The Packing Continues

We pack and unpack.  With our stuff being transported everyday, we're tempted to bring more stuff. We only have to carry a daypack - rain gear, jacket, hat, gloves, water, snacks/lunch, first aid kit - so our pack should be much lighter this camino.  It's the bag that will be transported for us that is out of control - an extra shirt, an extra this and an extra that. 

Today, everything is back out of the pack and the extra luggage to be evaluated - do we really need this or not.

Our packs for the Camino de Santiago weighed in at 14.5 pounds + water.  This trip each will have a  backpack and a piece of luggage.  I'm aiming for 8-9 pounds in the backpack and 12-15 pound for the extra bag.  That's 6-10 extra pounds of stuff.

The extra weight - we each are bringing a second pair of hiking shoes/boots, 2-3 pounds, and a few extra shirts.

The iPad - maybe or maybe not!

Packing

This is the list from our 1st Camino.  We're making a few changes - a few extra hiking shirts, no sleeping bags, extra socks and liners, iPad is coming for sure.  We can take a few extra items on this trip because we are having our luggage transported.  Our pack will have rain gear, warm jacket, hat and gloves, extra pair of socks and snacks.  We will try to keep day pack under 8 pounds.  

What's in Our Backpacks/Bag

We both have similar and in some instances identical gear that we have picked up over the years.  Some things from our Colorado days - well used but still functional, and some newer buys that we used in Scotland and Peru, and a few new items for this trip.  Clothing is light weight and quick drying - no cotton, no denim.  We will be wearing hiking pants and hiking shirt on flight to Paris, our spare pair of pants is in the backpack.

CLOTHING
Rain jacket (REI) and pants (LL Bean)
REI version of the Patagonia nano puff Jackets
One pair hiking pants (Mountain Hardwear) or Eddie Bauer (convertible to shorts)
One long sleeve hiking shirt
One short sleeve tech t-shirt (LL Bean)
One long sleeve polar tech long sleeve shirt with zipper (LL Bean)
Three pair smart wool hiking socks and two pair liners

GEAR ETC
Water bottle
Hiking Poles
Lafuma lightweight sleeping bag
Croc Mary Jane lightweight shoes
Sun Hat and Sunglasses
Gregory Jade 38 Backpacks
Backpackers Towel
iTouch to stay in touch via wi fi, no cell phone, no camera
International plug and charger
ipad (may not make final cut)
Lowa hiking boots
Shampoo and Laundry Sheets
Clothes line and a few Clothes pins (may not make the final cut)

New Walking Shirts

Thanks to LL Bean, we won't be Green Shirt (Sue) and Blue Shirt ( Marilyn) in all of the pictures.

We're not ready to retire the old shirts just yet - they have been with us to the Copper Canyon, Scotland, Spain, Peru, Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, Alaska and more.  The old shirts still have some miles left in them, but time to add some new colors.  The old shirts are laid out to make this camino with us.

Sue has added purple -  short sleeve shirts.

Marilyn has added plaid - long sleeve in blue and short sleeve in green.

The packing continues, we hope to have everything laid out this weekend.  Then we will add/subtract stuff till we get it where we need it to be!

Bonne Camino!

Travel Plans Update

Pre walk and walking itinerary - we booked lodging for 3 nights in Barcelona, 1 night in Lyon, and 2 extra nights in Le Puy.  We have train tickets from: Barcelona to Lyon and Lyon to Le Puy.  Everything is in place from the time we leave St Petersburg (August 8) till we finish our walk in St Jean Pied de Port (September 25).

Post walk until we fly home (September 25 - October 9)  - working on the final details - bus and train tickets are still needed.

We still need to get our bus tickets from St Jean (the end of our walk) to Pamplona, Spain.   We have our hotel in Pamplona booked, we just need to get there!

We have all the hotels booked in Pamplona, Madrid, Granada, Sevilla and Barcelona.  We still need to finalize plans and make some train reservations - Pamplona to Madrid, Madrid to Granada, and Granada to Sevilla.  We booked a flight from Sevilla to Barcelona for our flight home.  Details!  Oh and we need to buy a few advance purchase tickets to a few historic sites we want to see.  And try to squeeze in a day trip to Cordoba - a short train 45 minute trip from Sevilla.

The next big project will be to lay out our clothing and gear.  We have our gear check list from our first Camino and will take it from there.  No sleeping bag this time but the rest of the list still works