Top five things

[AlliGoLightly]

Hello All Pilgrims (and trainee pilgrims)

I plan to join the esteemed rank of Pilgrim May/ June this year. I cant wait. What an adventure....

What were the best five things in your pack??

If you could of left anything behind what would it have been?

Any sticky, weird situations (to be aware of, mind) that happened along the way? ("Be prepared")

Any top tips???

Alli

 

[William Marques]

1 Ear-plugs - if you are staying in the refugios these are the first things to pack.
2 Small torch or preferably head-torch - as the weather gets hotter people start walking or cycling earlier and earlier to avoid the mid-day heat. A small torch allows you to get dressed and sort out your pack without turning on the lights and annoying the people trying to sleep a little longer.
3 Pillowcase - It is good to rest your head on a clean pillowcase, it can cover a pillow that may be provided by the refugio or your own fleece/jersey if there is not one, in extremis you can also use it as a hat.
4 Mobile Phone - A bit more controversial this choice but if you limit it to booking the odd night in a hotel/hostal and keep it turned off the rest of the time it is a good thing to have at the bottom of your pack in case of emergencies.
5 Confraternity of St James Guidebook - updated every year, light and compact with good refugio and hotel info.

What not to take:
Any other books - there never seems to be the right time for reading and they weigh a ton.
Preconceptions - don't try to anticipate what the journey will bring to you, each time and for each person it is different.

Buen Camino
William

 

[sillydoll]

Top things in the back-pack

The most useful items we took were: (Some we didn’t have the first time and wished we had).
* A little spiral immersion heater, plug for Spain, and a camping cup. Most of the refuges have electricity but they don't all have kitchens. We were the envy of other pilgrims when we boiled water for tea/coffee in the morning or made cup-of-soup for supper at night and we often had a queue waiting to use the heater.
* 8 Plastic pegs and a 2m plastic cord to use as a wash line. Useful when it rains and you can string it across the bars of the bunk beds to dry wet socks etc., also when the lines are full.
* 8 large safety pins to pin damp clothing onto the backpack so that it can dry during the day whilst walking. Nobody cares if your underwear flaps on your backpack!
* Two large suction wall hooks to use in the showers. There are never any clothes hooks inside (very few outside) and that means no place to hang your dry, dirty or wet clothes and - some of the showers don’t have doors. Take a couple of plastic carry bags to hang your dry clothes and wet clothes.
* We cut a normal size bath towel in half - lengthwise - and hemmed it. Better than a camping towel that doesn’t dry quickly and at least you can wrap it around your middle.
* Toilet roll: remove the cardboard roll and flatten it. Most albergues run out so be prepared! (If you start walking from France take a universal bathplug as well. Many places don’t provide them.)

 

[AlliGoLightly]

Thank you

Hi Silly Doll and William

Thank you very much for your reply, the H2O heater is an excellent suggestion.

I am looking forward to my journey and trawling this site and others helps you realyy be prepared, thanks

Alli

 

[GASpangler]

Top 10

My Top Ten:
01 Ear Plugs (5 gr)
02 Bolle Polarized Sunglasses (58 gr)
03 SunCountry Sun Visor (37 gr)
04 Silk Sleep Sack (178 gr)
05 Tikka Plus LED Headlamp (77 gr)
06 Victorinox 'Waiter' Swiss Army Knife (37 gr)
07 Ball Compass on Shoulder Strap (11 gr)
08 MSR 12"x22" Pack Towel (43 gr)
09 Bootlace & 8 Safety Pins to Dry Clothes (25 gr)
10 Sense of Humor (-5 kg)

 

[Peter Robins]

Re: Top 10

My Top Ten:
01 Ear Plugs (5 gr)
02 Bolle Polarized Sunglasses (58 gr)
03 SunCountry Sun Visor (37 gr)
04 Silk Sleep Sack (178 gr)
05 Tikka Plus LED Headlamp (77 gr)
06 Victorinox 'Waiter' Swiss Army Knife (37 gr)
07 Ball Compass on Shoulder Strap (11 gr)
08 MSR 12"x22" Pack Towel (43 gr)
09 Bootlace & 8 Safety Pins to Dry Clothes (25 gr)
10 Sense of Humor (-5 kg)

definitely agree with the last one; as you say, the humour does not have to be weighty ;-) If you have the right frame of mind, you can survive on a minimal amount of kit.
knives (and other pointed objects) are a problem on aircraft these days - have to be in checked luggage, if allowed at all
a compass is one of those things I always take with me on walks, but very rarely use

why do you keep using large size text, Grant? It makes the webpages much bigger than they need be.

 

[GASpangler]

Stuff

Peter,
I buy the knife anew every time I land in Madrid, and never check any luggage through on my way to the Continent.
The compass is stitched to my left shoulder strap so it can be referred to at a glance. It comes in handy now and then.
The larger text is so old folks like us can read it on 1024x768 and 1600x1200 screens with the miniscule text.
Cheers!

 

[Peter Robins]

Re: Stuff

The larger text is so old folks like us can read it on 1024x768 and 1600x1200 screens with the miniscule text.

would have thought the solution to that was to change the settings on your browser. Otherwise, the only msgs you see in large text are the ones you post!

 

[GASpangler]

Readabilty

The settings are actually both global as well as browser dependent.
Global settings: Control Panel - Display - Settings - General - DPI setting. Mine are set on Large 120 DPI.
Default Browser IE6 Settings: View - Text size. Mine are on Medium.
I find these settings work well for my 1024x768 XP machine globally as well as the IE6 default browser. I keep my settings in the default 'medium' position because I need to see what the average viewer will see. Font substitutions in an individual’s machine also impact the viewability of a page. The point is dissemination and readability of information. I'll fix the font size.

 

[ivar]

Hi all

Hi all,

I think we should try to keep the font seize the same for all messages (meaning the smaller one). This way each user can adjust their text size using the "Text Seize" option in the "View" menu of their browser.

If you adjust the text using your browser, it makes for more comfortable reading afterwards since all messages have the same seize.

If you feel the text is too small now, adjust it up using your browser (look in the “View” menu).

...now back to your "5 top things"

Ivar