Final Preparations
We’ve come to that part of the pre-Camino countdown where for every two or three items I’m checking off my list, I seem to be adding one more.
Today my very last piece of kit arrived – a new windbreaker/rain shell to replace my old one. The new one is about a third the weight of the old one, which is nice. Like the old one, it’s bright orange. I like wearing bright, easy-to-see colours when it’s grey and rainy.
Today is also permethrin day – the day I spray down my pack and sleeping bag to help prevent them from becoming a home or transport for bugs, particularly bed bugs.
Training has continued, and our twice-weekly long walks now hover between 17 and 20 km, and of course we do a minimum of 8 km every morning. In these last few days before I leave, this is likely to change somewhat as we continue to be more and more pressed for time.
We normally do our long hikes on Mondays and Saturdays, but this coming Saturday is booked solid with parish and family commitments. Monday is the day before I leave, so I think it unlikely that we’ll be able to do a longer walk then, either.
Francine flies out two weeks later on her own adventure.
One fun thing that we started on our last Camino: the flag. Over the years (and season by season) we have hung various flags here at Pistachio House. When we walked the Camino Primitivo last year, we flew the flag of the Spanish region of Asturias at home. This past week, we hung the flag of Aquitaine.
While I’ll be walking through several regions in France1– not to mention in Spain! – in the Medieval period much of this now-French land was under the rule of the Dukes of Aquitaine.
Plus, who doesn’t like a heraldic lion on a flag?
In the midst of preparations and training, yesterday I also began the process of applying for the Diaconate. I sent out a number of requests for letters of recommendation, and I began getting the required paperwork together. The application form itself is quite long and thorough. Although I began filling in the requested information, most of that will have to wait until my return.
Please pray for me and my discernment, and for all pilgrims upon the earth.
- In addition to Aquitaine, I’ll be walking through Occitània (yes, derived from the same root word), which roughly corresponds to the Medieval County of Toulouse.
I will be doing my first Camino Frances starting mid-April and have started my training, albeit not enough. I’m doing 6 km on 150-200 ft elevation terrain. I am pretty much set on what to bring, except for the shoes and I am torn on whether to bring my hiking poles or not (for fear if not passing through TSA). I have a couple of questions. Regarding the patches on your backpack, do you iron them on or sew or glue? Having the water bottles in front makes a lot more sense than in the side pockets of the backpack. Where do you get them from? Thank you for posting your adventures.
Buen Camino!
For the patches, I glue and then sew. I’m terrible at the sewing part, and for most of the patches, my beautiful bride Francine has done the sewing part.
I have given up on bringing poles – I buy cheap ones at the nearest Decathlon store when I arrive. They are inexpensive, relatively light, and sturdy. Francine has some expensive folding poles that always seem to make it through TSA, so your mileage may vary.
The front water-bottle holsters were purchased on Etsy years ago: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1099227829/justins-ul-13g-original-ultralight
I very much recommend them.
However, if you’d like to shop around, there are a number of companies that make these now.