“Well,” she began, “the rule of thumb is that you
carry max 10% of your bodyweight on your back. For me this means less than 7
kilo. There is a saying in Dutch: ‘alles
wat je thuislaat is meegenomen’. It is difficult to translate but it means
that everything you leave at home is to your advantage.
Thus, with everything you pack, you have to ask
yourself: Do I really need this? And you have to make a lot of difficult
choices. You can keep it very lean. For instance by using a solid bar of soap
for washing yourself, your hair and your clothes. Or by using your cell phone
to store all documentation, take photographs and make notes. You can also keep your
clothes to a minimum of only two sets, washing one every day and putting on your
clothes for the next day after your afternoon shower.
I am afraid that that doesn't work for me. I like my own shampoo and I like books. So I am taking a guide book that describes the route and the most interesting places along it. I chose the English book ‘The Northern Caminos’ published by Cicero because it has nice maps, up-to-date information on pilgrims’ albergues and also summarizes the most interesting places to see. However, to reduce weight, I have cut out all the pages of the book that I will not need.”
And what about clothes? We specifically asked Professor
Conny because at work she usually wears nice dresses and pretty skirts.
Conny likes wearing pretty dresses
|
“Well, in the evening I like to wear something
different from my zip-off trousers. So I will take my lightest, un-wrinkleable
dress with me.”
“A real problem will be the weather. In April it can still
be very cold, and there can even be frost during the night. This may cause problems
in unheated albergues or during early
morning walks. Thus, I need to bring extra layers of light, but warm, clothing.
For instance a Merino wool shirt. And don’t forget the rain. The Northern coast
of Spain has a wet climate with relatively large amounts of rainfall per year. Heavy
rain is not uncommon, so I need to bring a rain poncho as well.”
Professor Conny in zip-off trousers |
Then, of course, there are necessary things like money
and passport. And, very important, my pilgrims’ passport that gives me access
to pilgrims’ hostels, gites and albergues and reductions on pilgrims’
meals and allows me to collect stamps for my Compostela, the official proof
that I completed the Camino.”
All this stuff
needs to go in the backpack
|
Backpack on the
scale: 10 kilo exactly!
|
Do you want to support Professor Conny during her 1200 km walk for Chromosome 6?
Please
go to www.chromosome6.org/walkforchromosome6
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