Tying Up Loose Ends

Day two of packing and planning was exciting but not without complications. This is a particularly difficult trip to plan for because of it’s three distinct parts, the distance it spans, and the changing temperatures across countries and over time.

For the first part of my trip, I’ll be on a sunny beach in Portugal. Once that portion of the trip is over, I will have to mail all my beach items and ten days worth of clothes home (without mailing anything I’ll continue to need on my hike!) Packing for the Camino was the easier part as I have a sense of what to expect and how I should dress for the conditions.

The trouble is, we’ll spend an undetermined amount of time in Paris once our hike is over and I’d like to go to a few special restaurants which will require attire other than oversized trail runners and waterproof pants. I attempted to contact a service in Santiago where apparently you can have parcels shipped so you can pick them up when you arrive in town. This would be perfect but I failed to get a timely response from the company. So I’ve decided to pack just a couple of items to hold me over in Paris and perhaps I can buy something while there.

I cringe knowing I’m going to have to carry them along the whole Camino, especially because they’re a bit heavy since by the time we reach Paris, it will be nearly November and much cooler.

I spent the day working out other issues like I made sure I had plenty of medications to hold me over. My doctor is accustomed to me coming to her with a list of drugs I like to have on me for hikes which can range from medicated chafing cream, to altitude sickness meds, to super powerful anti-inflammatories.

I’m officially excited now. Having to work through every little detail and need that I’ll have over the next 6 weeks of my life has me pumped! And I’m totally entering hiker mode. Brian and I took up mountain biking a couple of years ago and usually I don’t think much of the trails we ride but today when we were out biking, I refused to do any remotely difficult tracks because I don’t want to be injured right before my trip.

This is a common behavior for long distance hikers once they start preparing for their trip. In fact, one dear friend of mine who was supposed to begin what I believe would have been his fourth Camino had a knee injury and he determined a week before he was supposed to leave that he was in no shape to walk across a country. So it’s realistic to avoid any activities that can hurt you and even to avoid being around people who may be sick. So forgive me if I hide for the next two weeks.