Don't put it off any longer: the time has come to embark on the Camino de Santiago!
Experience the pleasure of walking for a few days, relax contemplating the beautiful landscapes and towns that appear along the way, savor the victory when you manage to reach the Plaza del Obradoiro... Pilgrims live a unique experience doing the Camino de Santiago with a backpack on his back.
For this reason, there are many adventurers (301,000 in 2017 according to the registry of the Pilgrim Reception Office) who decide to follow one of the routes that lead to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, especially now that the weather is good. Nevertheless, Those who want to undertake this famous pilgrimage since the Middle Ages must be aware that they must be well prepared before starting it.
It is usual to walk stages of more than 20 kilometers if we make the tour walking, so train physically before the trip, bring Comfortable shoes or have on hand a small first aid kit are some of the most common recommendations.
But also, the technology You can also lend us a hand on our journey. apps that we can download on our smartphone and curious technological inventions can help us complete this exciting journey to the tomb of the apostle James:
The apps and gadgets that every pilgrim needs
APPLICATIONS TO DO THE WAY
I choose to continue the French Way, the most popular, starting it from Sarria? Or do I leave in Portuguese lands and follow **the Portuguese Way**? Do I prefer **the Camino del Norte,** which enters Galicia by crossing the Bay of Biscay?
There are several routes to complete the Camino de Santiago and also there are several apps that you can use from your smartphone to have the most relevant information about each of them.
The Xunta de Galicia makes the Camino App available to pilgrims (Camino de Santiago on iOS and Camino de Santiago in Galicia on Android), a complete pocket guide available at Spanish, Galician and English which offers information about the official network of hostels, offer alerts or a diary to save notes and photos, among many other features.
Download these applications before starting to walk, see you at the finish line!
Another example is **Cno. Santiago, ** available free of charge in both the Play Store and the App Store, and that uses the cartography web services of the National Geographic Institute and data from the Spanish Federation of Associations of Friends of the Camino de Santiago.
Here you can find information about the hostels and monuments, make a record of the route or obtain a pilgrim's guide. In addition, it works both online and offline, in case you do not have data during the journey.
They are not the only recommended apps during the pilgrimage: Live Camino de Santiago, free and available on Android and iOS, it also helps to know the routes, includes advice on the routes and allows you to meet and interact with other pilgrims.
The Good Way, which offers payment information about the routes and their variants or a functionality to plan the stages, is another option for the most popular mobile operating systems.
For its part, Jacostamp, also available for iPhones and Android smartphones, has a different objective: geolocates the different stamps that the pilgrim can find so that he can get his favorites. After all, the Camino de Santiago credential, filled with the stamps that you will collect as you pass through hostels, shops or town halls, is one of the most iconic memories of your journey along any of the Jacobean routes.
Jacostamp helps you find your favorite stamps
FROM SOLAR LANTERNS TO PORTABLE WASHING MACHINES
As you surely know, the scallop that the pilgrims carried back to their homes is one of the symbols of the Camino de Santiago: it is sculpted on the route signs as well as on different monuments.
Now, These historical shells have also adapted to the new times: an identification bracelet called Always with you is actually a natural scallop with an NFC chip inside.
Over there, holds the identification data of the bearer, that can include your clinical report and allows direct contact with 112 or your loved ones by connecting it with a smartphone. It is also affordable, since it only costs between 10 and 12 euros.
On the other hand, when preparing the backpack, the future pilgrim must carefully select the clothes and tools he is carrying. The sleeping bag, the raincoat, some comfortable clothes or the credential (which most hostels ask for to spend the night) are some of them.
The symbol of the Camino de Santiago
There are also a few other gadgets that can come in handy since you will spend all day walking.
Have a Portable Charger to power our smartphone during the day and that we can fill with energy when we get to the hostel at night is a good option, and on pages like Amazon you can find different models to revitalize your mobile wherever you are.
Also, having a flashlight if you go on night excursions or if you have decided to bring a tent is another good idea. Some flashlights, like these from LuminAID, charge their batteries from the sun's rays or through their USB ports to give you light at night.
In addition, they weigh between 100 and 200 grams, so it is not a problem to include them in our backpack, and even one model will allow us to charge the smartphone at the same time.
Don't forget to put a flashlight in your backpack!
If at the time of your arrival there is no free washing machine in the hostel or the accommodation does not have that appliance, it will not hurt to use your own.
For less than 50 euros you can buy, for example, the Scrubba portable washing bag, which will hardly take up any space because it is foldable and weighs less than 145 grams. Just fill it with water and rub your clothes for a few minutes to remove sweat from your t-shirts.
After a long day walking or pedaling, we too need to take a relaxing shower. But if the hostel is full and you don't get a place, or if you have chosen to camp, you also have the option of bringing your own portable shower.
For example, the Nemo brand Helio Pressure Shower does not need to be connected to running water: Thanks to a foot pump, water pressure is achieved for just enough minutes to give you that necessary shower.
So, as you can see, there are a good number of applications and inventions that can help you on your pilgrimage. so that you can fully enjoy that unforgettable experience that is the Camino de Santiago.
The portable washing machine will get you out of more than one hurry