Packing: What to take on a Long Walk

And now for some practical information that might actually be of use to somebody some day!

Here are my (newly revised) suggestions as to what to take with you when walking the Via Francigena, the Camino de Santiago or any other long-distance walk.

Everyone knows the golden rule that you should carry no more than 10% of your body weight on your back. But how to actually stick to that limit? 

I now use a 38-litre backpack, but my old backpack, shown in the picture, was 50 litres, generously sized for a long walk, so I had plenty of room for a day or two's supply of food and water as well. Or for a few souvenirs to take home with me, purchased on the final stage of my Walk! You may be able to get away with a pack as small as 26 litres if walking in southern Europe in summer, and won't be needing warm clothing. Anything larger than 50 litres is unnecessary unless you're planning on carrying camping gear. 

My backpack in vertical cross section

I carry a waterproof backpack cover, but I also waterproof everything inside the pack. I use a couple of dry sacks, of the type used for kayaking, which are lightweight, waterproof when properly sealed, and also help keep stuff organised so you don't have to waste time and frustration digging around for clean socks and underwear! 

One dry sack contains my thermal sheet sack, pillowcase, and whatever I'm going to wear to sleep in. 

In the other eight-litre dry sack I carry my complete wardrobe: a couple of pairs of socks and underwear, one change of T-shirt, a pair of leggings and a lightweight merino wool sweater.

Every morning I put on my clean T-shirt and underwear and the zip-off pants I walk in, and then - unless the night has been particularly dry and windy and all my laundry has dried - I decorate the outside of my backpack with the previous day's washed but still damp socks, underpants and T-shirt, attached with safety pins so they can finish drying out during the day. (One way to tell pilgrims from day hikers is by the socks and underwear pinned onto their backpacks!) 

At the top of my pack are my rain jacket and my toiletries bag, with a miniature microfibre travel towel tucked into it. Yeah, I hate the feel of microfibre too, but you really can't carry around a big piece of wet terry cloth everywhere you go! Microfibre is lightweight and dries instantly. I have learned that a small towel is sufficient, as all you really do is pat bits of yourself dry with it. Or maybe two small towels in different colours, for patting dry different body parts! I only carry a tiny 20 ml plastic bottle of shampoo - to be topped up along the way if necessary - a travel-sized toothpaste, a child-sized toothbrush and a hotel-sized bar of soap in a tin. With just enough medications and band-aids for emergencies; if you need any more, there are pharmacies along the way!

At the bottom of my pack is a plastic bag containing a pair of sandals or lightweight running shoes (depending on the season) and a pair of flip-flops for showering in hostels, if I am walking a route where I expect to find hostels with communal showers. 

My backpack in vertical cross section

On my first couple of Long Walks I carried a super-waterproof bag containing my Kindle. As I was travelling alone, I figured I would have endless evenings of solitude to spend reading - but in actual fact I was rarely alone, and I was always busy. By the time you've had a shower, washed your clothes and figured out where to hang them up to dry, got together an evening meal and some provisions for the next day's lunch, you really don't have the time or energy for reading! An e-reader can come in handy if you download guidebooks and information about the trail onto it, for reading after lights-out in hostels, and as a nightlight for finding your way to the bathroom in the dark without shining a flashlight into anybody's face! But on my most recent Walks I concluded that at 350 grams, the Kindle is not worth the weight; if I do have time to read, I can read on my phone, read my guidebook, or pick up some local reading material along the way and practice my language skills.

My last item is a smaller waterproof bag containing miscellaneous essentials such as a small bottle of liquid detergent for washing clothes, a camping laundry line and half a dozen plastic clothespegs for improvising a laundry line if there isn't one at my accommodations, and an emergency sewing kit, the kind they sometimes give you in hotels. This is where I also keep my roll of Leukoplast surgical tape. I apply a strip of it diagonally across the balls of my feet to prevent blistering, it works really well and it only needs replacing every four or five days as it's waterproof (unlike other brands). 

In the top pocket of my backpack, which I can reach while walking, I keep my sunhat, a small tube of sunscreen, the backpack raincover, a titanium Spork and a plastic food box, which I find very handy for preventing baked goods or fruit from getting squashed, for packaging up leftovers on the occasions when I have cooking facilities or eat at a restaurant, and for collecting fruit such as blackberries along the way! In my side pockets I keep two 750 ml bottles of water, a camping cup with a ziplock bag of teabags and packets of instant coffee, and a plastic Skippy peanut butter container filled with nuts and dried fruit (trail mix) as a pick-me-ups to eat along the trail. Another item that can come in handy is a square of bubble wrap big enough to sit on, in case you want to sit down and take a break and the ground is wet!

My backpack also has a small waist pocket for safety and self-defence items that I like to keep at hand: pepper spray and a whistle or personal alarm (which I am happy to say I have never used), a pocket knife (used only for stabbing apples and cheese), and a fluorescent wristband to wear when sharing the road with cars. In a separate waist pack I keep my phone (with a waterproof case if there is any chance of rain), a power bank for recharging it which also doubles as a flashlight, my wallet, guidebook or printout of travel notes, and my pilgrim's credential - an essential item which deserves a whole separate post of its own!

* * *

In short, here's my packing list: 

·         35 to 45 litre backpack with waterproof cover

·     the clothes you’ll be wearing every day: trekking T-shirt, underwear, socks, zip-off pants, hiking boots

·         a couple of lightweight, waterproof dry sacks to keep stuff organised:

o   One dry sack containing sheet sack, pillowcase, foil emergency blanket, and whatever clothes you wear to sleep in. (I sleep in a sundress, which I can also wear to go out for dinner in.) Add a lightweight inflatable mattress if walking a route where you think it could come in handy!  

o   One dry sack containing one or two pairs of merino wool socks, two pairs of underwear, one change of T-shirt, one pair of leggings or other trousers to wear in the evening, one lightweight merino wool sweater.

·      rainy weather kit: rain jacket, rain hat, waterproof case for phone, rain poncho and plastic rain pants (optional, depending on route & weather forecast)

·         lightweight puff jacket

·        toiletries bag: a tiny bit of shampoo, travel-sized toothpaste, child-sized toothbrush, small bar of soap in a tin, medications, emergency band-aids, earplugs

·         2 miniature microfibre travel towels

·    plastic bag containing a second pair of shoes for wearing in the evening: sandals or ultra-light running shoes

·         plastic bag containing flip-flops for communal showers

·      smaller waterproof bag containing miscellaneous useful items: a small bottle of liquid detergent for washing clothes, a camping laundry line or piece of string, a few clothes pegs, a few twist ties and elastic bands, an emergency sewing kit, tick remover tweezers, a roll of Leukoplast surgical tape for preventing blisters, a miniature roll of duct tape for fixing things, large safety pins for hanging wet socks on backpack ;)

·      In a top or side pocket that you can reach while walking: sunhat, sunglasses, small sunscreen, waterproof backpack raincover, Spork, small plastic box for carrying food, plastic container (such as skippy peanut butter container) or Ziploc bag of trail mix, fluorescent wristband to wear when walking on roads, Ziploc bag of teabags and instant coffee pouches, 2 water bottles, plastic cup (optional)

·    in waist pack: pocket knife, phone, phone charger & cable, power bank & cable, guidebook/map/printout of information on the trail, pilgrim credential, wallet