“Keeping baggage from the past will leave no room for happiness in the future.” – Wayne L. Misner

I am writing this post on Tuesday evening before taking off to do the Camino de Santiago tomorrow. It’s 11.38PM and I have just finished packing my backpack. So, I thought I would tell you what I’ve packed – that way, if you’re packing to do the Camino this summer and you’re as clueless as I am… At least we can be clueless together. And, I have updated it since I wrote the original with extras that were vital and I may have forgotten.

You can follow my ‘journey’ (in every sense of the word) in real-time on snapchat this week. My username is imperfectlyfree. I may be losing my marbles via snapchat by the time this post goes live. Who knows?! You’ll have to add me to find out! I’m not going to add photos of everything I am bringing in this post because I’m pretty sure all of my readers know what all of these things look like!

I am using a normal school bag sized back pack (a Jansport to be precise, anyone that went to school in Ireland should have one of these!) because it’s all I had and I am trying to do the Camino on a strict budget/ I don’t want to buy loads of stuff just to do it, only to never use them again.

UPDATE: IF I was packing again, I’d 100% use a backpack with hip support. My shoulders got very tired by second and third day and then they started to get used to it. But it definitely would have helped if some of the weight was distributed.

So, with regards to basics, I’m bringing:

• 3x work out t-shirts (all quick drying)
• 1x workout zip-up (for the mornings when it’s cold)
• 2x pairs of shorts
• 1x pair of leggings
• 5x pairs of socks (3x pairs of Merino wool hiking socks)
• underwear (obv!)

Three pairs of shoes for 5 days?:

• 1x pair of hiking shoes – I have low-rise Quechua hiking shoes and they’re waterproof
• 1x pair of Nike Free Runs – I’ve had these runners for over a year, they’re well and truly broken in and I know they’re comfy. So if it doesn’t rain, I think I’ll spend a lot of time in these.
• 1x pair of flip-flops – for the showers in the albergues and in the evening time when my feet need air!

So many liquids:

• Factor 30 Vichy sunscreen
• Factor 50 Clinique sunscreen for my face
• Aftersun
• Shower gel / shampoo combination (God help my hair but carrying too many liquids is unnecessary weight!)
• Hair oil (to try to save my hair!)
• Toothpaste
• Antiseptic spray
• Deodorant
• Moisturiser
• Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour cream (life saver!)
• Vaseline

My many misc. items:

• A blow up pillow (UPDATE: This was unnecessary – every albergue had pillows)
• A rain coat (please don’t rain, please don’t rain, please don’t rain! IT DIDN’T RAIN!)
• Water bottle (got to stay hydrated!)
• Head band that doubles up as a cover for my pillow case (nifty!)
• Dry shampoo
• Tooth brush
• Money/I.D
• UPDATE: Even though I had really good wax ear plugs to pack, I completely forgot them and they are VITAL. I did not foresee the symphony of snoring that I heard every night. It’s impressive what some people can do!

My very own homemade first aid kit:

I made my first aid kit myself with the things I think I’ll need and anything I don’t have, I can get in a pharmacy along the way. Spain is riddled with pharmacies!

• Basic plasters
• Compeed blister plasters
• A bandage for any sore joints
• Knee supports for my bad knees (thanks Dad and Johnny!)
• Motilium
• Advil
• Antiseptic wipes
• Iodine
• A safety-pin for my bandage (or for popping blisters, owww!)
• A duvet cover – a sleeping bag is too big for me to carry and a duvet cover is the exact same thing without the warmth, which I don’t think I’ll need considering its June and there are blankets etc. provided in the albergues.

The one thing I can’t forget:

• My Pilgrim passport which I have to get stamped everywhere along the way – you need this to get your Compostela!

So, the moral of the story is… I’m bringing a million things and I probably won’t need any of it! But, when I know what I used and didn’t use, I’ll update this post and anyone planning a trip will be able to use it as a guide. Right now, I’m feeling extremely prepared… let’s hope that this feeling lasts until next week… agh! If you have any questions about anything again, you can ask me on snapchat – I plan on being very active on it all week, get ready for me to be snap-happy. I’ll probably be annoying you all!

If you want to read about why I’ve decided to do the camino, you can do that here. Or if you need advice on what to do once you’ve finished the camino, you can read my post on the parks of Santiago and my favourite things to do here. Also, to keep up with me while I’m on The Way, you can follow me on facebook, twitter and instagram as well as snapchat!

Winging it,

R x