Packing The Essentials

Well, I'm half-prepared, for a change. Normally, due to personal circumstances, I more or less just get up and go (which, I can tell you, has caused me more than a few problems in the past - too heavy a backpack, and painful, pinching walking boots, being just two). But this time I'm carefully packing only the lightest and most essential items. And I've splashed out on a brand new pair of Goretex-lined Merrell Mids - half-way between a walking shoe and a walking boot - which are lighter and much more comfortable than any hiking boots I've ever worn before. In fact they fit like a pair of old slippers. You can slosh through the snow in them and still keep your feet dry. And there's plenty of snow round here right now in which to practise...

(The pic shows Alison Raju's two guide books to the Vía de la Plata; a virgin Credencial del Peregrino, just waiting to be stamped; the blue plastic crucifix and rosary beads given to me by the Bishop of Le Puy at the start of my 1st pilgrimage in October 2007; and the simple coquille pendant I bought from a nun in the sacristy of Le Puy Cathedral, again in October 2007.)