Our final shakedown was to arrange our packs, poles, shoes, and umbrella in a large duffel bag and check it all onto a flight headed for Sacramento.
Normally, we don’t check luggage when flying and travel with only carry-ons. However, TSA doesn’t permit trekking poles to be carried onto a flight, and since they are a must have for our walk across Spain, we were forced to check a bag.
The shakedown was a success…the duffel made it to Sacramento and back to Indiana and in one piece. Some wear, but one piece.
With the final shakedown is complete and successful, we are ready for the journey to begin.
“When Plan “A” fails, remember there are 25 more letters.” – Unknown
Those who know me know I am a planner, thinking of all contingencies and creating checklists. This has served me well in both my working and personal lives. Rex is a planner too but doesn’t tend to get bogged down in the minutiae (he leaves this to me). My goal as we head into retirement is to let go of some of the micro-planning tendencies to give room to a new “the universe will provide” mindset. If anything, it will be an interesting experiment to see if it is possible.
Yesterday as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw a cry for help on one of the Camino De Santiago Facebook groups I follow. The poster mentioned the bus route from Pamplona to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (SJPP) that Rex and I were planning to take is being suspended effective September 5th. We were planning to take this bus on September 6th to our starting point.
After a second, mild panic rose within me. “OH SHIT!” We have to find a new way to get from Madrid to SJPP.
I had promised myself (and Rex, so there’s no backsies) I wouldn’t over-plan the trip and make too many reservations. We both agreed the climb over the Pyrenees needed to have beds confirmed in advance, so we had our first two nights lodging reserved, but nothing else. We were going to “go with the flow” and figure things out as we went along.
New research began immediately. What alternate routes were there to get to the start? This cancelled bus kicked off a chain reaction of changes. Since we had already booked our stay in Madrid, SJPP, Orisson and Roncesvalles, we were searching for other transport methods into SJPP for our original planned Camino start. But after over an hour of research, we realized we had to come at this problem a different way. We decided our best course of action was to throw our original dates out the window and book the trip two days earlier so we could catch the final bus to SJPP on September 4th instead of September 6.
Now the worry begins as we anxiously await responses back from the hostels confirming if they can switch our dates.
Fingers crossed Plan B works out and we can continue to focus on our very long pre-journey checklist.
05 Sep 2022 Update: After several days of sleepless stressed sleep, finally all hostels aligned and were able to reschedule our stays. What a relief! Plan B worked!!!
We need your help to get funky on the trail by building our The Roaming Rountrees-Camino Playlist on Spotify. We hope you can listen to the playlist buy pushing the play button in the upper left corner below. If you have Spotify, the playlist is public, so you can search for it and like it to listen along with us.
Rex and I love all genres of music and are looking for songs to inspire and motivate us. So, what songs inspire and motivate you? Feel free to add as many as you like. We hope you will like this collaborative playlist and listen with us as you are walking in nature (or anytime).
Guidelines
Add songs of any genre, from classical to heavy metal, from movie themes to opera. Add songs that you can’t help but sing out loud whenever you hear them. Add songs that make you work out harder, dance in public, get the house cleaned faster, or in general shake your groove thang. Add songs that make you feel stronger and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Send us the song title and artist’s name…
All you need to do is give us the song and artist’s name in the comment field below and we will add them for you. Or you can use our contact us page to share your musical inspirations.
We appreciate your help with this! We are excited to be motivated by you while we make our way to the cathedral in Santiago.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato
I have no idea how, but after packing everything, my pack lost weight from my earlier shakedowns. Rex will share his pack and gear list in the next post. This one is all about me, me, me and what I couldn’t live without for our 57-day journey across Northern Spain.
My pack is the Gregory Jade 38L Pack only weight is 2.8lb / 1.09kg. Dry loaded weight 15.6lb / 7.08kg.
My fanny pack is a large Waterfly Bag only weight is .25lb / .11kg Dry loaded weight 2.6lb / 1.18kg
Below is everything I will be carrying with me.
Unpacked View
My Packing List
Passport Camino credential Wallet (driver’s license, insurance card, credit cards x2) Sleep sheet Comforter Toddler Pillowcase w/zipper Puffy jacket (stuffed in pillowcase for nighttime and wearable if cold) Eye mask Earplugs Shoes x3 (hiking shoes, hiking sandals, shower flip flops) Convertible hiking pants x1 (pants, capris, shorts) Hiking skirt x1 Shirts x3 Lightweight tee shirt dress x1 (for after shower, dinner, outings, and bed) Light windbreaker x1
Rain jacket x1 Undergarments x3 Socks x3 Gloves Baseball cap Neck shade Buff Bandana Arm covers Hand covers Medications x7 (original bottles required) Salt tablets Shampoo/Body/Laundry bar soap Toothpaste/Toothbrush Sunscreen Vaseline Facial moisturizer Lip balm Trekking poles Cell phone Battery pack and cable Earphones Selfie mount
Sunglasses Eyeglasses (w/printed prescription for replacement if needed) Pack rain cover Knee braces Headlamp Spade, TP, wipes, Emergency Toilet kit, and pee towel Bath towel Collapsible water bottle x1 Water tube Umbrella Black large trash bag Small tarp Handheld fan Lacrosse ball Stuff sacks x2 Carabiners x5 Sentimental items (coin, rock, key, dragonfly necklace, lip color, and donkey)
The list was so long and once laid out I didn’t think it would all fit. Then once cinched, scrunched, and stuffed everything went in. I even had a little room to spare.
My total pack and gear weight comes in at 18.2lb / 8.26kg dry (without water or food items I will add along the way). Not bad. Now, it’s time for some more shakedowns.
Only 50 more days!
Question: What comfort item would you refuse to travel without?
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
Within the hiking community there is a term called a shakedown where a backpacker, in preparation for a long hike, takes their full selection of equipment on shorter trips with the intention of testing its trail-worthiness.
Rex and I officially started this process this week in preparation for our Camino de Santiago trek in September/October. We selected the Camino Frances route which is 562 miles across northern Spain. It should take us about 58 days to complete it from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to the coastal town of Fisterra, Spain. This includes several days of rest throughout the trek since we will no longer need to worry about our limited vacation time. We won’t be carrying a tent since we will be staying in alburgues (hostels) along the trail to the Cathedral in Santiago. If this post has you curious about the trail, there is a movie titled The Way starring Martin Sheen which will give you a great rough overview of the journey.
We will provide our full gear list and photos of what we are packing in a later post. Our recent shakedowns focused on packs and sleeping gear mainly. But our shoes/socks, umbrella, hats, and fanny packs were being tested too.
Rex learned his new Hoka Speedgoat 4 shoes needed to be returned. While super comfy to walk around in, they don’t provide enough support with the added weight of the pack. He is glad he caught this now versus out on the trail where he’d be stuck with them until we got to a town with a sporting goods store. His new 48-liter pack seems to be working well, but now comes the challenge of deciding how much to put in it. It is time to reduce or eliminate as much as possible, because every ounce/gram counts when you have to carry it over 500 miles/800 kms.
I am excited to say my pack (Gregory Jade 38L) fits great. It’s the right size for me and the straps don’t pinch or rub where they shouldn’t. Hopefully, all my stuff will fit into this relatively small pack. I purchased my shoes (Obōz Sawtooth II) over a year ago and they continue to be supportive, comfortable, and leave me blister-free. I get plantar fasciitis and since wearing these I haven’t suffered with it once. The rigid sole support is key to preventing this painful issue.
As a ball cap girl, I was struggling to find a full-coverage hat which wouldn’t hit the top of my pack or collapse into a floppy mess after packing it. After much research, I found a highly recommended hands-free, lightweight, cooling umbrella and bought it. I am so glad I did. It will go down as one of my best purchases for this trip. It is easy to put up and take down in stride. No stopping needed. Now to find the most convenient and comfortable place to secure it when I’m not using it.
Oh, and I almost forget to give a huge shout out to WoolX soft merino wool tee shirts. I’d heard they were fantastic, cooling and odor free, so I had to buy one and try it. So far, no smell after seven days! I thought I might try to see how long it would take before the smell set in, but after seven days, I felt it was time to introduce the shirt to the washing machine.
Shakedown #1 Mileage: 4.15 miles / 6.69 km Road type: Paved Pack weights: Rex 10.6 lbs. / 4.8km – Kara 9 lbs. / 4.08km
Shakedown #2 Mileage: 5 miles / 8.02km Road type: Paved / Dirt Pack weights: Rex 17.4 lbs. / 7.9kg – Kara 15 lbs. / 6.8kg
Shakedown #3 (rain) Mileage: 3.5 miles / 5.63km Road type: Paved Pack weights: Rex 22 lbs. / 10kg – Kara 20.8lbs. / 9.4kg
Shakedown #4 Mileage: 5.15 miles / 8.29km Road type: Paved Pack weights: Rex 22 lbs. / 10kg – Kara 22.4 lbs. / 10.16kg
Our packs are now filled with everything we think we need for the trip and we’re working on increasing mileage with the weight. We know our bodies we won’t be 100% ready for the tough Pyrenees Mountains climb we’ll be facing on day one, but these shakedowns will take some of the “in our control” potential issues out of the equation.
