Did anybody else get a shock from the amount you spent BEFORE you even begin?!

[joe]

I was just wondering if anybody has spent a fairly large amount of money on equipment, flights, accomodation, train tickets etc. for the Camino?

So far I've spent £350 on walking boots, a few bits of clothing and the cheapest available flights I could find.

I need to spend £30 on a lightweight sleeping bag (it only weighs 600 grams... if anyone knows of any cheaper ones with less or same weight please let me know).
I need to buy a decent lightweight rucksack (£50-70 approx)
2 Quick dry shirts and 2 t-shirts will cost me £80
Train tickets/bus tickets for £50-60
I need to buy all the other equipment too such as sandals, guide books, painkillers, ear plugs, a quick drying towel, and a few other bits and pieces (i'll estimate all these things at about £50-60)
I've priced the Hostel in Paris where I'll be staying and that will come to £50-£75 for 2-3 nights (which is cheap-ish).

So all together I would have spent around £650-700 (inc./exc. Hostel as that is a personal choice)

But that to me is quite a large sum of money, considering I'll be spending 25-30 euros per day on the Camino itself... and then you have to spend more money in the bigger cities like Burgos or Leon, and many people (including myself) would like to buy souvenirs/gifts from these cities.

While everyone else is trying to cut the weight of their backpacks down, I'm more concerned about keeping my costs down! Money to me is a bigger burden than any weight I could carry on my back (not literally!) haha.

[Covey]

There is a golden rule on the Camino. Shopping is strictly limited to window shopping as you have to carry your purchases and we all become manic about saving weight. I have not yet got to the stage of shortening my toothbrush handle or removing all unused buttons from clothing, but some do!!

The Camino was often regarded as a very cheap walking holiday by some, and if you already have walking kit then the additional kit cost of walking the Camino is not too bad, but if you have to start from scratch, then it can prove very expensive. My Craghopper Gortex rain jacket was expensive £200+, but I have never actually used it on the Camino. I carry it, but so far have never taken it out of the pack. If it rains, then I walk in the rain, and when the rain stops I dry out, but then I walk my Camino's in July-Sept so even the rain is warm.

If you are walking in the summer then you only need decent walking shoes and my Merell Moabs cost around £70 and are brilliant. The 1000 mile socks at £15/pair are expensive but well worth it!.

I estimate a "new" walker needs €800 for kit and €2000 to walk the Camino Frances if coming from Europe or €3000 if coming from the Far East or the Americas.

[HuskyNerd]

Covey, thanks for noting the higher cost for folks coming from the Americas. For us, the airline ticket alone is close to the total cost for you, Joe, and other blokes (is that what you call them? Or "mates"?) from the UK.

I'm outfitting myself from scratch this year since I'm walking with my son, who's getting all my former gear. The cost is a pretty big bite of a paycheck, but most all of the gear is reusable at least. The Camino requires a significant investment of time and money. But I think that compared to other ways to tour Spain for a month it's still a bargain. Most of all it's an experience worth saving for.

[joe]

We call them blokes or mates, up here in Liverpool we say "Lad" which is horrible in my opinion, but fellas and guys are also terms that are ok. I'm just not sure about "dudes" I think that is mainly American.

I'm glad I live in the Europe and not a different continent. But in America I guess the flights between states would be pretty cheap?? If so, that's a plus for you guys.

As for window shopping... I can't resist picking up souvenirs!! I will try to make them as light as possible but I while i'm away on my Camino I will be missing my little brothers birthday, my mums birthday and the day I return home is my dads 50th... and the day after that is my parents 25th anniversary! I promised them all gifts, but I guess airport gifts wouldn't hurt

However, I am packing extremely light, so far I'm at 6-7kg and I only have a few bits of clothing and other bits to get together (i'm packing now so I can "train" with it on my back and wear my boots in). If worst comes to worst i will cut the sleeves off my tops and remove unnecessary straps on my backpack along with other tips I've seen on the forums (Half tube of toothpaste, half toothbrush etc)

[Sparkly]

I have some things already, borrowed others from friends, rummaged through supermarkets and discount stores (99p microfiber sports towel, 99p spork) and sale racks, and hit online eg Regatta Outlet for things where fit is less important. There's always a quality/weight/price/suitability tradeoff to be had, but I just can't afford to fully kit myself out with upmarket gear, and one visit to a 'proper' outdoors shop made my eyes water at some of the prices! Weighing things has been fun. I was given a sleeping bag and it was almost 3kg(!) but good enough for a polar expedition. I have a liner, so I bought a 510g Ikea fleece throw for £3, although I may look at cheap light sleeping bags eg Khyam Ultralight 600 as the throw doesn't squash down well.

[katkin]

found this the other day and awaiting arrival. Lifeventure Sleeplight 750 Sleeping Bag - White+Bishop
£60 in cotswold! packs down really small in it's own dry bag which has a vent to squish out all the air! i figure this sleeping bag with a micro fleece liner is half the weight of my original sleeping bag and takes up a heck of alot less space. I'm always looking for a bargain!

[Covey]

Sparkly...... The Spork is a very useful bit of kit. I took one with me last year and very glad I did.

Regatta kit is fine and I use their trousers with all the pockets and zip off legs. It is just not worth paying £60 for Craghopper trousers when you can buy Regatta ones for £20! I usually wear one pair and take a spare pair in the pack.

One thing you do need is a couple of hi-wick tee shirts for when you are walking. Normal cotton tee shirts are not good for walking in any heat as they hold the sweat and just get wet and uncomfortable. The hi-wick kit allows the moisture to pass through from the skin and evaporate so you stay fairly dry. The hi-wick materials are a mixture of man made fibers and are more expensive than a cotton tee shirt but are well worth the money, and dry a lot faster when you are washing them out at the end of the day.

[Covey]

Sparkly............. I forgot to add that my youngest son put one of those Ikea fleece thinggys in the wash a few weeks ago and it disintegrated and he spent a morning unclogging his washing machine pipes and filters from all gunk it turned in to!

[Sparkly]

I'll reconsider the Ikea fleece then!

[joe]

One thing I have to say is... eBay! Whatever you find on a website that looks lightweight but a little expensive, then check ebay for that item and usually they'll have it, or a very similar product to it... I got a 600g sleeping bag for £30. It arrived yesterday and it is perfect, its warm enough for those chilly nights (providing I use a sleeping bag liner) and it is cool enough to just use as blanket (when unzipped) for the warmer nights. It can be compressed really small and fits into a tiny bag which came with it, it wont take up much room or weight in my backpack! Also bought a Regatta rain coat/jacket for £27 and that too is really lightweight and can be compressed tightly. It's essential to have a rain jacket but you can't guarantee you'll use it, so it was perfect for the price, weight and size.

There are Crocs on ebay for £20 (a better style for £30 if you want them), I bought a pair the other day because they are lightweight and they are multi-purpose... I can use them for the evenings, in showers, and they have quite a thick sole so I could walk in them for a while if I'm walking on flat ground or a road.

Also, if like me you prefer wearing a shirt instead of a t-shirt, you can buy hi-wick shirts (short sleeve or long sleeve which can be rolled up). I saw them on a website for £25 each, but i'm sure ebay will have them for cheaper... a couple of these shirts and maybe 1 hi-wick t-shirt would be enough to last you the whole trip... the shirts are pretty stylish too so you can wear them in the evenings and look reasonably good. The t-shirt could be worn on really hot days, or underneath the shirt on colder days, so that's why I've decided to go with these kind of shirts.

[Covey]

Depending on which months you are going to be on the trail, you need at least one long sleeve "shirt" to wear if only to protect your arms from the midday sun. I am not a great lover of being oiled or moussed up with sun bloc so long sleeves are good especially up on the Meseta between Burgos and Leon.

Anyway Joe, your plans are coming along fine!!