No need to mention underwear, but I have to say it’s a smart move to take more than one pair of socks and most definitely well-worn snickers or hiking shoes, a size and a half too big. Both is even better. It’s all about the shape of the foot, how it breathes, the blood circulation. Shoes have to be picked carefully, because you’re stuck with them till the end. You’ll wear them for at least 190 hours, or about eight days straight.
Go double-socked, because it’s way better for the friction to happen between two socks than between the socks and skin. Since Spain is nuts about wind, it’s a good idea to also have a windbreaker and a long-sleeved sweater – yes, even in the middle of summer. When it’s cold, it’s cold and you don’t have to be cold.
The contents of my backpack: 7 shirts, 2 3/4 length leggings, a tracksuit set, windbreaker, 12 pairs of socks, short pants, a sleeping bag (even a sleeping pad the first year I went), a portable loudspeaker, three skirts, three pairs of sunglasses, the same amount of headphones, a fuckload of music on my phone, a baseball cap, and plenty of empty storage for photos. All of that amounts to 6 kilos, but my backpack weighed 9 kilos before I left. That means the other three kilos consisted of medications, hygiene kit, and cooking gear.
My SOS bag had pain meds: Ibuprofen and Nalgesin - in case pain got up to eleven. Luckily that didn’t happen, so other “kids” got the “sweets”. Next: white Rocky Balboa-type bandages, the miraculous Magnesium oil, and
a Perskindol cooling gel. That was my first-aid kit. Don’t forget the blister-popping needle, either. Sure, you can buy all that stuff there, but my plan was walking, not shopping. I already talked about my flip-flops. Also, an honorable mention: sunscreen, the most disgusting smell on the Path.
When everything is piled up, one needs to figure out a plan how to strategically place stuff into the backpack. You know, if you’re not planning on extra work, that is. The most important things are on top. Add at least one liter of water and food for one day – that’s extra two kilos. You feel the weight on your back for a few days, but you get used to it eventually. Losing things is apparently a thing, too! If you never lost anything, please contact me, so I can congratulate you. All the meds are eventually used as well. The good news is, the backpack gets lighter with every kilometer.
And don’t forget your legs. The trick is to treat them like you just woke up from a nightmare where they were cut off with a chainsaw.