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

soak it in without worrying about capturing it for future reminiscences. But, overall, I find I’m pretty damned happy to have all those great photos to remind me of the experience later.
    As for reading, both Laynni and I (particularly Laynni) read a lot , and from the beginning have been all over the ebook revolution like white on rice (or mucous green on Brussels sprouts). We used to carry six to eight books with us at all times while we travelled, never trusting to find an English book exchange when we needed one, or something to hold down our beach towel in a strong wind. E-readers have changed all that and we couldn’t be more thrilled, not even if we were given a free hiking donkey to share on our next anniversary. Of course, before you head out and buy a new e-reader just for the Camino you need to assess how much you expect to read and decide if it’s worth it. Even though we technically had a lot of time on our hands each day we always seemed surprised at how fast it flew by, what with showering, laundering, napping, shopping, eating, socializing, drinking, moaning, lying very still and staring at the old gum on the underside of the bunk above us. There are a lot of people who carry paperbacks, but usually only one, so you may need to try to coordinate your finishing times in order to make trades happen. Therefore, if you only expect to read a book a week and don’t consider being book-less for a day or so to be a disaster on par with scientology, then just grab an old paperback and hit the road. If you’re like us and start to break out in hives when you are down to your last hundred pages without a replacement, well, then an e-reader is probably for you on the Camino, as well as in real life.
    Money and Costs
    YES! There are lots and lots of ATMs on the Camino. Almost every town has one, and even if you find yourself in one of the smaller places that doesn’t, or it happens to not be working for the moment, which is far more likely, you are probably only five kilometres or so from the next town that will have one. Which means, of course, you will only have a problem if you, like basically every person we met on the Camino, go to great lengths to leave it to the very last minute so all that’s left in your wallet is 70 cents and a fading set of photo booth pictures of you and an ex-girlfriend pretending to choke each other while laughing uncontrollably. At that point it is possible there will not be an ATM quite as conveniently located as you would like (i.e. hidden in the secret pocket of your jacket along with your inventory of fake Rolexes).
    As for what things cost, as always, it can vary widely depending on how frugal or extravagant you want to be (instant noodles versus imported shark penis, that sort of thing). We averaged around €70 per day for the two of us (just under $100). But we also spent six or seven nights in hotels and weren’t particularly careful about our spending. Staying in albergues and eating Pilgrim's Menus (or partial menus like many of the girls did) you're looking at the following:
    € 5-10 / night for a dorm bed (the higher end of that scale was only for the nicer private ones).
    € 8-12 for a Pilgrim's Menu (starter/main/dessert/water or wine) or €5-7 for just one course.
    At lunch we usually spent around €3-5 each for a Coke and a bocadillo, which is basically just a plain baguette with meat or cheese.
    For breakfast we usually bought some combination of bread, cheese, fruit and pastries the night before for around €2-3 each and just wolfed that down cold before we left.
    Beer is cheap, but can add up (and has been known to lead to those embarrassing Facebook photos that get forty comments, at least thirty-eight of which you don’t find as funny as everyone else does), and then there are things like coffee (which we don't drink but which was VERY popular with most) and hot chocolates and chocolate bars and anything else that will help you get through the day mentally.
    I would recommend staying in hotels any time you plan to take a rest day (if any) so that you can sleep in and really take advantage of not being in a dorm for at least a short time. We stayed in pretty nice hotels in León and Carrión de los Condes for less than €35 per night for a double, and singles were even cheaper.
    Overall, travelling as a couple you should expect to spend a minimum of €25 per day each and probably more likely around €35-40 if you can afford it and don’t want