Today I visited REI (very exciting for an ex-boy scout with an outdoor gear fetish). I went with the idea of buying a light pack, and maybe lighter shoes, and came away with $350 worth of pack, shoes, socks, a pair of fancy camping pants/shorts (zippered), and a rad orange camping shirt.

However, when I got back to my apartment and started putting things into the day pack, it started bulging, and deforming, and when I put it on, I realized that it was no good for 120 miles. It’s not serious enough. Also, I read in A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino de Santiago So I decided to use my full sized pack, and my heavy duty hiking boots.

I get the feeling that I’ve been approaching this walk too casually. I imagined a quaint jaunt across medieval Spain, stopping for beers and sandwiches at lunch, and yawning into a little center each evening, with the potential for some drinks and maybe even some local social life. But read this quote from my brother:

“My body is not capable of walking more than 20 to 30 kilometers a day … when I roll into town between 1 and 2:30PM I have absolutely no desire to go out and explore the place. More or less I just want to take a shower, wash my clothes and go to sleep for a while.”

Yikes!