SLACKPACKING THE CAMINO FRANCES

 

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 'SLACKPACKING THE CAMINO FRANCES' published by LightFoot Guides and available from Pilgrimage Publications and most online book stores  

 

  ‘Slackpacking’ is a relatively new term used to describe any kind of multi-day trekking or hiking with support. Whether trekking with pack-horses in the Andes, donkeys in Peru, or employing Sherpa when hiking in the Himalaya, slackpacking has been the preferred mode of trekking for millennia.

It is thought that the term was first used to describe hikers doing the Appalachian Trail in the US with backup support and resupply. In contrast to the extreme hikers who trek long distances carrying heavy loads on their backs and sleeping outdoors, the slackpacker carries a daypack with basic necessities and transfers the rest of his or her baggage ahead. On many such treks rooms in hostels or hotels are pre-booked.

If you have been on a walking or trekking holiday with any company that offers multi-day walks with baggage transfer and accommodation booked, whether it is guided or guided, you have enjoyed a slackpacking experience.

Slackpacking the Camino with beds booked and baggage transferred doesn’t mean that you won’t get blisters, tendonitis, aching muscles and a funny tan! You will still hike up the same mountain paths, wobble down the same rocky descents, and struggle through the same boot-clinging mud and sludge with all the other pilgrims.

The main difference is that your daypack will only weigh about 3kg instead of the average 8kg and, knowing that you have a bed and a hot shower waiting for you at the end of the day means plenty of time for breakfast, to smell the wildflowers along the trail, enjoy a long leisurely lunch and wait for an interesting church or museum to open. It means that you don't have to join the race for beds or queue for a bunk-bed in a pilgrim dormitory.

 

 From the time the tomb of the apostle James the Greater was discovered in the 9^th century, there has been a melting pot of people on the road to Santiago with as many different types of pilgrims in the Middle Ages as there are today.  Besides the hoards of poor, unemployed and penitential pilgrims foot-slogging thousands of miles to the tomb of the apostle, we read about lords and ladies with their entourages, kings and queens with their servants and slaves (who might have carried the lords and ladies in litters for much of the way!); ecclesiastic pilgrims – priests, bishops and even a couple of popes - accompanied by their servants and clerics, and knights travelling with their ladies with their large retinues. These pilgrims would have been hosted in the best monastic quarters, the finest inns, or in castles and palaces with the local royalty. 

 

Many pilgrims went on horseback; others had donkeys or mules to bear their loads. Most of the classic pilgrim stories that have come down to us were written by pilgrims on horseback. There are historical accounts of large caravans of pilgrims on the roads to Santiago – some with camels!

The majority of pilgrims did not walk alone but walked in groups for safety sake. In many countries, large towns and cities had guilds that organised guided group walks to Santiago. It was much safer to travel this way and, like the tour groups of today, pilgrims walked with like-minded people and supported each other on the long journey.

 

St Bona of Pisa, patron saint of travelers and specifically pilgrims, guides, couriers and flight attendants, led ten such groups of pilgrims from Italy to Santiago in the 12^th century and was made an official pilgrim guide by the Knights of Santiago. 

From the end of the 15^th century, anyone who could afford to was able to travel with the postal service – a service with horses and carts that were changed at regular staging posts. 

From the mid-17th century the ‘Grand Tour’ became popular and it was possible to travel in comfort with a ‘Cicerone’ (a knowledgeable tour guide) and travel agents known as ‘carters’ provided transport, accommodation and food on the road to Santiago. 

Slackpacking is becoming more and more popular as people who are not normally extreme hikers take to trekking the trails around the world. Some say that tour companies have 'commercialised' the Camino. That might be so, but it has also provided growth in many rurual industries such as bakeries, butcheries, markets etc that provide food for the 500 000 plus pilgrims that walk parts of the trails every year.

 

Pilgrimage has always had a commercial aspect from taxes collected to maintain roads and bridges, vendors providing goods and souvenirs, locals offering rooms, and tour guides offering safe passage to groups. The large pilgrim churches along the pilgrimage routes in France and Spain survived mainly on donations and bequests made by pilgrims.

Doing “The Way” your way

Everyone is entitled to do the Camino their way.  Some pilgrims like to walk alone, carrying everything they posses on their backs and staying only in pilgrim shelters. Others enjoy walking for long distances, starting in different countries and taking many months to walk to Santiago – often camping along the way.

Until the reanimation of the old pilgrimage trails in the late 1970s nearly every pilgrim to Santiago arrived there by bus or train. Many went with organised groups or tours, as they still do to other Christian shrines such as Jerusalem, Rome and Fatima or Lourdes. Very few people walk to these shrines.

Over 10 million pilgrims visited Santiago in 2010 (a Holy Year) and of those, only 2% (272 700) walked or cycled the route, the bulk covering the last 100 km. The great majority arrived there by plane, car, bus and train.

Perhaps you prefer not to walk alone for weeks carrying everything on your back, or rough it by staying in crowded pilgrim hostels.  You can choose to walk alone and take pot-luck on finding a room when you arrive in a village or town.  (Look out for signs  that advertise “Habitaciones/ Rooms/ Zimmer/ Chambre.)

Just remember, if you don’t have a place booked you will have to carry your backpack.

You can book your accommodation ahead of time and have your backpack transferred each day.  Or you might prefer to walk with like-minded people in an organized group. You can book guided and unguided tours on the Camino. 

If you are pressed for time you can choose to walk a section of the trail, then get a bus or taxi further down the route. Many people don’t have five or six weeks to spare, meaning that they have to take a taxi or a bus to a few places.

Many historical books, movies and websites on the Camino show statues, sculptures, stained glass windows and other works of art depicting pilgrims from the early 12^th century to around the 18^th century.   The majority of foot pilgrims wore a long, dark robe, carried a simple a shoulder bag called a ‘scrip’, a gourd for water and a staff.

Pilgrims who could afford it went on horseback and they were able to take extra changes in clothing and a few other comforts. 

The one thing you won’t see in books or film are  medieval pilgrims carrying a backpack!  A pilgrim from the middle ages would be astonished to see today's pilgrims slogging across the Camino with huge packs containing their material baggage on their backs. 

 

 

But, those were different times and modern pilgrims are expected to bathe and change and wash their clothes so most pilgrims carry extra clothing, washing soaps and toiletries and need a back-pack to carry their gear. 

Most walking Camino pilgrims only need a small capacity pack to carry their clothing, medication and toiletries.  If you intend sending your backpack ahead you could manage with a day-pack whilst walking but ensure that it is comfortable and secure.
 

In your pack you will carry a rain jacket or poncho, a jacket or fleece, a sitting plastic in case you decide to picnic on the side of the path or sit on a mossy wall, your first aid kit, snacks and drinks.  I also recommend carrying your sandals so that you can change into them when you arrive at your hotel.

It is better to use a regular backpack, with padded shoulder straps, sternum strap and waist belt rather than a flimsy day pack with thin straps and no support that will swing around on your back as you go up and down hills.
 

If you do not want to carry a heavy backpack every day – or are unable to walk long distances over difficult terrain – you can still do the Camino by having your pack (and yourself) transported by taxi or transport services on most of the Camino routes. Remember, you only need to walk the last 100 km to Santiago to earn the Compostela certificate, and the pilgrims’ office doesn’t care how your backpack arrives there!   
 

In order to transfer luggage, you must have pre-booked accommodation along the way. This means that you will not be allowed to stay in the traditional ‘donation’ pilgrim albergues that do not allow pre-booking or vehicle back-up. However, many private albergues do allow pilgrims to book rooms and have their backpacks transported along the route. Have a look at the private albergues lists here:
 

www.redalberguessantiago.com/documents/211.html

 

 

Hotels usually have contact details of local taxis and luggage transfer service. Charges are from €7 per bag per stage. The bag should not weigh more than 12kg and a stage is up to 25km.  The cost is half of that in Galicia (€3) where the number of pilgrims is much higher.  If you are walking with buddy or in a group, you can share a large shopping bag to send your excess stuff ahead.  This helps to keep down the cost.

More on "SLACKPACKING THE CAMINO"

When and Where to start walking         

Towns that are easily reached where you can start your Camino        
Credencial del Peregrino – Pilgrims’ Passport                                                
Best Time to walk a Camino                                  
Weather Tables                                           
   May and June                                          
   September and October                           
Where to start and how to get there           
     Starting at Jean                                     
     Route Napoleon or through Val Carlos    
     Starting at Roncesvalles                         
     Starting at Pamplona                             
     Starting at Burgos                                 
     Starting at Leon                                     
     Starting at Astorga                                
     Staring at Ponferrada                             
     Starting at O Cebreiro                            
     Starting at Sarria                                   
Getting back home                                      

Different types of Accommodation                  
Reserving rooms online                                           
Booking hotel rooms                                   
Booking rooms in hostels                   
 

Luggage Transfers and Camino Tour Companies

Companies that transfer luggage                
Posting luggage ahead                               
Camino Tour Companies                    

Walking stages and itineraries                        
Itinerary 1:   10km to 15km daily stages             
Itinerary 2:   15km to 20km daily stages             
Itinerary  3:   20km to 25km daily stages             
Itinerary 4:   The last 100km for not-so-able pilgrims.
17-day, 5km to 8km daily stages      

Detours on the Camino Frances

Appendices on Camino Lingo, Transport details and contacts for trains, buses, taxis in each region.

 

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA AND INTERNET ON THE GROWTH OF THE CAMINO

Before the introduction of the World Wide Web in the 1990’s, very few foreign (non-Spanish) pilgrims walked the old pilgrimage trails to Santiago. 

A few English speaking 19^th and 20^th century academics, interested in medieval art and pilgrimage history, sought out the old roads to document the art, architecture, history, legends and folklore along the Way.  Some wrote about their passion.

 In 1917 American Art Historian Georgiana Goddard King completed her three part study, “The Way of St. James” based on three years wanderings on foot, by cart, mule, and other conveyance on the pilgrimage roads to Santiago.

In 1923 Harvard Professor Arthur Kingsley Porter compiled 10 volumes of the “Romanesque Sculpture of the Pilgrimage Roads”.

In 1957, the Irish Professor of Hispanic studies, Walter Starkie, wrote “The Road to Santiago-Pilgrims of Saint James” which was based on his four journeys on el Camino between 1934 and 1955.

1n 1982 Don Elias Valina Sampedro, the Cebreiro parish priest who reanimated the Camino pilgrimage roads in Spain, published his guide for walking the Camino trails to Santiago.  1,868 pilgrims received the Compostela that year, but this was accredited mainly to the visit of Pope John Paul II.

In 1985, the pilgrim’s office received 690 pilgrims.   As usual, the majority of these were Spanish pilgrims.

In 1987 the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho published his book The Pilgrimage which inspired hundreds of pilgrims from South America to cross the sea to Spain in search of their own [metaphorical] sword.  Once the book was published in different languages, devotees from other parts of the world followed suit.  2905 pilgrims received a Compostela that year

Most modern St James Confraternities were formed in the 1980’s and this helped to boost the numbers of foreign pilgrims to some extent but they were still in the minority. 

It is interesting that there were so few pilgrims from the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Africa that numbers were not recorded until the Holy Year of 1999 when 4160 pilgrims were recorded as being from the ‘Americas’. 

Considering that the numbers of pilgrims rose by almost 1000% in Holy Years, one can presume that in ordinary years, the number of pilgrims from the Americas didn’t exceed double digits. (There is no record of the exact numbers from each country as the pilgrim office clumped all people from South and North America and Canada into one group).  

Although the Compostela certificate was introduced in the 1950’s, early records were lost and the only available records of walking pilgrims arriving in the city date to the 1970’s.  The late Don Jaime of Santiago’s cathedral found an old record book kept by his predecessor which showed that in 1967 37 pilgrims earned the Compostela and in 1971, which was a Holy Year, 491 pilgrims received the certificate.

There was a sharp rise in pilgrim numbers in 1989 when the Pope visited Santiago and 5760 Compostelas were issued.  Of these, 3367 were Spanish pilgrims, more than all of the other countries added together. 

World Wide Web

But, the winds of change were blowing across cyber-space and more than books, magazine or newspaper articles, more than confraternities spreading the word or visits by the Pope, the advent of the World Wide Web in 1991 started an exponential explosion of information about the Camino pilgrimage that would accelerate the pilgrimage into almost Haj like status! 

In 1994 Internet ‘blogging’ was introduced and a young American journalist, Justin Hall, was credited with being one of the earliest bloggers. From a few fledging Camino blogs, there are now millions written about every route possible, by people from all over the world. 

The Google search engine was born in 1998 which enabled people interested in the Santiago Pilgrimage to find websites, blogs or books with the click of a mouse!

 

When Facebook really caught on in 2004, Camino related pages soon became popular and the Camino de Santiago page has over 11 000 members.  https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/elcaminodesantiago/

Books:

 

Many pilgrim writers found publishers for their books and a slow trickle of new titles started appearing on the bookshelves.

1991:  Spanish Pilgrimage - A Canter to St James - Robin Hanbury-Tenison

1994:  Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain  - Jack Hitt

1994:  Road of Stars to Santiago: Stanton, Edward

1996:  El Camino: Walking to Santiago de Compostela by Lee Hoinacki

1997: Foot by Foot to Santiago de Compostela - Judy Foot

1998:  On Pilgrimage - Lash, Jennifer

In 2000 there was a flurry of new titles:

Actress and author Shirley Maclaine’s book ‘My Camino’ sent New Age pilgrims off to the Camino in search of their personal saints or proof of their previous lives.  

On the Road to Santiago: Tuggle, Bob

One Million Footsteps Across Spain, Walking El Camino De Santiago: Jr. L. Carroll Yingling

Roads to Santiago: Cees Nooteboom

Diary of a Pilgrim - Emma Poë.

Pilgrim's Road: A Journey to Santiago De Compostela by bike: Bettina Selby

Also in 2000, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago - by David M Gitlitz & Linda K Davidson was released. It is still considered to be the Camino Bible that discusses the history, tradition, folk lore, saint's lives, art, architecture, geology and fauna and flora of the Camino Frances from Somport and from Roncesvalles.

The couple walked to Santiago in 1974, 1979, 1987 and 1993 accompanying groups of student-pilgrims on academic, medieval study programs. In 1974 they did not meet even one other pilgrim on the road to Compostela. In 1979 the met an elderly Frenchman who was fulfilling a vow made in the Second World War.

In 2006 Hape Kerkeling, a German comedian, published a book a book about his experiences on the Camino 5 years earlier.  The following year the number of German speaking pilgrims rose by 25%.

(More books here:  http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/09/books-on-camino.html)

English Forums:

In February 1999 the Saint James Group was formed at Yahoo.com (based in the website www.caminhodesantiago.com)

The Camino Forum Santiagobis was started on Yahoo.com in October 2000.

In 2004 the Santiago-Today forum was started: //www.caminodesantiago.me/ 

One of the earliest websites I found on the Internet was The Friends of Santiago based in the US, managed by Linda Davidson.  http://www.reocities.com/friends_usa_santiago/

They also offered the first Forum that I joined – GoCamio - which is now hosted by the American Pilgrims on the Camino. 

Another early excellent website with wonderful photographs and sounds of the Camino was Caroline Mathieson’s site:  http://www.caminosantiagocompostela.com/

And Carl Sesto’s wonderful Blog with photographs at: http://www.csesto.com/walking-through-shadows/

 

Films

 2011:  The latest film is a ‘Hollywood’style movie called THE WAY featuring Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez.
Since the release of this film, the number of pilgrims from the US has gone up 80%. Numbers from other English language countries has also risen sharply.

 

 

You’ll find a comprehensive list of films, dvds and documentaries here.

http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/09/doumentaries-movies-and-videos-on.html

In 2012 over 200 000 pilgrims will have received the Compostela.  Close to another 750 000 will have walked parts of the many Camino trails in Europe. 

 

For a historical timeline of the Camino visit:

http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2011/03/rise-and-fall-of-pilgrimage-to-saint.html

CAMINO LINGO

In 2001 I took a 6 week Spanish course at our local University in preparation for my first Camino. 

We learned to count to 100, say the days of the week and months of the year, all the colours, name all the rooms in a house, the buildings in a town, to introduce ourselves to Senor Gonzalez and to make appointments, shop, cook and entertain in Spanish.  We learned to say, "My hamster is behind the sofa" and "the bird is on the window sill".

I typed out five pages of verbs and their conjugations - I, You (singular), He, she, You (formal), We, You (plural) and They.  We learned about common verbs, AR verbs that change, ER verbs, IR verbs, O-UE verbs, E-IE verbs, IR verbs E-I.  Accompanying these are pages and pages of present tense verbs, stem-changing verbs etc etc e

It makes my head spin just to look at all the pages on Grammatical structures, Interrogative sentences, rules on gender, diphthongs, cognates and so on. 

No wonder I didn't remember much Spanish when I finally got to Spain.  There I learned to ask for a coffee and the toilet and to say, "Beun Camino" to all passing pilgrims.

In 2006, in preparation for my walk on the Via Francigena in Italy, I did a 6 week Italian course at the University.  I wasn't very good at it and the strange thing was that although it wasn't a difficult course, all the long forgotten Spanish words kept popping out!  Instead of saying Grazie, I was saying Gracias! 

In between walks in Spain I've tried online lessons, bought Spanish Words and Phrases books as well as CDs which I listen to in the car.  Most of them are aimed at tourists and have lots of words and phrases that a Camino pilgrim will never need. 

Last year I started taking small groups of pilgrims on the Camino and decided that I should take Spanish classes again.  I contacted my friend and Spanish teacher Reinette Novoa and after a couple of weeks of useful verbs, adjectives and grammar rules I told her that all I really wanted was to learn words and phrases applicable to walking the Camino.  I didn't want to be able to ask where to launder my suit or where to take my car for a service!  She suggested I write out in English the words and phrases I needed and she would provide the Spanish and pronunciation.  It worked like a charm!  I learned more in two weeks than I'd learned in all those weeks of lessons and listening to CDs!.

I then had the idea that she and I use these lists and collaborate on writing an English-Spanish Words and Phrases book for pilgrims on the Camino.  We decided to call it CAMINO LINGO - which means that although it is not a perfect English-Spanish book, it is pefect for the Camino pilgrim!

 In the Introduction we started with the polite words one would need in Spain, like hello, thank you and please - hola, gracias, por favor etc.  Then a few not-so-polite words like 'bugger off', 'shut up' and 'F#@* off'!    The five chapters follow a pilgrim on the Camino from packing the backpack, flying to Spain, arriving and asking questions, using bus or train to get to the start, checking into a hotel or albergue, washing clothes, eating, shopping, walking the trail, sightseeing, making friends and arriving in Santiago.  There is a chapter on health and medical as well as cycling words, money, banks and  post office.  Five appendices offer basic pronunciation, a menu reader, and an extensive English-Spanish dictionary with over 650 words and phrases aimed at Camino pilgrims.

My friend Sandi Beukes, who did the drawings for YOUR CAMINO, offered to do the illustrations for CAMINO LINGO as well and her delightfully quirky drawings bring the chapters to life. 

In text boxes Reinette gives advice to the pilgrim.

 Reinette says:

If you don’t have sufficient words to ask for something - smile, make a questioning face and use hand signals. You can also show Spanish people the words and phrases in this book.

 

Blisters    las ampollas  ahm-poh-yas

(Point to your blisters!)

Pilgrimage Publications have agreed to publish the book in print and eBook form and I know that it is going to be a great help to English speaking pilgrims on the Camino.  CAMINO LINGO should be available before Christmas.

THE BACKPACK AND OTHER MYTHS

 

The Backpack Myth

I feel really sorry for our modern day walking pilgrims.  Unlike their medieval counterparts who left their material baggage at home and carried only the barest of necessities, today’s pilgrims feel compelled to carry a change of clothing as well as laundry wash, pegs and a wash line; extra shoes and socks, or sandals, waterproof rain gear, fleece jackets and sleeping bags.  They carry toiletries, medicines and a first aid kit.  Many have a computer, tablet or smart phone with internet access and GPS. Most pilgrims have a camera and need chargers for their equipment. To carry all of this stuff they need to have a backpack.

Not only do they have to endure the weight of heavy backpacks they often have a smaller bag around their waist to carry other modern conveniences like credit cards, money cards and cash, as well as important documents like their passport, return air ticket, guide books and itineraries.  As a result, they often suffer tendonitis, stress fractures, blisters and back ache and, in some cases, have to cut short their pilgrimage. 

 

The worst thing about all of this is that pilgrims have been led to believe that this is a normal part of the pilgrimage tradition and that without their full backpacks they will be judged as less than worthy, un-authentic pilgrims, or will have a less meaningful Camino.  (Cyclists and those on horseback are exempt from this guilt trip as they don't have to carry backpacks.)  Medieval pilgrims would have been amazed to see today's pilgrims slogging across the Camino with huge packs on their backs!
 

 

Don't despair if you can't or don't want to carry a pack every day.  Saint James won’t judge you; the Pope won’t judge you, and when you arrive at the pearly gates St Paul won’t judge you.  The Pilgrim Office in Santiago won't judge you either because they don’t care how your backpack reaches Santiago. You can send your pack ahead in a stretch limo and you will still earn the Compostela, as long as you have walked or ridden the required mileage to Santiago.  It is only the pilgrim fundamentalists who will judge you!  It is they who have this unwritten rule about carrying a backpack.

In fact, there are only three rules for walking the Camino as a ‘pilgrim’.

1.    If you want to stay in the pilgrims shelters – private or traditional – you will need to have a pilgrim passport or ‘Credencial’.

 

2.   Credenciales are for pilgrims who walk, cycle or horseback ride the Camino to Santiago.

3.   If you want the Compostela, you have to walk the last 100km, cycle or ride the last 200km to Santiago with a religious/spiritual motive.  If you profess to walking for any other reason, you can request a different certificate;

 

 

 

That's it - no other rules.  Nothing about having to walk a certain distance each day, or having to walk 800km, 1200km, 5000km; nothing about having to sleep in the most basic pilgrim hostels or eating frugal meals, and nothing at all about having to carry a backpack.

NB:  Although there is no rule about carrying a backpack, a few traditional pilgrim albergues won’t accept a pilgrim who doesn’t have a backpack.  A friend whose pack didn’t arrive with him on a flight from South Africa was refused entry to the Church albergue of Jesus y Maria in Pamplona because he didn’t have his backpack.  (I wondered what Jesus y Maria would have thought about that!)  He eventually found a bed at the Paderborn albergue run by the German confraternity.  So if you decide to send your pack ahead and walk with just a day-pack, aim for the private albergues.  On the other hand, the albergue in Grañon doesn't turn away any pilgrim - even if they arrive in a bus with no credencial.  This basic albergue in the bell tower of a church, with vinyl covered mattresses on the floors, is one of the most popular on the Camino.

When pilgrim 'refugios' were first mooted at the 1987 conference in Jaca to cater for the 'pilgrim revolution' predicted by Don Elias Valiña Sampedro (father of the modern Camino) the idea was that only pilgrims should stay in the refugios.  The idea was never that pilgrims should only stay in the refugios foregoing all the established hospitality B and B's, pensions, hostales etc.  The only way to tell between a pilgrim and a tourist was the credencial and the backpack. A few albergues won’t accept you if you have sent your backpack ahead – that is their prerogative.  But, there really is no rule about having to carry a backpack. 

So where did this myth begin? It's not a tradition and it doesn't come from medieval pilgrims - they didn't carry backpacks.  The only medieval pilgrim who carried a heavy load was the criminal - sent on a long journey lugging a large load as punishment. Walking to Santiago was enough.  Only the purist would weigh themselves down with a hair shirt or extra load.

Many historical and cultural books and websites on the Camino have photographs of statues, sculptures, stained glass windows and other works of art depicting pilgrims from the early 12^th century to around the 18^th century.  I have never seen an example of a pilgrim carrying a large backpack - have you?  If you have, please send me the source!

 

Other Modern Myths:
There are medieval myths and modern myths about the Camino.  Modern myths include those that quote the numbers of people that walked the pilgrimage roads to Santiago in the middle ages - ranging from 500 000 to 1 million pilgrims a year, depending on which website you read.  That would represent half the population of Europe in the 14th century.

There is the one that claims that Goethe said, “Europe was built on the roads to Santiago”.  The Goethe Foundation states that there is no evidence that this is a quote from Goethe, but like all urban legends, once it was written and repeated ad infinitum by successive writers, it ended up in the annals of fact.
 

The First Guide Book:  It is repeatedly claimed that the Codex Calixtinus with the Liber Sancti Jacobi was the first guide book written for pilgrims to Santiago.  Think for one moment about that.  Look at the size of the book in the wrapping.  That is the Codex found in the garage of the cathedral electrician who stole it a few years ago.  It is a monstrous book, far to heavy for any pilgrim to carry with them. 

Think about the value of a codex, painstakingly written by hand, only a few copies made of the original.  Think about literacy in the 12th century.  How many pilgrims could read?  There are many theories about the Codex.  One is that it was written for the Duke of Acquitane who was planning a pilgrimage to Santiago.  The guide was rediscovered in 1886 by P. Fidel Fita after it had been lost for 750 years. 

Types of pilgrims:  Another myth is that all pilgrims were poor, mendicant, penitential miscreants footslogging alone to Santiago with nothing but the rags on their backs.  The fact is that there were as many different types of pilgrim then as there are today, maybe more.  There were lords and ladies with their entourages, kings and queens with their servants and slaves, ecclesiastic pilgrims journeying with their clerics, knights travelling with their ladies. Servants would walk ahead and secure the best accommodation and source the best eateries for their masters.
Some poor wretches had to carry the lords and ladies in litters much of the way.  Many pilgrims went on horseback; others had donkeys or mules to bear their loads. There are historical accounts of caravans of pilgrims on the roads to Santiago. Most of the classic pilgrim stories that have come down to us were written by pilgrims on horseback - like the Codex Calixtinus and the diary of the 17th century pilgrim, Domenico Laffi. 
 

Yes, there were more ordinary pilgrims than wealthy pilgrims.  Some were penitential pilgrims, others were paupers and vagabonds, but there were also adventurers, merchants, artists, stone masons and craftsmen, musicians, and travellers who were merely interested in visiting new lands.  The majority of pilgrims did not walk alone but walked in groups for safety sake. 

You should not walk with a group: (This only applies to pilgrims to Santiago.  If you are planning on a pilgrimage to Rome, Guadalupe or the Holy Land, you can go with an organised group).  
Most large towns and cities had guilds that organised guided group walks to Santiago.  It was much safer to travel this way and, like the tour groups of today, pilgrims walked with like-minded people and supported each other on the journey. 
St Bona of Pisa led 10 such groups of pilgrims from Italy to Santiago in the 12^th century and was made an official pilgrim guide by the Knights of Santiago.
 

Those that could afford it had their baggage transported on horseback, donkeys, mules, carts, carriages and so on.  They probably delighted in shopping along the way for exotic items of clothing and souvenirs to take home to their friends and families.  The rest of the raggle-taggle carried no more than a bundle over their shoulder or a scrip – a type of satchel strapped across their torso - in which they might have just enough money for their sorry needs, a letter of safe-passage from their church and a scrap of bread to have with their gruel or broth at night.  No self-respecting pilgrim would have risked carrying a large backpack bulging with his worldly possessions.  Such gross displays of material wealth would have seemed obscene to his fellow pilgrims and tantalising to the robbers on the way.

  Today, the modern day pilgrim has no option but to carry this heavy load unless he can afford to have some of it transported each day.  Many pilgrims who can afford it do this walk with a small daypack containing their necessities for the day, their rain gear, a jacket, first-aid kit, food and water, a guide-book, camera, and maybe sandals to change into when they reach their overnight stop.  The rest of their stuff is sent ahead each day by baggage transfer companies.

Pilgrim fundamentalist accuse them of ‘cheating’.  Cheating whom?? 
A recent post on a Forum commented that people who send stuff ahead should not have beds in the albergues:  “they should keep beds vacant for the pilgrims who have exhausted themselves carrying their possessions.”  Why - that is their choice?  
One pilgrim remarked, "I saw many pilgrims with small backpacks.  I carried 12 kg and walked at least 30 km every day." 
Why?  Why did they do that, and why do they infer that they are more worthy than those with smaller packs or who walk shorter distances?
 

It is entirely up to you how many possessions you carry on the Camino. You can’t expect special treatment just because your pack is over sized and you are exhausted at the end of the day.  You won’t earn extra Brownie points with the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago either.  Besides the Compostela certificate, there are no rewards for walking the Camino.  (If you are a Catholic you can earn an indulgence just by visiting the cathedral and fulfilling laid down requirements but you don't have to walk there.)

Walking a pilgrimage for a reward (a heavenly reward) was a Catholic, medieval invention, intended for an illiterate and superstitious population.  By the time of the Reformation the whole concept had been challenged and debated to death – and caused not only a split in the church but Religious Wars and the slaughter of thousands.  Pilgrimage for reward became an unsavoury concept connected as it was to the sale of indulgences, the trade in false relics and the fraud and corruption that went with it. 

I am not a mendicant pilgrim.

Today pilgrims once again trek the pilgrimage trails to Santiago de Compostela.  Are they mendicants?   99.9% are not.  I am a pretty average pilgrim.  I'm not wealthy but it costs me at least €800 to fly to Europe from South Africa.  I need to budget between €30 and €40 a day whilst on the Camino (another €600) plus the hiking gear, boots, clothing, pack, sleeping bag etc.  So I am not a poverty stricken pilgrim.
 

I am not a Catholic penitential pilgrim.

How many pilgrims walk because they hope to earn time off purgatory and earn a place in heaven?  Not many.  Purgatory is a foreign concept to most non-Catholics and even modern Catholics are not that familiar with it.  According to theopedia.com it was invented in the early 12^th Century: “One of the first documents to mention purgatorium was a letter from the Benedictine Nicholas of Saint Albans to the Cistercian Peter of Celle in 1176”.   
Martin Luther wrote:  “Nor have we anything in Scripture concerning Purgatory. It too was certainly fabricated by goblins.” Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper as found in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings.

I do not walk the Camino for rewards.

Do pilgrims believe that they will earn some sort of reward by walking the Camino?  And, if they do, will the reward be greater if they carry a backpack the whole way?  Once again, I doubt it – so I don’t understand why they have allowed themselves to be duped by the backpack myth.  Perhaps the pilgrims who walk with no reward in mind is the ones to be most admired.  They face all the hardships of a long trek far from their homes with no enticing reward in sight!
 

I do not judge my fellow pilgrims.

I don't believe that pilgrims who do not carry backpacks or who carry small packs and send their excess stuff ahead are less worthy than those who choose to carry a heavy backpack.  I do not believe that they are any less of a pilgrim, any less worthy, or that their Camino will somehow be diminished because they prefer not to carry all their possessions on their back every day on the Camino.

You are a pilgrim to Santiago - with or without a backpack.  What is in your heart is much more important than what is on your back -  don't let anyone tell you differently!

For more myths read:  http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/santiago/lsj.html