Tent or No Tent?

[Kerrie Littlejohn]

I packed a one person tent because someone on the camino suggested it and
mentioned that in june the albergues were full and this person had seen
people with tents and thought it was a good idea to take one and recommended
it. On that notion I went and bought an MSR microzoid, which is a great
little one person under three pounds tent that I can use for many occasions
camino and back home. I did use my tent on the camino, but never because
there wasn't a place to stay. I enjoyed having the tent as an option and
enjoyed using it. But what I also discovered was that I should have had a
warmer sleeping bag because it got pretty chilly at night even in July. I
never had a problem with an albergue being too full, and I finished on
average at 3 pm or later. This was even in Galicia, up until my last night
staying in the albergues. I always slept outside in my tent or in an
albergue, but there were almost always some pensions in town that you could
stay in as well if you had the money to do so. I would recommend to people
that if you would like to have a tent to sleep outside and plan on doing it
often then take a tent. But if you want to sleep outside only once or twice
then don't take a tent. There will most likely be very few occasions if any
when an albergue will turn a pilgrim away, even if there are no beds left. I
just finished a week ago and was walking during one of the most crowded
months of the year. So chances are if there were almost always beds
available then there will almost always be beds available the rest of the
year too. One other thing I would also recommend is not staying in the big
places. For example, in Galicia, many people were staying in the larger
towns like Portomarin and Palas do Rey. We heard from other pilgrims who
stayed in these places that 150 beds were full by 2:30 pm. Instead of
staying in these places we stayed in the much smaller towns between the big
ones and we would arrive at 4 or 5 and find beds in an albergue with only 30
beds. I'm not sure how I was able to always find a bed, but it is not
difficult. Good luck making decisions, and if you are still not sure, then
take your tent and if you don't want it send it through the mail to a town
like Leon or Astorga just before Galicia which is the more crowded area, or
just send it all the way to Santiago. Remember that is an option. And when I
had friends send stuff they paid about 6 euros for 3 kilos, and that
included purchasing the box to put the stuff in. Good luck, Buen Camino,
Kerrie


>From: Kinsey Carpenter <KCarpenteraCMINS.COM>
>Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
>To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
>Subject: Tent or No Tent?
>Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 12:33:07 -0700
>
>Having monitored the chat for the past two months, there seems to be
>conflicting reports as to whether or not to pack a light one person
>tent. I hit the trail on Sept. 1 and still haven't made my tent
>decision. Advice at this point is welcome. Thanks.
>
>
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