What to pack on a long walk. A very long walk..?

The guy in the photo was a real person I encountered on my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago but don’t worry – donkeys are optional.

Before I did the Camino de Santiago my hiking experience was limited. Limited to a couple of day hikes on some very rare occasions.

So when it came to packing for a month long walk lugging my possessions across a country I was very naive as to how to pack a bag.

I decided to follow the advice that was given on every camino website I found myself looking at.

Bare essentials. And maximum 10% of your body weight.

Here is my complete minimalistic approach for packing for the Camino de Santiago:

-Passport and Pilgrim Passport: The piece of paper who tells you who you are and the piece of paper that helps you ‘find yourself’.

– A Good Backpack: now this is obvious but I cannot stress enough how important it is to invest in a good backpack that suits your size and needs. I ended up becoming the proud owner of a North Face ALEIA 32 backpack. It was a hideous grey and only looked pretty when it was raining and I got to deck it out with its funky red water cover but this 32L bag was my best friend for 27 days and served me very very well.

-Really Good Shoes: Another obvious one. Your feet are your most important tools for the next month of your life. Some people go for high boots, some people low boots. My ankles are in pretty good shape at the ripe young age of 22 so I went for some simple trail runners from North Face (because let’s be honest I’m a loyal customer) The WOMEN’S ULTRA FASTPACK II GORE-TEX® were funky, waterproof and on sale. I bought a pair 3 sizes too big for me and didn’t get a single blister.

-A Good Rain Jacket: OK by this point you are going to think I am sponsored my North Face… But my gortex jacket I bought from them over a year ago is still serving me well today…

-A Sleeping Bag Liner: This was a big decision, sleeping bag liner or sleeping bag? Knowing that I intended to stay in albergues (pilgrim hostels) every night on my early autumn camino I expected to not be out in too cold conditions for most of the trip so I went for the lighter option and with blankets available to borrow at every albergue when I needed one I stand by that decision.

-Socks: Two pairs of good hiking socks and one set of sock liners that were given to me on my second day on the camino from my first camino friend who had packed one set too many. With one set to wear and one to wash every day it was all I needed.

-2 Tops: 1 t-shirt, 1 singlet. Both quick-drying sports fabric.

-Sports Leggings: For walking on rare colder days

-Sports shorts: For walking every other day

-Thermals: For sleeping

-2 sets of knickers: one to wear, one to wash

-Bra: because I’m a girl

-Small bag: I had one of those small drawstring backpacks to use in the afternoons/evenings after checking in somewhere for the night and heading off to explore the small towns.

-Kindle: Because it’s the only way I could deal traveling without book hoarding (I’m not going to list two other paperbacks I ended up lugging around because I’m kind of ashamed of that maybe ‘unnecessary’ extra weight).

-Guide Book: I used this one 

-Tiny little camping towel: The guy at the camping store sold it pretty well when he mentioned it only weighed 25g… But with only 25g of towel I was lucky the weather was so good during my camino.

-Lush shampoo bar: something I stumbled across while researching ‘packing for the Camino de Santiago’. These nifty little solid shampoo bars are fabulous and can be used for hair, body and clothes washing

-Sunscreen: because the sun and I have a love-hate relationship

-Hat: see above.

-Sunglasses: see above to look cool

-Spork: for scooping, prodding and slicing.

-A Small Light: for attempting to find those yellow arrows at 5am.

-Pocket knife: because I was given it as a going away gift from the office I was working at before my camino and told to use it for self defence (I used it for cutting fruit).

-iPhone (and earphones): I didn’t actually get a Spanish sim card which many pilgrims do to phone ahead and book beds but I used it a lot for wifi, music and audiobooks.

-A small first aid kit: ft. bandaids and paracetamol

-Ear plugs: Albergues also double as snorers anonymous meeting points. Ear plugs help (sometimes).

-Wallet: ft. cash, travel money card, ID.

-Minimal toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple of small lotions and potions.

-Hiking pole: I actually invested in this bad boy about a week into my camino after my knees suffered on some steep declines. I almost left it behind about 4 times a day but it somehow made it all the way to Santiago.

-Camera………… Yes I lugged my Cannon 70D 780km across Spain. And I have absolutely no regrets. I am a real photography lover though so this was my luxury item for the trip. And hey, my towel was only 25g so I deserved a bit of extra weight.

Things that other people packed on the Camino de Santiago

–Salt and pepper (because apparently the salt and pepper in Spain wasn’t flavoursome enough)

–A coffee machine (I didn’t actually meet this guy but heard the legend of the coffee-machine carrying pilgrim)

-A donkey (optional but quirky)