“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Mark Twain

Where is the time going? This veteran procrastinator is beginning to feel a little pressed for what time remains before I find myself “leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again.” Poetic, yes? But not quite true, for I do know when I’ll be back again. It’s just that right now my focus is on tying up loose ends so I can walk out the door with a clear and guilt-free mind. Don’t know about the guilt-free, though. I’ll probably drag some of that around, at least through the beginning of this adventure.

Well, that’s a load to digest. And I only intended to bring some things up to date in terms of the planning and logistics. When I began to line up all the proverbial ducks in a row, after locking in travel reservations, my thought was “I’ve got everything I need – backpack, hiking boots, any number of hats, depending how “cool” I want to be, hiking shorts, gobs of wicking style running shirts.” But then again . . .

OK. I’ll modernize the backpack, go ultra-light which is what so many have recommended. I hit the jackpot and found a nice Osprey bag nicely discounted as last year’s model. “Don’t overload it,” warned the sales lady at Whole Earth. “35 pounds is about the max.” Then I got hit with what seems to be the golden rule of packing for the Camino de Santiago. Carry no more than 10% of your body weight. No, more like: CARRY NO MORE THAN 10% . . ” Well, you get it. It’s too late for me to put on a hundred pounds or so, qualifying me to carry more stuff in my ultra-light backpack so I guess I better consider plans b, c, and d.

I’m a little stubborn at this point, sort of like never wanting to count calories. My brother Kenneth asked me how much I’m carrying in my pack on training walks. Good question, but I haven’t got a definitive answer since I’ve put off weighing anything or everything. What I do know is I have taken some things out of the pack, items previously considered essential. But now, in their place, other items are slipping past me, stowing away in the pack. I don’t need a sleeping bag, sort of a 50-50 consensus on that as I read the advice of those who have walked the Camino, but I just broke down and bought a quite cheap 2-season sleeping bag, nothing fancy at all, but it comes in at a pound and a half and compresses down to the size of a basketball.

I’ve known all along that I would probably need to invest in some new shoes for these 500 miles looming on my horizon. My current North Face boots are showing some wear, and I’ve been indoctrinated by many years of sometimes serious running that at such and such mileage, you have to buy new shoes. I assume the formula is somewhat similar for hiking boots, though I don’t think I ever paid much attention to it with my first Vasque boots bought from the original Whole Earth Provision in Austin back in the late 60s. I just know I wore them into the ground and still wondered if it was worth having them resoled. That’s something we did back in those more frugal days. These days, in fact only a few days ago, I started the odometer running on a new pair of boots and so far these North Face boots feel pretty good on my feet. Whether the boots and my feet will have that same loving feeling a hundred miles into the Camino de Santiago, or not, only time will tell.

I guess it’s my nature that the more I feel I know about something the more I question that knowledge. These new boots are just what I need becomes were these the right boots? should I have gone with trail runners instead? And the latest – do I need trekking poles for this mega-trek. Everywhere I read, and every photo I see of walkers on the French Camino, tells me: how will you ever do this without a pair of poles? They’re on my shopping list, that and a few other things. Come on, time! Let’s move this along lest I be spent out by the time I walk out the door, ridden with guilt for spending too much or not enough.

Three weeks from today, I should have gained the elevation to cross over the Pyrenees and many of the unknowns will begin to be known. I guess that’s why we need adventure and, frankly, I can’t wait to get myself on the road.

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