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

find a wireless connection in almost every town or village along the route. Most albergues have free wifi now, and even if you find yourself in one that doesn’t you should have no problem finding a bar or restaurant that does. Actual computers were not nearly as common but were still available in maybe half the towns we stayed in (usually coin-operated). And, while there were a number of people who were specifically hoping to avoid the distracting trappings of internet while on the Camino, those people certainly did not include us, or a very large percentage of the people we met. Therefore, most people will want to have some device that can be used to pick up a wifi signal to keep in touch with friends and family back home, as well as to save money (internet stations were sometimes quite pricey), avoid lineups for computers and to stave off boredom and homesickness throughout those long, dark evenings of healing and moping.
    Smartphones offer the added convenience of not needing a wifi connection at all but because of the prevalence of free signals I wouldn’t say they are strictly necessary for the purpose of internet alone. We did not have one, however, an d we ended up envying others' ability to text more than we ever expected, maybe because we never imagined getting to know two or three dozen people that we may have wanted to track the locations of from time to time. Far more efficient than trying to use email. Some of the other benefits, depending on the phone, were the abilities to take photos, send photos and play music. Oh yeah, and making phone calls. I can’t tell you what it costs to do all these things in a foreign country since every phone is different. But for people who find this financially feasible it is a terrific all-in-one tool that can save you a lot of space and weight on other devices. We did not have a phone that would work in Spain but we did have an iPod that we could use both for music and internet (when we had a wifi connection).
    There were a few people carrying laptops or netbooks but even the smallest of these would seem to be a lot of unnecessary weight relative to the benefits. Of course, in some cases people may have special circumstances that make having a laptop indispensable – work emergencies that need to be ironed out, a saucy blog that involves a lot of typing and absolutely needs to be updated daily because its readers are just waiting for a reason to forget about it, or an inability to get off to porn unless the women on the screen are at least four inches tall.
    iPads were far more popular, both because they are much thinner and because they at least appear to be lighter. In fact, I am always a little shocked at how heavy they really are, although there is a good chance that by the time you read this we will be three more versions along and that current iPads have now been whittled down to the same thickness and weight as a layer of elderly forearm skin. Of course, that still doesn’t solve the problem of looking like an idiot trying to take photos using a device the size of the trapdoor in a pair of 19 th Century long underwear. And it doesn’t exactly just slip into your side pocket to be there when you need it. Bottom line, in their current incarnation I would strongly discourage anyone from taking an iPad on the Camino. Sure, you’ll find uses for them - watching movies maybe, or delighting your friends with digital birthday cakes, but in a long-term hiking situation they just don’t make a lot of sense. They are not a substitute for a laptop and while on the trail they are of no use as a phone or a camera or for music. They can be used as to read e-books but, once again, are much larger and heavier than most e-readers. Of course, I don’t want to be responsible for a sudden outbreak of iPad withdrawal-related voyeur and towel-snapping incidents either, so please make your own decision.
    Obviously, you are also going to want a camera, whether you carry a small travel camera like we do or have a phone that takes good photos (and they have improved incredibly in that respect) it is the best way to immortalize your experience. There are some who suggest travellers have become far too enamoured of taking photos and that we have difficulty truly appreciating the moment we are in since we are always too busy looking for the perfect shot. And, I’ll admit, this theory has some merit. Occasionally I try to remind myself to put the camera away for a minute and just