Craziest thing you've seen someone bring on Camino

[DowtyCamino]

What the most insane thing you've seen someone bring on Camino.
For me there are two.
I saw a lady in Castrojeriz who had a curling iron. She'd been toting it since Pamplona.
The other item (in my opinion even nuttier due to the weight) was a college kid from California who had one of those huge buckets of Protein Powder in his pack.

 

[Tincatinker]

Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, in hard-back. Must have weighed a kilo.

 

[trecile]

The first person I walked met along the Camino and walked with was a guy that had a dress suit and clothes to wear to the Opera (post Camino trip) in his 23kg backpack. This was in addition to complete camping gear. I never saw him again after I stopped at Orisson, but when I mentioned him to others later on during the Camino I was told that he had jettisoned all the extraneous stuff bought a new backpack in Pamplona.

 

[scott the farmer]

A Canadian lady who always took a bottle of red wine each day just in case there wasn't any when she stopped ,talk about coals to Newcastle.
The other was a lady who started with 15 kgs dumped a heap in Pamplona but by Burgos was up to 15 kgs again?

 

[Bradypus]

On the steep descent from the Grand St Bernard pass on the Via Francigena I met a young man with a huge pack. Later I discovered he was carrying 2kg of dried rice and a very heavy cotton towelling bathrobe. In the middle of August.

 

[Nico "Carfield"]

As a hospitalero in Roncesvalles I have seen a lot stuff left behind! The hairdryer, a very heave leader jacket and other cloths, big bottles with shampoo, radio's, heavy raincloths, a lot of books/guides, shoes/slippers, tents.
Also people think stuffing things under their matres is a safe place. Money and medicine! Mostly we find the owner! So don't forget!

 

[Deleted member 12253]

What the most insane thing you've seen someone bring on Camino.
For me there are two.
I saw a lady in Castrojeriz who had a curling iron. She'd been toting it since Pamplona.
The other item (in my opinion even nuttier due to the weight) was a college kid from California who had one of those huge buckets of Protein Powder in his pack.

On my first Camino in the pyreenes a group of young people were carrying a huge Antennae . They were hoping to get in touch with alians on the way. One of them had it attached to his bag when walking. They were camping and I lost them in a few days.

 

[nidarosa]

I met someone who had brought a headlamp and a large heavy flashlight - and a small flashlight to find the large one in the pack. And another had a bell around his neck the size of a small fist, in case he got lost (?).

 

[Rionajmc]

On my first Camino in the pyreenes a group of young people were carrying a huge Antennae . They were hoping to get in touch with alians on the way. One of them had it attached to his bag when walking. They were camping and I lost them in a few days.

Don't think there's any way to top this one.

 

[CaptNoglos]

Brilliant thread, I hope we do not become guilty of carrying unnecessary stuff in April.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

a pair of white patent-leather go-go boots.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

All the hats of Shirley MacLaine???

 

[dagreen]

I met a guy who brought ten cotton t-shirts and three pairs of jeans for a summer camino. His plan was to keep changing shirts as he sweat through them.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I did not see it, but another Member did -- a harp:
"I returned from my camino 4 weeks ago. When I was there I met a couple who had taken their instruments. He had his guitar and she had her harp! They had busked along the camino and played in the albergues in the afternoons. Many pilgrims and hospitaleros enjoyed the music and it gave many of us some amazing memories. Music is a universal language and can really open up conversations and shared experiences on the camino."

And:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/harpist-on-the-road.8040/#post-48253

 

[Camino Yogini]

On my third Camino, I met a youngish (30s?) woman (from California?) in Logroño with a rolling suitcase filled with large tubs of protein powder (or some such health supplements) which she shipped ahead. She also taxied between various towns on several Caminos because she thought she "failed" to do them right and kept starting again. I saw her again in Santiago and she was about to head somewhere else and try again. I sincerely hope she found some self-acceptance and peace somewhere.

 

[Icacos]

Thanks everyone, for my morning chuckle.

 

[Ahhhs]

A young man toting a hair dryer to dry his socks.

 

[Sandy B]

Making sure there is nothing silly. I actually was going to bring some protein powder. That's a small amount in a plastic bag. Guess it's best to see if there's any room after everything. I would have liked to see more healthy food. Oh not being to find hummus was the worst. A guy would hAve paid me alot of money for the last container in Leon. He had been all over town looking for it.

 

[JabbaPapa]

My big black heavy woollen pilgrim cape.

 

[AZgirl]

I met someone who had brought a headlamp and a large heavy flashlight - and a small flashlight to find the large one in the pack. And another had a bell around his neck the size of a small fist, in case he got lost (?).

Bells can be used to alert wildlife when you are in the area so hopefully you won't surprise them.

 

[C clearly]

This young man was definitely struggling. He was carrying a didgeradoo (but he had never been to Australia), a skateboard, mandolin, and a small library, as well as tent, other camping equipment and all the usual necessaries. I'm pretty sure he didn't walk far and instead headed off to South America.

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

I saw a woman with high heels, and she was walking with them. I remember I was half-shocked half-in awe... Maybe it's worth saying it was after Sarria?

 

[Pathfinder075]

I don't really class 16kg packs as crazy, nor carrying a tent (some people have no other choice), but saw a guy with one that I would swear had house bricks in the bottom. Although he was apparently a military type, so he may well have been treating it as training as well as a pilgrimage.

For a second after looking at that didgeridoo guy, I thought he had a small blue diving bailout cylinder strapped off to his right side, then realised its a not so compact camping stove. Either way funny.

Wish I'd met the guys with the antenna. They must have had some stories. Even if the stories were crazy.

 

[DowtyCamino]

Well this was fantastic. I've enjoyed the posts. I guess we shouldn't judge others, but sometimes you just have to wonder.

 

[pitztop]

The first day of my first camino, back in 2014, I was leaving SJPP and passed a man pushing a cart up the mountain - no pack on his back. He had all his gear plus about 25 hard cover philosophy books on the cart - sort of like a shopping cart with tiny wheels. He intended to walk the whole way to Santiago de Compostela pushing the cart. He told me that he wanted to read all the books along the way. At the point that I passed him the road up the mountain pass was still paved and he was having a devil of a time pushing the cart, but he was happy. I arrived at the Orisson Albergue where I spent the night. He rolled into the Orisson a few hours later exuberant and still full of confidence that he could push the cart all the way to Santiago and read his books along the way. I left early the next morning for Roncesvalles. Unfortunately I never saw him again.

 

[kmrice]

A couple of days out of Le Puy I say what I thought, at the time, was the crazyist thing I'd ever seen on the Camino, a French couple with a three month old baby girl and a towable cart to carry the baby's gear.

We ran into them from time to time and my opinion slowly changed. Each time we saw them the baby was the picture of health and couldn't have been happier. They made it to Santiago, taking a day less than we needed.

The father shared with us how happy he was to have the opportunity to spend all day and night with the baby (something most of us fathers never get to do). So, I decided it wasn't crazy at all.

 

[Bogong]

Your wife???

Bogong

 

[JennyH94]

The craziest thing I've seen anyone bring with them on the Camino was back in 2014 when I was an hospitalera at Refugio Gaucelmo at Rabanal.
In walked a pilgrim from Brazil who looked like he could have been related to the Spanish actor Javier Bardem. It wasn't just his film star good looks that had me looking twice at him - he was wearing a white linen shirt and matching white cargo pants - and there wasn't a speck of dust on him. How did he do it? Did he have a mobile laundry service as a back-up vehicle?

 

[trecile]

The craziest thing I've seen anyone bring with them on the Camino was back in 2014 when I was an hospitalera at Refugio Gaucelmo at Rabanal.
In walked a pilgrim from Brazil who looked like he could have been related to the Spanish actor Javier Bardem. It wasn't just his film star good looks that had me looking twice at him - he was wearing a white linen shirt and matching white cargo pants - and there wasn't a speck of dust on him. How did he do it? Did he have a mobile laundry service as a back-up vehicle?

The last week or so while I was walking there was a guy also dressed all in white, and always spotless.

 

[AbbyDee]

What the most insane thing you've seen someone bring on Camino.

I remember while reading Bill Bennett's "The Way, My Way" who came across one young woman who carried 2 kilos of make up in her pack. Meanwhile he was packing 2 cell phones and a laptop.

I know that it is all about one's personal priorities, but I am not vain enough for 2 kg of make up. But I did break down and buy a smartphone the other day.

 

[Satírico]

My first encounter last year was an old boy from Newcastle who, after many adventures cycling, decided to walk it and camp with all the necessary gear: tent, fuel, sleeping bag, the lot. His pack was like Sisyphus' rock. After we arrived in Lourdes I never saw him again. Hope he didn't have to quit.

It was not economically astute of me to bring 3x disposable cameras, then buy 10x more and send them home in jiffy bags one by one, some succumbed to water damage and two that I bought in SdC were so antiquated that they simply didn't work.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Walking back to SJPdP from Finisterre last winter I met a crazy Brazillian. He had walked the Portuguese and when he got to Santiago he decided to walk from there to Rome, because he had never been to Rome. This was December. He didn't have a rucksack, all his belongings were in a holdall which he towed on a skateboard!

 

[hecate105]

That'd be me with my seed-sprouting kit.... well, i didn't want to get scurvy!

 

[DowtyCamino]

Walking back to SJPdP from Finisterre last winter I met a crazy Brazillian. He had walked the Portuguese and when he got to Santiago he decided to walk from there to Rome, because he had never been to Rome. This was December. He didn't have a rucksack, all his belongings were in a holdall which he towed on a skateboard!
View attachment 32086
View attachment 32087

I just don't understand what he must have done off-road. How do you take such a load walking across stretches like those just past Atapuerca?

 

[HedaP]

Some people pack their fears and some pack their passions. Walked with a young peregrina who had a set of large juggling clubs strapped to her backpack. I'll never forget the look on her face as she was standing in front of the cathedral at Santiago juggling those clubs.

 

[Kanga]

@C clearly that's a great photo.

I met a fellow this weekend who did travel the Camino with a didgeridoo - an Aussie and a great player - but he was canny; his was a special plastic lightweight travelling model that came apart. It did really sound great and apparently was much appreciated on the track. I can imagine how extraordinary it would have sounded in some of the special places.

 

[fenix]

Some people pack their fears and some pack their passions.......

Love this!

 

[Zpforz]

Brilliant thread, I hope we do not become guilty of carrying unnecessary stuff in April.

We (my husband and I) are going in April 2016 too! Perhaps we will run into each other. We are starting in France to Santiago. At least that is the plan...!

 

[Icacos]

Your wife???

Your husband???

 

[Theatregal]

A pilgrim dog's human pilgrim who carried a large very heavy backpack mostly filled with dry dog food cause he didn't think he could find the kind of food in Spain, that his dog liked. Not being a dog owner, I'm not sure if that's crazy or necessary - they were both lovely pilgrims Hope they made it to Santiago with the dog well fed and his human enjoying an increasingly lighter backpack!

 

[HeidiL]

The poor lady who was carrying a big hairdryer, a huge makeup bag and three pairs of jeans comes to mind. Or maybe the man whose toiletries included huge glass bottles of hair tonic, face tonic and aftershave. (He left them in Grado after the first day on the Primitivo.)

 

[Forestgirl]

A bald man with a hair drier.

 

[CaptNoglos]

We (my husband and I) are going in April 2016 too! Perhaps we will run into each other. We are starting in France to Santiago. At least that is the plan...!

April 17? Starting at StJPdP 29th April, arriving 27th. Perhaps we will see you.

 

[MinaKamina]

Making sure there is nothing silly. I actually was going to bring some protein powder. That's a small amount in a plastic bag. Guess it's best to see if there's any room after everything. I would have liked to see more healthy food. Oh not being to find hummus was the worst. A guy would hAve paid me alot of money for the last container in Leon. He had been all over town looking for it.

Really? Hummus is basically nothing more that mashed cooked garbanzos, plus some stuff to make it more interesting, mainly tahin, and tahin is basically mashed roasted sesame seeds. Tins of cooked garbanzos (chickpeas) abound everywhere.
Bring or buy a hand blender along the Camino and perhaps you will make this list, but at least you will have your own hummus!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Really? Hummus is basically nothing more that mashed cooked garbanzos, plus some stuff to make it more interesting, mainly tahin, and tahin is basically mashed roasted sesame seeds. Tins of cooked garbanzos (chickpeas) abound everywhere.
Bring or buy a hand blender along the Camino and perhaps you will make this list, but at least you will have your own hummus!

Hummus is great -- and far easier to find in the French stages than the Spanish.

And I think you underestimate the effort that would be needed to make your own while walking the Camino ...

And really ? Carry a blender in your backpack ? LOL

(but I do agree that implicitly, protein powder and chick peas hardly qualify for the crazy list )

 

[Icacos]

A young man toting a hair dryer to dry his socks.

A bald man with a hair drier.

You two saw the same guy.

 

[RobertS26]

A bald man with a hair drier.

We prefer the term folically challenged.

 

[camino-david]

I saw a lady between Sarria and Santiago who walked into the bar where I was waiting for a café. She wore high heels and carried a handbag only. She imperiously demanded a sello from me for her credential and I pointed to the ink pad and sello on the counter. She left in a chauffer driven car. Odd and pitiful.

 

[DowtyCamino]

Perhaps we all saw the same person. Somewhere after Sarria we stayed in an Albergue with an attached restaurant. While I was doing the daily ritual of scrubbing my underwear and socks in the outside sink after a hard days walk, I overheard a woman talking to her companions. I recognized her because we'd seen her drive up in a really nice Mercedes and dressed to to the nine's. She said something like,
"Oh!, I do love these small places off the main road on the Camino. It just makes me feel like a REAL pilgrim."

I can't tell you the fortitude it took not so come up to her and say. "Excuse me, but if you'd really like to feel like REAL pilgrim, I'll let you come back here and I'll give you this bar of soap and you can wash out my dirty underwear and socks......and I'll only charge you 10Euro for the experience."
That evil thought passed quickly...but something inside me wanted to savor it a bit - I have to be honest.

 

[JabbaPapa]

The only lady in heels I've seen was walking the Camino -- short heels not stilettos, but still !! -- and it was a "proper" part of the Camino, not an artificially smoothened section.

 

[domigee]

I saw a beautiful, red, leather vanity- case in the showers. I think it was Puente la Reina....
It was open and crammed FULL of every potion, bottle , jar you can imagine...there was a full bathroom worth in there.
I looked at it with envy

 

[JabbaPapa]

I saw a beautiful, red, leather vanity- case in the showers. I think it was Puente la Reina....
It was open and crammed FULL of every potion, bottle , jar you can imagine...there was a full bathroom worth in there.
I looked at it with envy

More and more people are taking these sorts of things on the Camino -- even suitcases and extensive luggage.

Jacotrans and private albergues.

 

[David]

I met a young French woman who was wearing home made clothes, including a short cloak made of felt - no pack but instead a homemade bag slung over one shoulder - all in bright primary colours, and she was carrying a piano accordion.

 

[Jo Jo]

A bald man with a hair drier.

The first night of 2014 trip, we met an Italian policeman carrying a hair dryer. Which my wife promptly borrowed, beginning a friendship that lasted all across Spain (we last saw him just outside Finesterre). The kicker--his hair was about 3mm long.

 

[Reija]

This thread is wonderful. Suddenly I feel so much better about my own silliness of carrying a heavy novel of 500+ pages for 775 kilometers and only read maybe 30 pages. Or a journal I never even open let alone write something in it. Or headlamps I faithfully carried for both me and my daughter and finally when it was time to actually maybe need them I found both of them were on and had been on for who knows how many days and when we put them on and started walking, the batteries were very low and lasted maybe 10-15 minutes. Personally I was most amazed when I saw someone carrying a skateboard on their back but after reading this thread I see it's not unheard or unseen.

 

[nycwalking]

Craziest thing: Me, myself, and I.

 

[HellsKitchen]

On my first Camino in the pyreenes a group of young people were carrying a huge Antennae . They were hoping to get in touch with alians on the way. One of them had it attached to his bag when walking. They were camping and I lost them in a few days.

Ha! Perhaps they got in touch and went with the aliens.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

I took a bike. More practical than a skateboard and really useful going downhill.

 

[kay lee]

A beautiful, young seminarian from Hungary carrying what appeared to be a hand made wooden prayer bench on top of his backpack. Small dogs carrying their own backpacks. They almost always looked thirsty and tired.

 

[BonitaHolland]

I met a man carrying a baby's dummy tied to a walking stick..... he was picking up any feathers he found along the path as he was looking for the right feather that he'd lost as he wanted to take it back for his girlfriend.....he'd been on the Camino for months. I often think of him he was covered in Tatoos.

 

[flewitheagles]

I have often said, in reply to those who asked about accuracy in "The Way", that I wished I had the wardrobe of Martin Sheen... who walked in blue jeans and nice shirts..... I guess some have watched the movie too often! I am reading about them.

 

[Lupo]

Met a young guy with a cello. Later that day he gave a very nice concert in a church. Must have been in May 2014, don't remember which etappa...

 

[mspath]

Met a young guy with a cello. Later that day he gave a very nice concert in a church. Must have been in May 2014, don't remember which etappa...

For more re this very special young musician, Dane Johansen,
see this thread ; here is his blog

 

[Lynda t]

The craziest thing I've seen anyone bring with them on the Camino was back in 2014 when I was an hospitalera at Refugio Gaucelmo at Rabanal.
In walked a pilgrim from Brazil who looked like he could have been related to the Spanish actor Javier Bardem. It wasn't just his film star good looks that had me looking twice at him - he was wearing a white linen shirt and matching white cargo pants - and there wasn't a speck of dust on him. How did he do it? Did he have a mobile laundry service as a back-up vehicle?

I think I may have seen you walking June time 2010. We were collected by car and taken to a restaurant. You wore a long pretty cotton dress?

 

[Pingüigrino]

Last september, being hospitalero in Irun, I met a young polish man carrying a large sword. It was not sharpened, could weigh 3 or 4 kilos and he was using it like a walking stick. When I asked him why the hell was he carrying this heavy piece of steel he answered that he wanted to feel what the Templar Knights felt . and keep practicing their fencing. I hope the first police who see him, did not put him under detencion, those stufs are forbiden in Spain.

 

[Jan_D]

Not exactly 'crazy', but I remember a wonderful Sicilian character who had a clanging set of pots and other utensils attached to his backpack (and lots of dried home-made pasta on the inside). He'd pick herbs and wild plants along the way, and in the evening would make a huge meal for everyone in the albergue. We all contributed extra ingredients and vino.

 

[ncali12]

The craziest thing I saw walking in spring of 2012 was a spunky Irish woman not carrying but pushing a "hiking-baby" carriage with her two children inside. They were accompanied by the family bird dog. The children were about 2 and 4 or so and rode in the carriage. On up hill segments, the dog was attached with a leash to the carriage to help the climb. I saw them throughout the Camino. At auberges, the dog would sleep on a blanket outside on the auberge door step. I lost track of them before Santiago but wondered whatever happened to them. Hubby was back home and she intended to write a book about walking the camino with children.

 

[john07989]

This young man was definitely struggling. He was carrying a didgeradoo (but he had never been to Australia), a skateboard, mandolin, and a small library, as well as tent, other camping equipment and all the usual necessaries. I'm pretty sure he didn't walk far and instead headed off to South America.

I think I've just about seen everything now...

 

[john07989]

I saw a woman with high heels, and she was walking with them. I remember I was half-shocked half-in awe... Maybe it's worth saying it was after Sarria?

We need say no more...

 

[long trails]

I wouldn't consider carrying camping gear as crazy!

I met a girl carrying a ukuele last year. Guess it seemed a little crazy at the time, but I am going to be lugging mine from Sevilla to Santiago in a few weeks

 

[john07989]

We prefer the term folically challenged.

That's what you need the hair dryer for, to dry your follicles

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

One woman had about 1 kg of makeup and a hairdryer. I met an Austrian guy with a didgeridoo strapped on his backpack as well. But for me it is crazier not to bring some items like a first aid kit. I don't know how may fellow pilgrims I have handed out bandages, tape, compeed etc to.

 

[piggyhinton]

I met someone who had brought a headlamp and a large heavy flashlight - and a small flashlight to find the large one in the pack. And another had a bell around his neck the size of a small fist, in case he got lost (?).

...a man had a pair of crocs and an ice axe! - what went through his mind whilst packing, climbing an ice flo using his ice axe and wearing his crocs!

 

[Grace3808]

A young man toting a hair dryer to dry his socks.

Lol... Think I was married to him once : )

 

[Michael Gray]

Two candidates from my CF last year. Between Roncesvalles and Zubiri I ran into the guy in the photo. I was told he had carried the bear, to draw attention to the plight of Syrian refugees, from Barcelona to Santiago, was on his way back to St Jean, and planned to walk back to Santiago again! And then somewhere between Burgos and Leon I twice saw a guy pushing a unicycle; he told me he did ride it but not every day - maybe I'm gullible. But not sure which is crazier, riding it or pushing it.

 

[Michael Gray]

Here's the photo; the original file was too large.

 

[M. Oliver]

The craziest things I saw when I hiked from SJPP to Santiago last June to mid-July were: people hiking with infants, a couple with an oversised & heavy looking laptop and a woman packing a full-size curling iron. I did not see this mother & her college age son with these items -- because they told me they weren't needed & sent them back -- but they hiked for a while with camp chairs, as they were told there were no places to sit at the hostels. C'mon, people! Spain is not the jungle nor a third world country.

 

[Tony Dickin]

Craziest thing: Me, myself, and I.

You too! I have the same issue. Two of the guys are really nice but the third one's a real pain in the #^*+, ha ha

 

[brian560]

We prefer the term folically challenged.

I prefer the term "streamlined" or "further up the evolutionary curve" myself and besides we can walk faster carrying no
shampoo or conditioner.

 

[Sraaen]

I swear this is true. An enormous (powerful) young Canadian guy had a 55 kg pack on day 1 from SJPdP to Roncesvalles. He was on his first day of a year-long trip and had two laptops, two SLRs and a bunch of his Moms stuff, who was meeting him in Burgos.

He was famous for that huge pack and at the Posada bar (the one with the crazyAwesome abstact pilgrim painting) we asked wtf he had in that pack. "A safe!?" He said "well yeah but I've got my two laptops, SLRs blah blah. I bought it in Paris two days ago. ".

Someone else asked him if he knew enough French to ask how much it weighed. He ressponded that he weighed it himself with the scale he was toting along.

The group was all at least 4 beers into it when someone asked how much the scale weighed. He didn't know. Some awesome Belgian stated he obvious - that he needs one more thing; another scale so they can weigh each other. Hilarity ensued. Love that bar.

What the most insane thing you've seen someone bring on Camino.
For me there are two.
I saw a lady in Castrojeriz who had a curling iron. She'd been toting it since Pamplona.
The other item (in my opinion even nuttier due to the weight) was a college kid from California who had one of those huge buckets of Protein Powder in his pack.

 

[Icacos]

........ But for me it is crazier not to bring some items like a first aid kit. I don't know how may fellow pilgrims I have handed out bandages, tape, compeed etc to.

Who would be so crazy to bring a first aid kit, if someone else is willing to bring one?

 

[Terri B]

Was overtaken after leaving Rabal del Camino, one September morning last year by this guy!

 

[Montana Jayne]

Craziest thing: Me, myself, and I.

That really cracks me up, because I remember how many times I asked myself what the heck was I doing?

 

[Camino Kat]

a pair of white patent-leather go-go boots.

I am seriously dying!

 

[VNwalking]

I met a fellow this weekend who did travel the Camino with a didgeridoo - an Aussie and a great player - but he was canny; his was a special plastic lightweight travelling model that came apart.

You can get collapsible alphorns like that too. I haven't (yet) seen one on the Camino, but here is one in Ladakh--bulky but not too heavy. A huge hit with all the local kids!!

 

[Reija]

Was overtaken after leaving Rabal del Camino, one September morning last year by this guy!

My daughter saw a young man walking the Camino backwards carrying an equally big white teddy bear on his shoulders. I was paying for our breakfast coffee at the moment and only heard the loud amazement of the coffee shop staff who all rushed to the door to see the guy. My daughter found him and his story on Instagram but sorry, I have forgotten what it was. EDIT: Michael Gray had just posted about this guy with the white teddy bear! I'm sorry I rushed to reply before reading all the new answers.

 

[hecate105]

Really? Hummus is basically nothing more that mashed cooked garbanzos, plus some stuff to make it more interesting, mainly tahin, and tahin is basically mashed roasted sesame seeds. Tins of cooked garbanzos (chickpeas) abound everywhere.
Bring or buy a hand blender along the Camino and perhaps you will make this list, but at least you will have your own hummus!

In fact a fork would do it - just mash a tin of cooked chickpeas (unless you cook them at an albergue yourself - soak first) with loads of fresh garlic and some lemon juice and olive oil, tahini optional, as is basil...
I assume everyone would be carrying olive oil.... (!!)

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I was told he had carried the bear, to draw attention to the plight of Syrian refugees, from Barcelona to Santiago, was on his way back to St Jean, and planned to walk back to Santiago again!

My daughter saw a young man walking the Camino backwards carrying an equally big white teddy bear on his shoulders.

Must be the same guy. The same one as here: https://ajollylongwalkblog.wordpress.com/

 

[nycwalking]

While volunteering in Rabanal 2004, five young pre-Vatican Two monastics, stopped in Rabanal at Guacelmo for the night. These five monks were dressed in long woolen black habits, long black socks, and non-hiking black boots in middle of July. They carried a tent for Mass, (they said because their order did not recognize Vatican Two ... churches would not allow them to take communion), thus the need for tent. They also carried pots, pans, utensils, et cetera. People began telling them this was not the middle ages ditch spoons, folks, and enter twenty-first century. A non-schism Catholic priest said they'll pass out before they hit Santiago.

 

[JabbaPapa]

A non-schism Catholic priest said they'll pass out before they hit Santiago.

Unless they belonged to some sort of very marginal group like the so-called "Old Catholics", they're most likely not "schismatics" as such, so most likely not in 99% of cases ; that priest is simply wrong in his appraisal of the effects of dressing in such garments as my big black woollen pilgrim cape or their traditional habits or what it's actually like in real terms (and remember -- monks are completely used to wearing them all year 'round in the first place, rain or shine) ; there is nothing wrong with carrying all you need to do your own cooking once there's more than one of you ; there is also nothing wrong with carrying a tent.

 

[Davey Boyd]

I just don't understand what he must have done off-road. How do you take such a load walking across stretches like those just past Atapuerca?View attachment 32088

I walked with him a few days. Believe it or not when the ground got rough he just picked the whole load up and walked carrying it! I only walked with him a few days because he was so slow, and he expected me to help carrying it! I decided to leave him behind and have no idea how he got on

 

[nycwalking]

The young monastics referred to themselves as a schism order. They were also very nice, very young, and for some this was their first time away from home. Even they complained about the weight on their backs. Just giving a tidbit of lore to thread.

 

[ginniek]

Met a young guy with a cello. Later that day he gave a very nice concert in a church. Must have been in May 2014, don't remember which etappa...

See the movie about that young musician and his pilgrimage. http://www.clevelandfilm.org/films/2017/strangers-on-the-earth

 

[JabbaPapa]

The young monastics referred to themselves as a schism order

OK thanks.

 

[offtrail1]

The first person I walked met along the Camino and walked with was a guy that had a dress suit and clothes to wear to the Opera (post Camino trip) in his 23kg backpack. This was in addition to complete camping gear. I never saw him again after I stopped at Orisson, but when I mentioned him to others later on during the Camino I was told that he had jettisoned all the extraneous stuff bought a new backpack in Pamplona.

I, too wanted to attend the opera in Madrid. I did too, in clothes I bought in Madrid!

 

[WayWalker]

Rabanal- Bollywood star with 2 'helpers', all her stuff spread out over 3 bunks, one of the helpers exclaiming to her, "I choose not to walk tomorrow. It's in my contract, I do not have to walk if I do not want to."

 

[Dougyharry]

The singing pilgrim on the Sanabres. He was a Spaniard from Madrid and everything he carried was festooned around his body in plastic shopping bags or attached to his long staff of a walking stick. We saw him twice and each time he was singing at the top of his voice. We could hear him catching us up and then he voice fading into the distance as he overtook us and powered away.

 

[marilyn van graan]

Hummus is great -- and far easier to find in the French stages than the Spanish.

And I think you underestimate the effort that would be needed to make your own while walking the Camino ...

And really ? Carry a blender in your backpack ? LOL

(but I do agree that implicitly, protein powder and chick peas hardly qualify for the crazy list )

Well actually I disagree - being a vegetarian myself I do find it difficult to eat along the way but what the heck it is only for 7 weeks or maybe less and my body has enough reserves to keep me well and fit - i never get sick but then if some need to lug all that stuff and be weighed down and they are happy who am i too judge- buen camino and happy paths for you all!!

 

[bradleyllew]

What the most insane thing you've seen someone bring on Camino.
For me there are two.
I saw a lady in Castrojeriz who had a curling iron. She'd been toting it since Pamplona.
The other item (in my opinion even nuttier due to the weight) was a college kid from California who had one of those huge buckets of Protein Powder in his pack.

I'm about to do my first camino in April, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm vegan and if there was any space left in my pack, I'd be pretty tempted to bring some Vega protein powder!

 

[alexwalker]

We prefer the term folically challenged.

Or, as a bald friend of mine said: "I am not bald: You are looking at the solar panel of a sex machine!"