“So, just to confirm. We walk twenty plus kilometres each day. On our feet. We stay in hostels. Not hotels, but hostels. We wash our own kit and carry it with us every day.”
Sitting in his dining room in Malahide, Stuart sensed this was a key moment.
“Terry was like that. Determined and self-sufficient.”
I whimpered, defeated.
“Fill that glass up.”
The die was cast. We were walking, with everything that we might need on our backs. A line was drawn at camping. No front row forward has the intelligence or manual dexterity to put a tent up.
A quick glance at the many “Camino” internet fora yielded up hundreds of threads on the importance of keeping the pack as light as possible.
In the picture is my life for a week. I’ll be wearing some of it and carrying the rest. Traditionally, I would now list every item along with its weight in grams. Unless you start donating – I may well phone you personally to talk you through each element and its weight dry and wet…you have been warned.
Threats notwithstanding, thank you for donating already. Four middle-aged Barbarians are very grateful.
