One Question Everybody Asks

I am going to walk the Caminho to Santiago.
I am going to walk from Porto, Portugal.
I will have a camera with me.

That seems to be the minimum amount of information needed before I hear some version of the question "Are you going to blog?"

I've been asked this by friends and strangers, people who have actually read some of what I write and people who have never read a word I've written.  Basically, people who should know better and people with no idea.  In deference to the former, this is for you.

The Pack

Not bored yet?  Well, keep going.  I'm going to start talking about gear.  Why?  Because those are the questions that frequently come on the heels of the one about blogging.

My pack is the REI Lookout 40 liter (for those of you reading outside of the US that translates as a 40 litre pack).  I got it because it was on sale, bigger than my day to day pack, and had a hip belt I could fasten.  Really, that is about all the research I did.

It took me forever to decide on a rain jacket.  The Gore-Tex jacket I have and use daily takes up too much room in the pack.  Other than that I have no real complaints about its performance.  When I decided I needed something else for the Caminho I read reviews, compared weights, talked to salesmen and spent a lot of time trying on every jacket I could find.  I finally found one that was on just about every top performance list, tons (or tonnes, if you prefer) of positive reviews, and had almost all the features I wanted, including packing up nice and small.  As a bonus it was a model from the prior year so it was half price.  It wasn't my first choice of colors, or even colours, but that was way down low on the list of criteria.  I've worn it on three walks home from work and the thing, despite manufacturer and reviewer claims to the contrary, doesn't breathe.

The three trips were in steady rain, light rain, and breezy conditions.  The pit zippers were closed and wide open, same with the cuffs.  The front was fully or partly zipped, open, and fully or partly closed just with velcro.  The setup didn't matter, the sweat didn't get out.  Although, in the interests of full disclosure, it was better on the dry but blustery day when I could turn one side to the wind and raise my arm so the breeze blew in the pit zipper and down the sleeve.

Oh, well.  It does keep the rain out and it was on sale.