Preparing for this Camino included walking, walking in new Camino boots and socks and walking with a loaded backpack. While I didn't get in as many longer walks as I had hoped, I did walk almost 50 miles in the week prior to the trip. That convinced me that I could do it.
Preparing also meant assembling equipment. Allie helped a lot by recommending things and helping me make decisions. I bought most of my things at REI. My shoes, socks and some minor items were from Peak Sports here in Corvallis. I wanted to be able to buy shoes and socks locally in case of problems. It turned out that those were both awesome choices. I highly recommend Moab Ventilators (low top) for doing a Camino.
When everything was packed, the total weight I would carry (not counting water) was less than 7kg (15lb). Allie's pack weighed about the same. That turned out to be excellent preparation, as our packs were never an issue at all.
Preparing also meant making some travel arrangements. Our plan was to meet in the Bay Area and fly together to Porto. Allie drove from San Luis Obispo. I flew PDX-SJC on Southwest. Allie picked me up. I reserved a room at the Westin SFO for the night before we left and for the night we returned. Prepaid parking in the Westin/Aloft SFO lot using www.airportparkingconnection.com was easier and less expensive than working with either hotel. On our return, having a hotel was important, as we didn't get to SFO until about 9pm. Allie dropped me at the airport for an SJC-PDX flight the next morning then drove back to SLO. I made two other reservations prior to our trip. One was at the Hotel Teatro in Porto. I booked two nights there so that we would have a place to stay when we got to Portugal. The other was at Quinta Das Alfaias for the end of Day 1. I wanted to have a target for our first day on the Camino.
Preparing also meant creating a tentative itinerary. The Brierley book was a good starting point for understanding possibilities. Blogs and websites provided far more ideas about various possibilities. When we started walking, we had a good plan in mind. My spreadsheet also had four backup plans. We ended up mostly following the original itinerary, but we did make a few adjustments. I'll try to make note of those things later on.
It is fair to say that, for me, "the Camino did provide" at times. But I was glad to have a good international data plan (one month of 800MB for $120 from AT&T) and good WiFi at our stopping points. Walkmeter allowed me to chart our progress and path. Google Maps helped us find our way at times when we needed to locate our hotel. And I was able to upload each day's pictures to my Google Drive to share with our family using an iPad Mini 3.
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