full day walking and already I am slumped over from the
weight!
With most of my Camino stuff finally on hand, it was time to start putting it all together to get it ready to pack it up. There were really only two considerations. I had to be able to handle the weight and all the stuff had to fit into my pack.
I began to dutifully record the weight of each item I was planning to bring into a little notebook. This was actually fairly easy since much of the gear already had the weight printed right on the package. If not, it was easy enough to get it off the store's website. Other things got plopped on my food scale at home or if it was too big, the mail scale at the office.
As the ounces started adding up to pounds, I was still holding out hope that I could somehow manage to bring my hairdryer and travel journal. These were fairly heavy luxury items so I knew they would be the very first items to be cut and they were.
Every time I bought something I weighed it. Individually, the weight of each item seemed almost negligable. A an ounce here, a few ounces there. But add it all together and suddenly, I I was looking at some serious tonnage.
At some point I recall having about 7 pounds of stuff. My pack weighed about 5 lb. 12 ounces so I always had to keep in mind that I was starting off with nearly 6 lbs. before I even packed a single item. I have read often that it's best not to carry more than ten percent of body weight so with me weighing in at the time around 134, that gave me just about 7 lb. 8 oz. of contents. And that's not even counting the weight of food and water. So weighing in at a hefty 22 ounces, the travel bag for my backpack got pulled, it seemed such a redundant item anyway.
Right around the point when I felt as if I was in pretty good shape as far as the weight and bulk of my pack was concerned, the weather forecast for Camino started to look pretty ugly. No more summer things for sunny Spain! I was looking at a ten day forecast of nothing but rain and cold. So now, extra rain gear and cold weather clothing had to be added. But at least the frigid forecast made the decision to leave that little summer dress at home an easy one!
The weight and bulk of the warmer clothing skewed everything. I would be carrying fleeces and long sleeved shirts and pants instead of one thin jacket and the tee shirts and shorts I was banking on. Even compressed, the fleeces and other things took up enough space to make my pack look even heavier than it was. That was a psychologically discouraging moment!
I added, deleted then re-added things to try to get it all down to a reasonable weight. The last I remember was a total weight of around 17 pounds but there was still stuff to add. To accomodate that, I started reducing quantities of various things. Some choices were easy, like taking exactly as many safety pins as I needed, no spares. Wow, that saved a weight that couldn't even be detected on my food scale! It seemed as though everything I took out registered the same kind of weight saving -imperceptible!
As painful as it was, I finally decided I had to leave behind my Tevas. This was a real struggle since the sandals were incredibly comfortable and would have felt so good on my feet after a long day of walking. But, at l lb. 3 oz. they simply packed too much weight. My last minute rush for lightweight sandals forced me to settle for a pair of LL Bean's version of Croc sandals. They came in at around 8 ounces, less than half the weight of the Tevas. A significant drop!
Leaving behind the Tevas was difficult, as was the decision not to take my SIGG bottle. I realized I could lose a few more ounces by carrying my water in the bottle it was bought in.
It was the week before Camino when I decided the obsession with weight had to stop. I would take the things I needed and the pack weighed what it weighed. I wasn't about to start cutting tags off my clothes or squeezing out a bit of toothpaste or hair conditioner and the like to save a few grams. I cheered myself with the thought that the pack would get a tiny bit lighter each day as I began to use things up.
I have no idea what my pack finally weighed when I headed off to the airport. Whatever it weighed, I felt I could handle it. I had to!
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