Summary

A woman shares her experience of walking the Camino de Santiago, focusing on the importance of packing only essential items and learning to declutter one's life.

Abstract

The author describes her journey on the Camino de Santiago, emphasizing the significance of what she carried in her backpack. She recounts her preparation, including advice from a boutique owner who had made mistakes on her own journey. The author learns to pack only what is necessary, dealing with well-meaning friends who try to add more items. As she walks, she realizes that what she initially considered necessary becomes less so over time. This realization extends beyond the journey, leading her to understand the importance of decluttering one's life in general.

Opinions

The author believes that packing only essential items is crucial for a successful journey on the Camino de Santiago.
She values the advice of someone who has made mistakes and learned from them.
The author acknowledges the well-meaning intentions of friends who try to add more items to her backpack but stands firm in her decision to pack only what is necessary.
She learns that the concept of necessity changes over time and applies this lesson to her life in general.
The author quotes Anne St-Hilaire, owner of La Tienda, En attendant Compostelle, emphasizing the importance of decluttering one's life.
She encourages readers to declutter their lives, suggesting that one does not need as much stuff as they might think.

A JOURNEY THROUGH A ROCKY ROAD.

What I learned on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James – Chemin de Compostelle) (Part 1)

“When you go through hell, keep going.” (Winston Churchill)

October 14, 2017, on my way to St-Jacques-de-Compostell

1. What you carry

September 24, 2017. My plane was departing at 8pm at the Trudeau Airport. The cab entered my driveway and waited. I took with me my keys and my 25 pounds full backpack that I had put in a bigger handbag. I activated the alarm system and closed the door.

In checking the AirCanada rules, I realized that my walking poles would not be accepted in the airplane cabin. I had to register my luggage and was afraid that my backpack would be damaged during the flight. A week before, I bought an outdoor sport bag that can be folded into a small pocket, it allowed me to put the backpack and the poles in it and even to add some additional clothes and stuff for my first days in Barcelona.

I was very proud to have everything fitting! A few months before, I went to a boutique in Verdun specialized for people wanting to walk the Camino.

Several years before, the owner walked alone for at least four months on the path, walking it through France and Spain and she made all mistakes possible, starting heavy and with hurting boots etc. When she came back in Montreal, she opened her boutique and decided to help others, avoiding them to experience the same basic mistakes.

At the boutique, the lady explained what I had to bring and not more, how to pack and unpack. When you go walking for 30+ days, you have to bring only what is necessary. (But believe me, the two poles are not optional! When you go down a steep slope on the rocks, you need them to keep your balance).

Afterwards, you have to deal with some of your friends that are afraid for you and give you additional stuff. No, No. I do not have any room for any additional stuff. Yes, yes, they said, take this, it is small, you will need it, it does not take much place. The day before my departure, I left many things on my bed. Sorry! Nothing else fit in there.

My plane landed in Barcelona and I spent a few days visiting.

The big day finally arrived. On September 30, 2017, one day before the independence referendum day of Catalonia, I left Barcelona by train to reach Pamplona where I will start walking on the Camino, beginning on the Spanish side of the Camino Francès. What is called the Camino Francès usually begins 3 days earlier at St-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side.

That morning, I was not able to put everything back into my backpack. Like I had planned, I folded the bigger handbag into a smaller pocket with a clip that I attached to the outside of the backpack. It enabled me to put small useful things in it, such as sunscreen or bandaids, things that you need to access rapidly, including the pepper spray that my friend Louise insisted I would need.

The problem still remained, I lost 30 minutes trying fitting every thing else and it didn’t. I made another triage and left what I then considered no longer necessary in the room. During the following weeks, I ended up doing the exact same thing two or three times.

The funny thing is that what you considered necessary on day one is finally only useful and becomes too cumbersome after a while. As you go on the path, you realize what you no longer needs to carry.

And then, as you walk toward your destination, you realize that it also applies to every aspect of your life in general, including relationships.

“On part d’abord avec l’utile, puis on garde le nécessaire. Au fil du temps, on ne garde que l’essentiel et c’est bien suffisant. “ (Anne St-Hilaire, owner of La Tienda, En attendant Compostelle)

First lesson learned: I do not need that much stuff in my life. Declutter your life, for god’s sake!

(Part 2 – to follow)