Behind the Albergue Door: Inspiration Agony Adventure on the Camino de Santiago

we’re in for at night. You wouldn’t believe what it’s like to sleep in a room full of strangers every night. People are disgusting beings, seriously. Tonight we’re actually in a 4-bed hotel room. It was connected to the albergue but when we trudged in soaked and tired and cold the woman at reception sold us on the fact the hotel room had heat, where apparently the albergue does not. Well worth the extra 5 euro each if you ask me. We even have a TV. Just finished watching an episode of Numbers in Spanish and now there’s a How It’s Made show on all about female sanitary napkins. Their history, tips on use, and technical details like how much fluff per tampon. And I’m completely enthralled, just because I’m actually watching TV. I think I’m losing my mind. Thank god it’s almost over…

    To Everyone (group)
    Finished!
    On Mon, Nov 5 at 10:26 AM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    We’re done!!! I am officially a full-fledged and licensed Compostela Pilgrim. And I’m pretty sure no one cares but me. Hoorah. Hard to believe it’s actually over. Woke up in a real hotel room this morning with a pounding headache and it took a minute to figure out where I was. I almost got up and started getting ready to hike. Then I remembered I didn’t have to and I just about cheered out loud I was so happy. 800 kilometres in the books! Gonna stay here and relax for a couple days I think, some of our friends are going to be showing up today and tomorrow.

    To Everyone (group)
    A Little More Maybe?
    On Tue, Nov 6 at 2:41 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    A few people I know have decided they’re going to hike to Finisterre now. It’s another 100 kilometres but it’s right on the ocean and is apparently really amazing. It’s weird but I’m considering it. It just seems too strange to be done, not sure how to stop…



Packing and Advice
    Welcome to the practical portion of our Camino journey. Or, shall we say, relatively practical portion because, really, anything seems pretty practical compared to that bit about the scallop shells. Seriously, I apologize for that.
    Anyway, the way I see it is that people who have already hiked the Camino want to reminisce and read about the funny things, places and people they encountered along the way. People who are planning to hike, on the other hand, demand at least some specifics, some information that will shed light on what to take, how to carry it, when to use it and how to subdue an amorous Frenchman sleeping on the bunk above them. We are very grateful for all the terrific information we, and by “we” I mean Laynni, were able to find on the internet prior to embarking on our hike which meant we ended up having surprisingly few regrets about what we took. I suggest you do the same, spend some time on the Camino de Santiago forum and any number of other dedicated Camino websites. Even travel agency sites often provide a lot of useful material. I believe that the hardest part is planning for the weather since, first of all, there are never any guarantees when it comes to weather regardless of what time of year you go. Secondly, most websites don’t differentiate much by season so it is hard to tell if their advice applies to all seasons or only if you go at a certain time. My advice is to go to travel blog sites such as TravelPod , TravelBlogs or TravelBlog , just to name a few, and find blogs of people who hiked the Camino at the same time of year that you will be there. For a more detailed discussion about the kind of weather to expect check out the chapter dedicated to When to Go and Weather .
    Something else to think about is your plan for accommodation. If you expect to spend every night in albergues sleeping in dorms and sharing bathrooms your packing list will be different than that of someone who plans to stay exclusively in private hotel rooms. However, we hiked with a few different people who were staying in hotels, one who even had an agency pre-book them for him, and they all ended up spending at least a few nights in albergues at one time or another. So unless you are absolutely sure you will always have a hotel bed to return to, with real sheets and everything, you’ll probably want to make sure you have a backup plan (i.e. sleeping bag).
    Packing
    One of the first choices you need to make is what backpack to bring. Normally this is a very subjective discussion that is dependent on where you are going and what you