HI, thanks for your reply, I did zero training before leaving. 1 walk of 16 km and that was it. I used my lightweight gortex boots which I had bought for the Camino only to find that one boot was 1 cm higher around the ankle and the buckles were in different places and one buckle pushed right onto a bone on my foot! I ended up sending the boots back and then I had mega problems with footwear, which impacted on my walk quite a lot. You will read about it on my blog which I posted to this forum the other day.
My subsequent walks were so much easier, I am getting better and better at managing myself and my gear.
Re backpack, it is a bit like shoes, very personal. I have a 32 Ltr Deuter, but lots of people rave about the 32 ltr OMM, which weighs half of what the Deuter weighs.
I have just bought an
Altus poncho, which lots of people also rave about.
I attach my refined packing list which works a treat for me, the only thing that will be different from now is the
Altus instead of cape or jacket. It is both in one.
Have fun shopping, it is exciting. And the little spiritual sayings of John Brierleys for each stage are quite amazing, on so many occasions they gave a lot of meaning to what happened on the day.
Regards, Gitti