 

[JillGat]

I would send your things ahead with ExpressBurricot just to Pamplona, then get a box there and mail it to Ivar in Santiago. Would that be cheaper? It would be pretty easy.

 

[poogeyejr]

The other thought is SJPP is in France and you are sending the bag international from the French postal service to the Spanish.
I have heard this can be more costly and troublesome when/if time comes for tracking the package.

 

[JillGat]

The other thought is SJPP is in France and you are sending the bag international from the French postal service to the Spanish.
I have heard this can be more costly and troublesome when/if time comes for tracking the package.

That's why courier to Spain, mail to SdC from there.

 

[trecile]

For me, it was worth the extra money to send it from SJPDP with Express Bouricott. No messing around with packaging, finding the Correos office, etc.

 

[LesR]

For me, it was worth the extra money to send it from SJPDP with Express Bouricott. No messing around with packaging, finding the Correos office, etc.

Thanks everybody - on reflection, Plan C (the Express Burricot option) seems the best for me - least fuss and opportunity for things to go wrong (who wants to be fighting a foreign bureaucracy on one's holiday?), and costs are not that much more than Plans A and B...

Amazing what sitting down and framing a question can do in the way of pointing oneself in the direction of the right answer...

 

[Penbaysail]

I mailed a package to Ivar through the French postal service which also provided a packing box. I emailed Ivar a scanned copy of the tracking receipt and heard back from him a week later when the package arrived.

The whole process was simple & straight forward, and I'm planning another shipment the same way as I learn how to shed belongings on the Camino.

Bonne Chemin from Le Puy St. Jacques