Your backpack is too heavy

Your backpack is too heavy. I promise.

Every first-timer overpacks. Every single one. You read the lists, you watched the YouTube videos, you bought the compression sacks. And you still showed up in St. Jean with 12kg on your back wondering why your shoulders hurt before you even crossed the Pyrenees.

Here's what experienced pilgrims actually carry: one change of clothes, a rain jacket, a sleeping bag liner, and a pair of sandals for the evening. That's basically it. Everything else you think you need — you will either mail home from Pamplona or quietly leave in an albergue donation box by day five.

The Camino has a way of teaching you what you actually need versus what you thought you needed. And it turns out the answer to both questions is: much less than you think.

Your pack weight is a metaphor. But that's a conversation for after the blisters.

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