[Gocamino] Try, try again.

[patrush1 at verizon.net]

Well, Bob is right in having a working cell phone in France, since the gites 
fill up fast and will take reservations, which one makes by calling ahead.  One 
cannot make reservations for the Spanish refugios, of course.  


Patricia, upstate NY




________________________________
From: Eileen <cnocan at verizon.net>
To: rspenger <rspenger at earthlink.net>; Santiagobis at yahoogroups.com; 
Ultreya at yahoogroups.com; saintjames at yahoogroups.com; gocamino at oakapple.net
Sent: Thu, August 19, 2010 2:42:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Try, try again.

Bob,  You are wasting way too much energy focusing on your backpack and 
telephone.  Trust that everything will work out OK.  You should try and do 
the Camino without a cell phone, think of this as a time to journey inward, 
you could call your family once you get there and send a card from one of 
the towns/villages you pass through.  I did the Camino from Roncevalles in 
2004 and by the time I got to Pamplona I had already left half my stuff 
behind and managed  very well.  Have a blessed journey    Eileen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rspenger" <rspenger at earthlink.net>
To: <Santiagobis at yahoogroups.com>; <Ultreya at yahoogroups.com>; 
<saintjames at yahoogroups.com>; <gocamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:12 AM
Subject: [Gocamino] Try, try again.


> With less than two weeks left, it is getting down to crunch time – ticking 
> the days off one by one. The usual pre-event jitters are working on me. I 
> have been in the preparation mode for 2-3 weeks already, but there are 
> still a few odds and ends to finish up.
>
> I have the reservations for the flights, for the airport express trips, 
> parking at the airport express terminal, and the first six nights’ 
> accommodations.
>
> I have the loan of an unlocked cell phone and the address of an Orange 
> network store in Toulouse where I should be able to get a pay-as-you-go 
> SIM for France.
>
> I have gone through my pack inventory and assembled all the bulky items to 
> make sure that they would fit in my new pack arrangement. I am still using 
> the daypack/fanny pack combo, but I bought a new, shorter daypack so that 
> it would not press down so much on the supporting fanny pack. The new pack 
> has less capacity than the old one, so I was concerned that my gear might 
> not all fit. It is tight, but it does fit. I am quite tempted to leave out 
> the pair of crocs. They are not all that heavy, but my size 13s are very 
> bulky and are awkwardly strapped on the outside. They are handy, however, 
> especially since many of the gîtes require the removal of your hiking 
> shoes. Once the packs were loaded up, I took a short hike with them to 
> check it all out. It went well enough, but was a few minutes short of 2 
> hours, so I can’t really tell how it is going to be for 5-7 hours a day, 
> every day. I tried out the pack rain cover over both packs as I had done 
> before. My thought was that it would be easier, since the new pack is 
> shorter. It didn’t work out that way. It was a tight fit and very awkward. 
> My first thought was to go to the local backpacking gear outlet, but then 
> it occurred to me that I didn’t really need to cover both packs. I could 
> use it on the daypack and just make sure that there was nothing in the 
> fanny pack that would be hurt by getting wet. Actually, the fanny pack 
> would still have some protection, since it would be under the daypack and 
> is a little smaller. I will also have a roomy backed raincoat that goes 
> over both of them, but I have problems with the effectiveness of raincoats 
> in heavy storms.
>
> I have a full set of maps printed in color on a thin, glossy paper that is 
> reasonably water-resistant (I tested it). At 1/130,000 they are much 
> smaller scale than I would like, by about a factor of 5, but the scale 
> that I would like would be too heavy, bulky, and expensive. I have city 
> and town maps of the first three stops, with appropriate places marked, 
> like the hotels and gîtes, the bus and train stations, the tourist 
> offices, and few stops that I want to make, like the Orange network store 
> in Toulouse. Some might regard this as over-planning, but I won’t feel up 
> to hunting around for things when I get there – especially with the packs 
> on.
>
> Left to complete are last minute items like calling the airline 3-4 days 
> before departure to check on the reservation and any changes. I also have 
> to make a transfer at the hub in Europe for the second leg to Toulouse. I 
> don’t have the number of the terminal for that flight, so I have to look 
> it up. The layover time is sort of short, so I don’t want waste it trying 
> to find out where I am supposed to be in a large international hub. 
> Another last week item is the charging of batteries for my camera. Another 
> is calling the credit and debit card companies to give warning that the 
> cards will be used abroad.
>
> I am not what I would call a “seasoned traveler”- I don’t automatically do 
> all these things without having to think about them. I find myself making 
> up one checklist after another.
>
> And, of course, there are a lot of things to get taken care of at home 
> before I leave. Some are done, but there are still a number of chores to 
> complete, especially yard work.
>
> Well, one of those items was sending off this message. So it is time to 
> wind it up and do just that.
>
> Regards to all,
>
> Bob S.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Gocamino mailing list
> Gocamino at oakapple.net
> http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/gocamino
> 

_______________________________________________
Gocamino mailing list
Gocamino at oakapple.net
http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/gocamino