Day 0 - In Transit

The Virgin Atlantic flight to London (LHR) was a joy.  Especially when compared to the flight from Toronto to San Francisco 3 days ago.  I was only in my own bed for two nights after cycling and spending time with family and friends in southern Ontario.  The VA 787 Dreamliner was spacious and many of the middle seats were empty like mine.  The crew were nice as well.  I give Virgin Atlantic a thumbs up.

My wife and middle son - taller than me - drove me to the airport and gave me a nice send off.  Preflight I had a very nice meal in the VA Lounge.  The food was actually good.

Coming into London this has been one of my best long flights ever.  3 movies and a few hours of sleep.  That's as good as it gets.

LHR past security is a mall.  This is a crazy place!  3 hours to kill before the Madrid flight.

I learned my first equipment lesson; wearing a money belt is just uncomfortable.  My pants have zipper pockets so I don't think I will wear it very often but it does make a nice little man-purse and probably good for taking stuff to the shower.  If it doesn't preform better than a plastic bag I may be giving it away at some point.

Was hoping the hotel shuttle bus was late by a few minutes but no such luck.  Just missed it and had to wait for 40 minutes with two other patrons.  Airport free WiFi reached the bus curb, at least.  

MAD is a huge airport.  Walked up to the wrong kind of immigration control and had to go another 100M after trying to scan my passport.  Immigration had a lot of terms I wasn't familiar with but it was still way faster than my other recent experiencs. I came in T4S and took a long ride on a bus/train thing to get to T4.

Shuttle finally came and now I can get a few hours of sleep laying down.  I booked a taxi back  to the airport for 8 hours from now.  I need to get some cash and the is an ATM a few blocks away.  First thing tomorrow.

The Next Adventure

 In a week I will be flying to Spain and spending October walking the Camino de Santiago.  This is a well known pilgrimage.  Google it and you can spend a lot of time reading all about it - I can't add much that hasn't been written.  People have been doing pilgrimages across Europe for over a thousand years and this is one of the most travelled.  I am not breaking any new ground here.

People do this pilgrimage for a lot of reasons: obviously religious - there are the remains of St. James the Apostle at the end in Santiago de Compostela; and many others.  The official Camino office even tracks motivation among the many statistics they compile (https://oficinadelperegrino.com/en/statistics/).  Looks like 80,000 walkers did it in August, 40,000 on the route I'm doing.  Most of those only do the last 100km which is the minimum to get the certificate and have your stats collected, but it's still a lot of people.

(Map from: Wikipedia.org)

October should be a lighter but during my time there could easily be 1000 walkers spread out on the 800km route.  That means there is likely to be a group of pilgrims gathering in each little town each night.  One of the main reasons I want to do this is I want a more social version of the long distance events I have done solo in the past.  I really enjoy riding all day by myself but dinner alone all the time isn't great.  

I have always loved Spain.  Ever since I read The Sun Also Rises (I get to go to Pamplona!!) and For Whom The Bell Tolls I loved it.  All my previous visits only confirmed that feeling.

Not being a religious guy I'm not doing this for extra credit, but I do feel a certain spiritual component to these kind of things.  I don't know of it is just unplugging from normal life and having a chance to step back and take stock or if there is something deeper.  In any case, I think there is a lot of value in a pilgrimage even if you don't believe in any of the stuff.  I think it is all about preparing for the journey and the journey.  Getting to the destination has little to do with it and is always anticlimactic.  Ending is important ... a journey with no end can't be a pilgrimage.  I guess that's the whole point of a pilgrimage; begin, do something difficult and end.  A long time ago people figured out that was good for you.

Based on what I've learned from the millions of Camino videos on YouTube, I will probably stay in the alberges, pilgrim hostels, most nights but I will also stay in hotels. After all I have a credit card. The dorm thing sounds kind of fun but probably not every night.

So what's this blog about?  Mostly it's for me, but others might find it interesting or useful.  When I go back and read my old blogs it's better than looking at pictures of the trip.  It brings back great memories and reminds me I should proofread more.  I can't add a whole lot to Camino prep that isn't out there ... I Googled it all myself.  I will, however, go over my prep and why after sifting through a ton of good and bad information I came up with what I came up with.

Training

I'm old but pretty fit for a fat guy so I wasn't concerned about the cardio.  I was concerned about my feet.  I can cycle 200km in 11 hours or 100 miles a day for a week but I have concerns about my feet walking long distances day after day.  I've had plantar fascitis issues before and they can be crippling.  I hope that paying attention to good walking mechanics and being smart about my feet prevents any serious issues.

During June, July and August I was walking 10-14km around San Francisco most days.  Even after living here for 35 years I was amazed.  SF is a gorgeous city.  Everyday I found something new and interesting.  I was also tripping over mostly-European tourists everywhere.

Logistics

I had to fit this trip between two others and could only manage 36 days which with travel only leaves me 32 walking days max. That leaves me no time in Santiago de Compestela so I want to walk 30 or 31.  That's about 26km per day which at my normal walking pace is 5-6 hours plus breaks and rest.  If I start early - probably just before daylight every day: 7:30am - I would get in 4-ish.  3-ish is better as it gets dark around 6:30pm and I want some time to look around each day.  Showering and clothes washing can take eat away at the best part of the day.

I'm flying to/from Madrid - cause I like Madrid - but that left me wondering how to get to St. Jean Pied-de-Port and get back from Santiago de Compestela.  After a lot of research it turns out the last thing I considered was the best and cheapest: fly.  After a night in an airport hotel near MAD, I fly to Pamplona and have to take a taxi - the most expensive segment - to SJPP.  Iberia has flights cheaper than the train or bus.  Hopefully I can share the taxi and cut the cost.

I should arrive in SJPP early enough to get my pilgrim's papers and buy some trekking poles and a knife - both of which are hard to take on a plane.  Hopefully, I will be able to donate them to someone at the end. 

Packing List

I have done a lot of long distance bicycle touring and brought a lot of that experience to my packing.  Compared to most YouTube pilgrims mine is downright Spartan.  My goal is to travel as light as possible and everything has to be essential.  If I might use it, it is not going.  I look for things that have multiple uses and get rid of things that can be covered by something else or that can be purchased if needed.  I only take quick dry materials because I have been stuck with wet gear on a cycling trip for days and it is miserable to carry around a waterlogged piece of clothing and worse to have to put it on.  The newer lighter and more compact quick dry materials can be worn immediately after washing with a good wringing out.

Shoes: the internet consensus is that trail runners are the best shoes for the Camino.  I have hiked in running shoes for the last 25 years so this seemed reasonable to me.  Hiking shoes or boots never really worked for me and the lighter shoes are easier to wear.  Trail runners have better grip on trails.  My only concern is getting 800km out of them.  They do tend to loose their cushion after some number of miles. Good thing there are stores in Spain.  During July and August 
I auditioned several shoes and ended up spending almost as much on shoes as on airfare.  I'm also bringing Teva sandals and some super light Merrills.  I could walk short distances in either to give the feet a change and they will be post-walking footwear.  Socks are the very expensive Smartwool light hiking socks. I threw in two pairs of cycling socks (violated my own rule!!) because they are very light and tight fitting and could be used as undersocks and post-walk.

Pack: 24L Osprey Stratos.  Fits all my gear and has a nice air gap between your back and the pack.  The small pack prevents you from taking things you might need.

Clothes: 2 convertible pants, 2 long sleeve hooded hiking shirts, 1 base layer, Gortex cycling jacket, cheap pancho, sleeping bag liner, quick dry beach towel, bathing suit/shorts and two (maybe one) non-walking/travel shirts and a pair of fingered cycling gloves.  I figure with this I could be out all night in near freezing conditions.  I plan to wash the day's clothes each night using laundry strips - a month's supply takes up less space than a toothbrush - and a plastic bag that doesn't leak makes an instant washing machine.

Sleeping bag: none.  If I ever need blankets I can use my towel and put on more clothes.  If I get stuck out on the road I'll call a cab and stay in a hotel.

Other: I 3D printed a sewing kit that holds needles and thread, some paracord, S hooks, clothes pins, cable ties, laundry strips and an assortment of plastic bags.  I have a compression dry sack and a day pack.  A 1L water bottle and more glasses cases than anybody should own.

Electronics: Phone, BT keyboard, GoPro, bike light and a universal USB adapter.  I 3D printed a flat phone stand which is great when typing.  Earbuds are currently on the bubble as the charging box is kind of heavy and awkward and I don't use them that much.  In it's favor is the case has a battery that can charge a phone, hmmm, since I have no other battery backup it's in.

I will pickup a Spanish SIM before my Pamplona flight.  A local SIM is cheap (always our first stop in Colombia) and data is essential.