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We have all been there ...

SYates

Camino Fossil AD 1999, now living in Santiago de C
Time of past OR future Camino
First: Camino Francés 1999
...
Last: Santiago - Muxia 2019

Now: http://egeria.house/
We have all been beginners ... here a few highlights of my packing list back in 1999

There was/is no cutlery/crockery/pans in Galician albergues - so I took my favorite cooking pot - a 1,5kg iron wok with me.

My very first Camino was during winter, some albergues were closed, so I took a tent, it weighted 2+kg.

Spain was a foreign country, so I took a big Survival Handbook (hardcover) that weighted at least 750g. But it explained to me how I can protect myself from car bombs and how I could recognise edible plants.

Function wear/Goretex was nearly unknown back then or at least far to expensive for me, so I packed jeans and cotton t-shirts.

Back in 1999 my backpack weighted 25kg, just for the pilgrimage from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Every day I left some things behind, most importantly my fears.

Today I walk with max. 12kg when I walk routes with close to no infrastructure (including tent and food), when I walk on known pilgrims ways I carry ~6kg.

But - I will never forget how I started ot - the fears, the insecurity ...

Buen Camino, and don't be afraid to ask us "old pilgrims hands" any questions, we have been there were you "new pilgrims" are now ...
Buen Camino, SY

PS And obviously I carried a hair dryer ...
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
We have all been beginners ... here a few highlights of my packing list back in 1999

There was/is no cutlery/crockery/pans in Galician albergues - so I took my favorite cooking pot - a 1,5kg iron wok with me.

My very first Camino was during winter, some albergues were closed, so I took a tent, it weighted 2+kg.

Spain was a foreign country, so I took a big Survival Handbook (hardcover) that weighted at least 750g. But it explained to me how I can protect myself from car bombs and how I could recognise edible plants.

Function wear/Goretex was nearly unknown back then or at least far to expensive for me, so I packed jeans and cotton t-shirts.

Back in 1999 my backpack weighted 25kg, just for the pilgrimage from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Every day I left some things behind, most importantly my fears.

Today I walk with max. 12kg when I walk routes with close to no infrastructure (including tent and food), when I walk on known pilgrims ways I carry ~6kg.

But - I will never forget how I started ot - the fears, the insecurity ...

Buen Camino, and don't be afraid to ask us "old pilgrims hands" any questions, we have been there were you "new pilgrims" are now ...
Buen Camino, SY

PS And obviously I carried a hair dryer ...
25 kg!! You were obviously younger and stronger then. :)
 
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Last year I met a young Italian man on the Via Francigena who stopped after three days with a knee injury. His pack was about 17kg. To save money he was carrying cooking gear and food - including 2kg of dried rice. We shared a room and I saw him return from the shower wearing a heavy cotton bathrobe (in August!). Points for style but not for practicality.
 
Some Italian pilgrims really do cut quite the bella figura.

2004 at Roncesvalles after attending evening mass and participating in the traditional pilgrims’ blessing I went to eat. Other diners at my table were 8 extremely well dressed and coiffed Italian men and one young fellow from Brazil. We shared the pilgrims’ menu and talked in French about our plans.
All of us stayed in the then new one room 80 bunk albergue. Recently installed in a buttressed Gothic barn without windows, it boasted a new ventilation system and superb tiled hot-water showers and toilets in the newly excavated basement – a great example of architectural adaptive reuse!

To my surprise the Italians who were bedded near me all went to shower wearing thick terry robes. It was hard to imagine these carried in any knapsack since they would be bulky and heavy. Next morning we all were awakened at 6:30 to pack in the flickering light of 80 flashlights. Outside I discovered the Italians’ secret. At a luggage van parked nearby they stowed their night packs and picked up others for the day!
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
SY, excuse me for chuckling out loud.
A wok?
And I love the survival book. How very useful to know about edible plants in midwinter.:p
Now I better understand your expertise in packing light. You've really been there.

Chuckling at myself, as well~so in the spirit of overweight confessions~
On my first 2 Caminos I carried a huge first aid kit that my Dad said was bigger than what he carried during WWII as a battalion surgeon in Okinawa. I thought "well that was a long time ago..." and took it anyway. Twice. "In case."

Word to the wise for everyone who's out there packing right now. If you have that "in case" thought, don't listen. Save yourself the burden, because Spain is quite a civilized country and you can get whatever you need when you need it.

I never once used that first aid kit for anything more than bandaids and paper tape.
Now I figure if I really get hurt, I likely wouldn't be in any shape to pull out the mobile hospital. And I know what it is to lug that ridiculous mobile hospital all across the countryside and never need to use it!
Fear takes us to irrational places.;)
 
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During my first Camino I carried a 9 kg backpack ( 1 kg was of medicin: my husband is doctor and he gave me a lot of things!) ...but it was too havy , in the second one the weight was 7 kg and this year I hope will be 6 kg.
The Camino teachs me that I really need few things and so the backpack becames lighter
 
I once walked with a wonderful character, from St Jean to León. He had practically nothing in his backpack, come to think of it it wasn't even a 'proper' backpack (no hip belt),he had no rain gear.... But he carried the biggest, fluffiest WHITE bath towel :D:cool::D
 
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I once walked with a wonderful character, from St Jean to León. He had practically nothing in his backpack, come to think of it it wasn't even a 'proper' backpack (no hip belt),he had no rain gear.... But he carried the biggest, fluffiest WHITE bath towel :D:cool::D

“A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 
Not Camino, but my very first hiking tour was in 70ies and I was the designated carrier of the tent and frying pan. Cast iron pan with handle flat against my back and tent had no shoulder straps, only narrow strings cutting into shoulders... And one friend who came to see us off in train station brought a huge cast iron pot, actual caldron from Harry Potter films. We all refused to take that along. Including all the pasta that was in it.

Really appreciated my Osprey backpack, so comfortable and only 7 kg. Even with all my nail varnishes etc.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Thanks to all the fine guidance here Phil and I are finding we have used almost everything and have overlooked little.
 
What a great thing to read just a day before getting on the plane for my first camino. I have the pack down to 6 kilos but the fears and anxieties are weighing a tad more.

Buen Camino! May your fears and anxieties show you anything you need or could benefit from knowing, then waft away from you as the depth and beauty of what the Camino holds begins to carry you along. It will unfold for you in a joyful way, I think! It's a beautiful co-creation. :)

Rachel
 
I met a small slightly built Belgian lady two years ago, (62 kg she said) She carried all her own cooking materials neatly packed in tupperware type containers, olive oil, herbs and spices etc etc all in an enormous back pack, I dread to think how heavy. She had started at St Jean, and came by the Napoleon route and said that she had no schedule so if it took her three months to get to Santiago that was OK.

I'll bet she made it too.
 
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I am carrying full camping gear now and my pack is still under 10kg. Other pilgrims have said it's too heavy, but I am use to backpacking with much more including food, cooking gear etc, so 10kgs feels light.

Impressed with anyone who carries over 20kg, that's an awesome effort!
 
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My. Girlfriend and I like so many packed to much. We are a mature couple the climbs were ridiculously hard. We started in SJPP by the time we got to Burgos my GF told me I looked like hell, from carrying my pack. She was right by the end doing the walk to Finestere I was sporting a 26 ltr pack, I started with a fully packed 54ltr. For the France's the biggest should be 40 ltr. Weighing in at no more than 17 kg. And even that you'll find you have to much, we started 01/April with rain gear, cool weather gear and all with the high tech gear now weight can be reduced.

May you have many good days on and off the Camino

Rob and Deb
 
Some Italian pilgrims really do cut quite the bella figura.

2004 at Roncesvalles after attending evening mass and participating in the traditional pilgrims’ blessing I went to eat. Other diners at my table were 8 extremely well dressed and coiffed Italian men and one young fellow from Brazil. We shared the pilgrims’ menu and talked in French about our plans.
All of us stayed in the then new one room 80 bunk albergue. Recently installed in a buttressed Gothic barn without windows, it boasted a new ventilation system and superb tiled hot-water showers and toilets in the newly excavated basement – a great example of architectural adaptive reuse!

To my surprise the Italians who were bedded near me all went to shower wearing thick terry robes.
You have to understand, Margaret, that every Italian, from new born to old age, has and uses a bathrobe (accappatoio)
 
I've never over-packed THAT much, mainly because I found this forum before my first camino.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Weighing in at no more than 17 kg. And even that you'll find you have to much, we started 01/April with rain gear, cool weather gear and all with the high tech gear now weight can be reduced.

May you have many good days on and off the Camino

Rob and Deb

17kg?!!!! Please say pounds, not kg. That is way too much.
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
We have all been beginners ... here a few highlights of my packing list back in 1999

There was/is no cutlery/crockery/pans in Galician albergues - so I took my favorite cooking pot - a 1,5kg iron wok with me.

My very first Camino was during winter, some albergues were closed, so I took a tent, it weighted 2+kg.

Spain was a foreign country, so I took a big Survival Handbook (hardcover) that weighted at least 750g. But it explained to me how I can protect myself from car bombs and how I could recognise edible plants.

Function wear/Goretex was nearly unknown back then or at least far to expensive for me, so I packed jeans and cotton t-shirts.

Back in 1999 my backpack weighted 25kg, just for the pilgrimage from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Every day I left some things behind, most importantly my fears.

Today I walk with max. 12kg when I walk routes with close to no infrastructure (including tent and food), when I walk on known pilgrims ways I carry ~6kg.

But - I will never forget how I started ot - the fears, the insecurity ...

Buen Camino, and don't be afraid to ask us "old pilgrims hands" any questions, we have been there were you "new pilgrims" are now ...
Buen Camino, SY

PS And obviously I carried a hair dryer ...
Brilliant Post!
made me smile remembering my first time in the camino....
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
O.K. I hold my hands up, I'm English. I take an electric kettle and teabags. It is always a balance between what I can physically carry and what do I need (unless you are someone who takes a dainty day-pack and has your luggage transported to your next stop). Even then my backpack is 7.5 kilos with water. When you carry it yourself it makes you sum up in life what you really need, and I need tea. Apparently my wife cannot do without a hairdryer.
 
I'm starting my first mini camino in one week and thanks to all of you I hope to be able to stick to my 5 kg backpack, water included.... Just hope I don't start adding things for my fears.
 
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I'm going into the Rocky Mountains for a ten day walk next week - not far, only about 107 km. But I shall have to carry at least 20 kilos. This camino walking has spoiled me for carrying a pack.
 
When you carry it yourself it makes you sum up in life what you really need, and I need tea. Apparently my wife cannot do without a hairdryer.

Couldn't you save some weight by ditching the kettle and using the hairdryer to boil the water? If it is not hot enough you could always swap it for a paint stripping heatgun that would do both jobs..... :)
 
SY, excuse me for chuckling out loud.
A wok?
And I love the survival book. How very useful to know about edible plants in midwinter.:p
Now I better understand your expertise in packing light. You've really been there.

Chuckling at myself, as well~so in the spirit of overweight confessions~
On my first 2 Caminos I carried a huge first aid kit that my Dad said was bigger than what he carried during WWII as a battalion surgeon in Okinawa. I thought "well that was a long time ago..." and took it anyway. Twice. "In case."

Word to the wise for everyone who's out there packing right now. If you have that "in case" thought, don't listen. Save yourself the burden, because Spain is quite a civilized country and you can get whatever you need when you need it.

I never once used that first aid kit for anything more than bandaids and paper tape.
Now I figure if I really get hurt, I likely wouldn't be in any shape to pull out the mobile hospital. And I know what it is to lug that ridiculous mobile hospital all across the countryside and never need to use it!
Fear takes us to irrational places.;)

Spain is indeed a civilized country. (So is Portugal. And I expect that Italy is too.) You won't need the water filter and you probably won't need the little trowel. It is not entirely true that you can get whatever you need when you need it, if what you need is Pepto Bismol (or equivalent) or some other particular formulation of tummy pill or anti-inflammatory that you know works for you.
maybe some wise people could put up the Spanish and Portuguese and Italian versions of "adhesive tape or paper tape" and "gauze"? (If you seek aid for blisters they want to sell you Compeed, which isn't right for long day walking on, even if it does take the pain away immediately.) Also "chafing".
 
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€46,-
maybe some wise people could put up the Spanish and Portuguese and Italian versions of "adhesive tape or paper tape" and "gauze"? (If you seek aid for blisters they want to sell you Compeed, which isn't right for long day walking on, even if it does take the pain away immediately.) Also "chafing".

I find a pocket dictionary very useful when I travel in a country and I don't speak the language. (As long as I can read their alphabet of course :D)
 

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