What to pack for the Camino de Santiago (and what to leave at home)

There's a scene that repeats every morning on the Portuguese Way as it passes through O Porriño: pilgrims bent under huge backpacks, adjusting the straps with a look of regret. The number one mistake of a first-time pilgrim isn't footwear or stages — it's the extra kilos.

The golden rule: 10%

Your loaded backpack shouldn't weigh more than 10% of your body weight (not counting water). If you weigh 70 kg, that's about 7 kg. It sounds impossible; it isn't. Anything beyond that you'll feel in your shoulders on day 2 and in your knees on day 4.

The essentials

• Broken-in footwear: trail shoes or light boots WITH kilometres on them. New shoes on the Camino are a recipe for blisters.
• 2 sets of technical clothes (the one you wear + one): quick-dry T-shirt, seamless underwear, 2-3 pairs of technical socks. Wash in the afternoon, dry overnight.
• Rain jacket or poncho: in Galicia it's not optional. Make sure it covers your backpack too.
• Minimal first-aid kit: needle and thread or blister plasters, Vaseline, ibuprofen, small sunscreen.
• Water bottle or bladder (1-1.5 L): on the Portuguese Way there are fountains and villages often; don't carry 3 litres.
• Documents: ID or passport, health insurance card, some cash and the official pilgrim document you'll get stamped along the way.
• Sleeping-bag liner if you stay in albergues, and flip-flops for the showers.
• Phone + charger + small power bank. Your camera, your map and your journal all live there.

What you don't need (almost always)

• The third set of clothes "just in case". It never gets used.
• The hairdryer, the big towel, the full toiletry bag. Microfibre towel and travel-size toiletries.
• Jeans. Heavy, slow to dry, and you won't wear them.
• Stiff mountain boots for the Portuguese Way: it's a gentle route; unless it pours, light footwear wins.
• Fear. It's the heaviest thing of all. The Camino is waymarked, busy and full of people who help. Leave the "what ifs" at home.

Three tips from people who watch it pass every day

Waymino was born in O Porriño, a town the Portuguese Way crosses every morning, so we see this daily:

1. Start with short stages. 20 km a day at most in the first week. The Camino isn't a race.
2. Wash every afternoon, dry every night. Two technical sets are plenty, really.
3. Leave room (and weight) for what matters. A safety pin will hold your socks; nothing holds your spirits when you arrive broken from carrying too much.

The only thing that weighs nothing: your memories

There's one thing no pilgrim should leave at home, and it takes up no space: a way to keep the journey. Photos end up buried in the camera roll, and two years later all that's left is "it was amazing". We made something for that: a band that keeps your photos, notes and moments just by holding your phone near it, and that gives you back your whole Camino in a video that's yours alone when you reach Santiago. No apps and no weight in your backpack.

If you're preparing your Camino — this autumn or for the 2027 Holy Year —, take a look at the Waymino Founders Edition: only 200 numbered bands, prepared in Galicia.

Buen Camino.