Do you get those moments when, despite past knowledge and experience, you feel that now, you know nothing about an important subject?
That is how I am feeling about my upcoming Camino to Portugal, particularly regarding equipment. By equipment, I mean backpack, footwear, questions about hiking poles, and even clothing.
How come? It’s like I have not put foot on the Camino before, despite being in Spain three years ago and on Camino Nova Scotia last summer.
But my body has changed and aged so I certainly want the best footwear for the many kilometers between Lisbon and Santiago. Also, technology has changed some of the old accepted ideas.
Let’s take footwear. In my early Camino days 20 years ago, hiking boots were considered essential for support. But now people trot along in hiking or trail shoes, sandals and Oh Spare Me – Crocs. So maybe I can use the hiking shoes I got for last summer’s Camino Nova Scotia – and my ankle socks along with them.
But then there is the pack. The backpack (when I was a kid it got called a Haversack or Rucksack or Knapsack!). The Vaude one I have had from 2006 -had good use, but maybe could I get one now with more techno comfort and features? Thank Goodness I am not going to Portugal until September as this is a very BIG issue. (Future reports on this coming your way I am sure).
And a possible innovation for me: Hiking poles! I have not in the past but maybe now I will….. Inspiration has come from the recent Camino movie: The Way, My Way. This is a memoire movie about a stubborn old Australian guy setting out on the Camino – he always drank red wine, never beer. He used a rustic stick and not definitely not hiking poles. Well before long he was having a refreshing beer and then he got poles- two of them. He was taught how to use them and how they sent some of the effort and weight from his legs and feet to his arms and upper body. And with his bum knee, he needed all the help he could get. So his experience and this explanation really caught my attention – my aging body and all!
So I will practice with a pair of ho-hum poles we have at the house with the idea that I will want to upgrade to something classier – I must research what spending more coin on poles will give me.
And an update from my previous blog about this adventure – I am keeping going with my Duolingo Portuguese language lessons, strange pronunciation and all!