Backpack Taxis?

[glennb]

I saw a reference to "backpack taxis". Is that what I think it might be? A van that ferrys backpacks to the next stop for a fee so that the Pilgrim can walk without his pack?

Not that I would ever stoop so low, mind you, but just curious as an academic matter.... Are they reliable and honest? Am I likely to see them on the Frances as early as April?

 

[Homer-Dog]

Yes, very common on the Frances. My friends and I called people who did this day packers for the small pack with only food and snacks they carried. I'm fine with this if you are sick or elderly and can't complete the Camino with a pack but some of the people I saw doing it were too young and too healthy to do that.

 

[mmm042]

Remember that you can never judge a book by its cover. In general, I'm very fit and healthy, and a few years back I ran the VDLP's last 109km from Ourense to Santiago, hills/mountains and all. But despite that level of fitness I have terrible back problems, and could never have walked even one day with more than a day pack on my back. So yes, I had a day pack and shuttled my bag ahead. (On the VDLP there aren't any taxi services, so you have to get your own taxi. I had locals recommend a reliable person, and I never had any problems.)

Lots of people will argue back and forth about this (and have on various threads), but really, there's no right or wrong way to do the Camino. You have to do what's right for you.

Melanie

 

[SabsP]

I met some pilgrims last year who used the services of these taxis. Those pilgrims I met stayed in hostales and pensiones. They had their very personal reasons to walk the Camino this way ( so indeed never judge the book by it's cover ). They were satisfied by the service given by these taxis.
Look beyond the first " view "...

 

[annelise]

Maybe I will need in future to use a backpack taxa. But I would dearly love to carry my own backpack when going back to the camino (walked 435 km with backpack May 2011). But after coming home, I had a severe fall and now have a shoulder implant. Rehabilitation has been successful. However, I am still uncertain as to whether I will be able to carry my pack, when I return, but I intend to test it and will go into training now.

However, I had a somewhat strange occurrence when I walked from Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca – the only day that I did not carry my full pack (had an arrangement with the lovely hotel that they would come and take me back and then bring me back next day to where I had left).

Then when sitting and resting along the wayside on my way over the mountain - and thoroughly enjoying the weather, the nature, and suddenly feeling just totally happy (how often does this happen?), a passing lady abruptly stopped and said with a reproving tone of voice: "That rucksack looks very light" !!! - I was so surprised (and in fact so lost for words), that I only smiled and said "Yes".

I now wonder where these busybodies come from – and what drives them?

 

[SabsP]

Maybe I will need in future to use a backpack taxa. But I would dearly love to carry my own backpack when going back to the camino (walked 435 km with backpack May 2011). But after coming home, I had a severe fall and now have a shoulder implant. Rehabilitation has been successful. However, I am still uncertain as to whether I will be able to carry my pack, when I return, but I intend to test it and will go into training now.

However, I had a somewhat strange occurrence when I walked from Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca – the only day that I did not carry my full pack (had an arrangement with the lovely hotel that they would come and take me back and then bring me back next day to where I had left).

Then when sitting and resting along the wayside on my way over the mountain - and thoroughly enjoying the weather, the nature, and suddenly feeling just totally happy (how often does this happen?), a passing lady abruptly stopped and said with a reproving tone of voice: "That rucksack looks very light" !!! - I was so surprised (and in fact so lost for words), that I only smiled and said "Yes".

I now wonder where these busybodies come from – and what drives them?

Annelise, don't know what drives them? Probably the same thing that drives people " in normal " life to judge...?
Cherish the feeling you had when resting and feeling totally happy... all the rest is not important. You know in your heart why you chose that certain path!!!

Regarding the daypackers : the people I mentioned in above post where one of the nicest people I met on the entire Camino. I called them my instant parents ( they worried me being a woman on my own...and me managing and coping. Lots of evenings I had diner with them in their hostales and I had conversations with them that , to me, were more sincere than some of the talks I had with the so called true pilgrim ).

 

[Pieces]

maybe she was just jealous and curious because her own was heavy...

 

[Anniesantiago]

Everyone must do their own Camino in their own way.
Part of that is learning to mind your own business and let other people mind theirs.
A big part is learning not to be judgmental,
especially about rules that do not exist.

I am leading a group of pilgrims on the Camino this May and again in September.
Some will carry their own packs.
Others will use a transfer service.
They are all ages.
Some have back, neck, shoulder, or other issues that are really nobody's business.
The fact is, they cannot (or do not WANT to) carry their packs for whatever their reasons.

We will be staying in private lodging, not albergues.
We will leave the albergue beds to those pilgrims carrying their packs.

In the past, I have been a person who got upset when I saw small light backpacks.
Then a kindness was shown to me by one of those "lightweights" that caused a paradigm shift.
I like to think I have grown, and learned not to judge others on the Camino.

As a person with an "invisible" handicap, I know first hand that a book cannot be judged by its cover.

My grandmother used to say, "Never judge another person unless you have walked in their shoes." Good advice!
The world has enough unofficial "morality police".
If we all walk our own Camino and let others walk theirs
the Camino will be a happier place.

 

[julie]

Going on pilgrimage is a lesson-learning process. Those of us who take great pride in carrying our packs and walking every step - no skipping the Meseta for us! - often learn the lesson of humility.

My lesson came when I was greeted by a woman sitting at a picnic table with a tiny daypack beside her. She asked me if I would like to share her biscuits. We sat and chatted and eventually she told me her story.

I was moved to tears by the tale she told and the difficulties she had faced in finally being on the Camino after five years of planning and with her doctor's misgivings. The joy of being there radiated from her and I felt truly humbled.

Why do we carry our packs? Because we can. Another of my lessons was the recognition that the only material possessions I need fit into a 30L backpack.

Why do others transport their packs? Because they have different needs and different lessons from ours.

 

[evanlow]

We shouldn't judge those that uses backpack taxis.

Just think, during the middle ages they don't carry heavy mochila.

If they do have transport services then, would pilgrims use them if they could?

 

[robertt]

I've never used one of these services, but the Irish girls with whom I crossed the Pyrenees used an excellent bag company. I love the idea!

I also love it when somebody wags the finger at me for doing private accommodation, numerous rest days, super late starts, and short stages. They're so funny, these scolds, with their pursed lips and tragic head tilts. I love the tut-tutters. They're an indispensable part of pilgrimage, straight out of Chaucer. We must have them.

 

[Kitsambler]

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" -- Eleanor Roosevelt

It's sad that some people find the best way to build themselves up is to cut others down. One doesn't need to validate their insults by responding to them as though they were valid. Just ignore them. We are often caught unawares while on the camino: we are ourselves in a more vulnerable place, so these slights (that we would just shrug off at home) seem to cause us more hurt. Being aware of that can help.

 

[dougfitz]

The first time I met anyone using a pack transport service was at Villafranca, where another pilgrim had sent his main pack to O'Cebreiro. While it was only late Apr, it was a blisteringly hot day. When I decided to stay at La Faba, I must admit feeling envious of the man who had walked with just a day pack.

If I was still harbouring this feeling the next morning, it was very quickly driven out shortly after leaving La Faba. Looking back down the valley, I witnessed a magnificent sunrise painting the landscape, and realised that I had risked missing this if I had chosen to use a pack taxi.

 

[johnnarmour]

I saw a reference to "backpack taxis". Is that what I think it might be? A van that ferrys backpacks to the next stop for a fee so that the Pilgrim can walk without his pack?

Not that I would ever stoop so low, mind you, but just curious as an academic matter.... Are they reliable and honest? Am I likely to see them on the Frances as early as April?

I used them this year as my CPAP machine etc wights over 3 kg (and I am over 65)
Jacotrans were great and never once lost my backpack
Rather than considering it stooping so low it allowed me to do the walk when I otherwise could not.

 

[katarob]

I've lurked on this site for years and benefited from much of the information so generously shared. I'm getting ready to do part of the Camino starting in a couple of weeks, from O'Cebreiro. I'll have my bag moved by Jacotrans and carry only a daypack . Given where I'm in my life even doing it this way is a big challenge. I'm sorry to see that some here look down on people who chose for whatever reason to walk the Camino this way. I"m in awe and admire those that do it the "real" way, but I'm happy to do it my way. Buen camino a todos.

 

[mspath]

I've lurked on this site for years and benefited from much of the information so generously shared. I'm getting ready to do part of the Camino starting in a couple of weeks, from O'Cebreiro. I'll have my bag moved by Jacotrans and carry only a daypack . Given where I'm in my life even doing it this way is a big challenge. I'm sorry to see that some here look down on people who chose for whatever reason to walk the Camino this way. I"m in awe and admire those that do it the "real" way, but I'm happy to do it my way. Buen camino a todos.

Katrob,

How wonderful that you will be walking from O Cebreiro in just a few weeks! You must be very excited as your dream becomes reality.

Remember this is your camino! Your path is made by your feet; there is no single way. We pilgrims may share our journeys, hopes and fears, but in no sense do we move as a single force! Each of us creates a particular pattern moving along. Thus the Camino is composed of all these pilgrims' patterns; the multitude of these individual units across time and space together form the whole.

What matters is to DO IT!

Ultreia!

Margaret

 

[katarob]

Hola Margaret,

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I'm excited beyond description that after all these years I'm finally going to arrive Santiago on foot rather that by train or plane!

María

 

[Annalena]

If you can carry your pack, be happy you can. If you can't, be happy that someone else can do so for you - be it by taxi or whatever. What is important is that you can walk the camino and enjoy it. Happy walking!
Anna-Lena

 

[Chacharm]

I could've carried my pack - I just didn't want to carry my pack. I carried it for the first ten days, suffering under the weight of it. Then I said enough. I am not here to experience pain. I bought an excellent little day pack and rather than enduring my mother ship pack, I suddenly began SEEING the Camino. I arrived in each little town ready for a wash and a beer and a little sight seeing instead of collapsing into bed. It was great and Jacotrans was WONDERFUL. I never had a single problem. My son carried his pack every step of the way - and he was just as happy doing it that way.

There are people on the Camino who just never seem to get the Camino. One guy told me he felt that people who stayed in Hostels or Hotels or private albuergues were "rubbing their wealth" in his face. I told him I would be staying in the nicest places I could find...and that MY decisions about where I would stay and when and for how long had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with him. One lady asked me where I had started and when I told her SJPP she expressed her astonishment...I had a DAYPACK after all!

And there was a lady who appeared nightly for about a week during the first really rough days. She was probably in her late 50s, overweight and toting a huge pack filled with clothing that is not recommended for the Camino. Jeans and sweaters and such. We never saw her on the Camino, and she was always fine. Not too tired, not muddy, not cold or in need of aspirin cream or food or a hot shower. Other Peregrinos were outraged...certain she was not on the Camino. Personally, I think she walked a little bit and then took a cab to her next location. Why not?
Another woman in Santiago told me she had also started in SJPP - but only a few days before. Huh? Oh well, she said, I rented a car and DROVE the Camino. OK.

What another person does on the Camino - whether they are walking a few days or for weeks on end, whether they walk 10K a day or 40, whether they stay in the muni Albuergues or the Paradors, whether they walk with a pack or with a mule to carry their stuff or ride a bike is THEIR business. It does not add or subtract from YOUR Camino in any way.

 

[micamino73]

I saw a lot of people with packs waaaay too big. 20kg ... Thankfully on this forum there was a lot of advice on packing and the 10% body weight rule worked well.

I really enjoyed the camino and backpack of 8-9 kgs was no problem at all.

I suppose the service is good for those who have pack problems.

Otherwise its an extra expense which forces you to arrive to the next hostel.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I really enjoyed the camino and backpack of 8-9 kgs was no problem at all.

If you had tried a stage or two without a pack, you would appreciate a baggage service! There is an incredible difference between a light pack and no pack. I am not advocating either; I am just saying there is a big difference.

 

[jastrace]

Thumbs up for the pack transfer service, for pre-booking accommodation and knowing exactly where I'm going to finish that day. No thinking required. No heavy pack. Maximum enjoyment and energy to experience Spain, its people, its places and the company of our fellow peregrinos.

Thumbs down to those who reckon our Camino is somehow less legitimate as a result.

Double thumbs up to you folk twice our age with packs twice as heavy and still walk past leaving us in your dust. You're awesome!

 

[grayland]

I am not disturbed by those who carry only a day pack...but walk the Camino as much as they are able. I admire those who struggle to even walk with the small or no pack.

But....earlier this year I walked from Le Puy and since I had extra time before scheduled to leave I continued on into Spain for a few days. I arrived in SFPdP from Le Puy around 1 May and was shocked (as usual) by the huge numbers of Pilgrims on the streets and in the Pilgrim office. A real change from the peaceful weeks on the Le Puy route.
The Route Napoleon turned out to be fairly quiet as well because of a pretty heavy storm with snow and fog. They were advising/stopping people out of SJPdP and advising the lower route. Actually not that difficult on the Napoleon.
I walked on past Estella with huge crowds of people and then turned around and walked back to Pamplona to catch a train to Madrid and then home. Walking back against the flow was a very different experience from my previous Caminos. I counted over 300 pilgrims coming toward me in the first couple of hours from Estella. It was a continuous line of people.

The disturbing thing was the huge buses that would park and discharge a large group of people who then would walk about an hour (according to some I asked) and then back on the bus to the next spot to walk a little again. Walking toward them made it obvious that they were really clogging the trail in places and making it tough for the long distance walkers because of the numbers clustered together. A very commercial aspect that I had not seen before.
They also told me they were walking into the stopping point for the night and staying in albergues. Not sure how that worked.
People walking the camino with day packs do not bother me...huge groups playing at the Camino does. :|

 

[Deleted member 3000]

huge groups playing at the Camino does

Isn't that just another opinion on what constitutes a "real camino?" After all, the entire thing in public property, so anyone can be anywhere for any reason.

I have a friend who will be walking in a large group from Ponferrada to Santiago with baggage service. Their bus will meet them at the end of the first day to Villafranca, and transport them back to Ponferrada and their hotel. The next day, the bus will take them to Villafranca, and they will walk to O Cebreiro and stay in a hotel. Lots of "real" pilgrims will see them getting on and off the bus, and incorrectly assume that they are taking space from a "real" pilgrim. Judgments can be based on false assumptions sometimes.

 

[grayland]

Sorry Falcon..but that is not what I described. These peope were walking about an hour or so and then back on the bus.
I clearly said that is disturbed "me" thus was an opinion.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Grayland you are absolutely correct and the turn up at the Pilgrims Office in Santiago asking for Compostelas. In our experience they are mostly Spanish see:

http://johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot. ... telas.html

Often the trick is to stop the bus or car a short distance before the albergue so they walk in with their credenciales, get a stamp and a bed. This is the bane of the hospitalero's life and it is clearly cheating the system.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There are pilgrims who pick up their backpacks at the edge of town, then stay in a public albergue. I ratted out a group once, and they were denied beds. However, the presence of a bus does not implicate its riders, who may be headed for a hostal.

It is possible to take a taxi from Sarria to a few meters from the 100km marker. A group of three twenty-something Spaniards got out of a taxi as I was arriving at the marker, had me take their photo next to it, then got back in the taxi. I have no idea where they stayed that night. If it was Santiago with a credencial full of stamps collected in one day, I presume the Pilgrim Office would notice! While a compostela acquired from a taxi would not appeal to me, I did not view their potential fraud as any of my business.

So I am willing to tattle on bed-takers, but tolerate "false" pilgrims. I can only posit this as a camino paradox.

 

[Pieces]

I knów there are just tons of horrible cheating people out there...

Isn't it just terrible ?

On my last day of walking (after having walked 17 days with severe hip and leg pains during wich I more than once considered the luggagetranspor) I unfortunately encountered a case of the dreaded unpredictable bowels syndrome (maybe from the dinner the night before) so between the bedbugs, the bad leg and the cold shiwers I finally caved in and had the nearest bar (to wich i virtually crawled) call me a taxi to take me to the next albergue (a municipal) where I was kindly allowed to be let in early so I could crawl into bed and where a delightfull Irish hospitalero brought me tea after I slept and informed me on how to get the bus to Leon the next day...

So beware, we are out there, us taxitaking horrors who should be turned out into the streets as not to take a bed from others even if the albergue is only half full...

I totally agree, we are despicable

Just saying...

 

[grayland]

I think some posters are mis-reading the posts. No one has remarked at all on anyone taking a taxi or using a back pack service.
The remarks have mostly been about the tourist "pilgrims" who ride buses for the majority of the trip and just get out and walk for a short time...and then often get out before a town and walk in and take the beds in an albergue...usually before the walkers arrive. A bus full of tourists can fill up an albergue pretty fast.
I doubt if anyone would have anything but sympathy for the conditions Pieces described.

 

[dazzamac]

If it was Santiago with a credencial full of stamps collected in one day, I presume the Pilgrim Office would notice!

I was reading that and I wondered would it be possible to walk 100km in a day and while it's not something I'd try, the maths seems to bear out the idea that it might be possible. You'd probably want to have your pack transported though. :wink:

As to the topic in question, I was staying in Puenta la Reina and suddenly an influx of teenagers on their school tour landed in to the albergue fresh off a bus. They were touring Europe and the Camino was part of the tour. I think they were to walk a section of the route the next day and then get on the bus again to be transported to another destination in Spain or Portugal.

I think the issue of the tourist pilgrims isn't as clear cut as we would like it to be. The albergue experience as it were, is sold as one of the key points of the Camino so if you were only interested in getting a taster of the Camino while on a longer tour of say Europe or Spain, I would imagine that it is one of the things that you would want to sample. That and being able to say you walked part of the route.

While a coach tour holds little appeal to me, I have to recognise that for all the promotion of the Camino as a pilgrimage or spiritual journey, it is also promoted as a cultural experience and it has to be said tourist attraction too. UNESCO world heritage sites do tend to attract tourists and some of them will want to experience a little of what the Camino is about.

So perhaps if we start promoting the 'authentic' Camino experience as a pleasant drive through Spain while staying at the finest hotels, the tourists won't be so keen to walk or stay in albergues.

 

[Abbeydore]

I knów there are just tons of horrible cheating people out there...

Isn't it just terrible ?

On my last day of walking (after having walked 17 days with severe hip and leg pains during wich I more than once considered the luggagetranspor) I unfortunately encountered a case of the dreaded unpredictable bowels syndrome (maybe from the dinner the night before) so between the bedbugs, the bad leg and the cold shiwers I finally caved in and had the nearest bar (to wich i virtually crawled) call me a taxi to take me to the next albergue (a municipal) where I was kindly allowed to be let in early so I could crawl into bed and where a delightfull Irish hospitalero brought me tea after I slept and informed me on how to get the bus to Leon the next day...

So beware, we are out there, us taxitaking horrors who should be turned out into the streets as not to take a bed from others even if the albergue is only half full...

I totally agree, we are despicable

Just saying...

Oh gosh Pieces, I'm very slow-on picking this up, this is VERY sad for you :!: , We only walked for 13days, thankfully only from Astorga, my left knee decided it had had enough, it has taken over 2months before another step could be taken. I'm up for two new knees sometime before I drop-off my perch :wink:
Pleased you put up a good 'fight' against all your 'enemies'
Take Care
David

 

[Pieces]

thanks David !

On the upside,my physiotherapist now has enough pain to work with to attempt at a diagnosis

 

[Thomas Hugues]

Don't go if you can't carry your own bag !

What would our medieval ancestors think ? "Oh, pennance doesn't have to hurt ! Put my pack on Heloise's donkey !"

 

[SabsP]

Don't go if you can't carry your own bag !

What would our medieval ancestors think ? "Oh, pennance doesn't have to hurt ! Put my pack on Heloise's donkey !"

On the contrary : lots of medieval pilgrims had servants to carry their pack.
Like it is stated on another thread : every pilgrim has his or her particular story to carry or not to carry their pack. It's ALL good. So many people, so many reasons to walk ( a part ) of the Camino, with or without pack, with or without assistance....
Surely the good thing of walking a Camino is to be openminded and non judgemental!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I first walked the Camino in 2008, and have just returned home after walking part of it again. In 2008 most people I met before Sarria seemed to carry their packs most days- but this year I sometimes felt like a 'rarity' carrying my own pack. Many more people seem to be using baggage services on a regular basis.
Margaret

 

[jastrace]

Don't go if you can't carry your own bag !

What would our medieval ancestors think ? "Oh, pennance doesn't have to hurt ! Put my pack on Heloise's donkey !"

I respect that your personal reason to walk the Camino, or your view of why others should walk the Camino, is to serve "pennance", but this is certainly not the only reason why people walk. I also respect your right to have a view as to whether people should or should not use pack transfer services.

However I think your instruction not to go if they don't do it your way smacks with elitism and snobbery. I think people can make their own choice about how to experience their own Camino.

Perhaps better advice is: "Don't go if you don't respect the diverse community of your fellow Pilgrims".

 

[Thomas Hugues]

Lazy...
That's all it is.
Lazy...
Elitist ? Snob ?
Thanks for not judging me.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Lazy...
That's all it is.

I'll pass that on to Luis Hernandez, who walked from St.-Pied-de-Port to Finisterre and used a baggage service the entire distance.

He had one leg and two crutches.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Baggage transport company:
http://www.jacotrans.com/

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Another transportation service for the Camino Frances:

http://www.caminofacil.net/Inicio%20Cam ... es%29.html

 

[jcatienza]

it's amazing how people can still be jaded after experiencing the Camino.

I sneakily took a picture of a group of aged people taking a cab in Villafrance del Bierzo.

During the assault to O Cebreiro, had lots of difficulty with the snow. An Asian with no warm clothes and only with raingear.

When I finished, I deleted it. Didn't feel good about taking their pictures at all. If it was hard for me, it was probably miserable for them.

What matters is that we all went.

A path without any 'authentic' pilgrims? that's a shame. I'm so sure Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand walked the whole way.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Luis sent me an email. He does not think he was lazy. His only training for the Camino was to go up and down the eight flights of stairs in his no-elevator apartment building in Paris, over and over; day in and day out. I know I have a hard time doing that with two legs!

 

[akles]

I used the backpack taxis for most of my camino. I found out very quickly that this is my camino and I can chose to walk it however I needed to. My right hip, knees and bottom of feet could not take it. I was down to pretty light backpack.
By doing this I was able to focus on the people and surroundings around me rather than on an aching body.
Thank-God for the backpack Taxis.
akles

 

[Frank1]

All the ime I hear the word pilgrim I hear saying 'everybody has the right to walk the camino the way he wants with or without badpack'

Perhaps yes, but shouldn't we make the difference between pilgrims( which walk and don't take buses or taxis and carry their badpack) and tourists( which take taxis and buses, which luggage is transported)?
Tourists which see the camino just as a holiday. Tourists who walk a bit lik their walk on their other journeys in Toscany, in Africa or Asia to see the wildlife, magnificent scenerys and other beautifull things....

I have done the camino several times; once from SJPP to Santiago in 2004, once from Belgium to Santiago in 2007(which took me 81 days and more than 2400 km), once from Vezelay to SJPP in 2005.

I am not judging any one but more and more the camino is used to spent a low budget holiday in spain. The camino has changed enormous the last 10 years and the true spirit has disappered. It has become fully commercialized with private albergues in every town...

 

[Anakasha]

Perhaps yes, but shouldn't we make the difference between pilgrims( which walk and don't take buses or taxis and carry their badpack) and tourists( which take taxis and buses, which luggage is transported)?

I don't see myself as a tourist, and I plan on using a pack taxi. After 5 knee surgeries and spending 2 years in bed, and physical therapy, I am not ruining my Camino over what amounts to the judgement of others. Does it matter that as a photographer my day pack has camera equipment in it that weighs almost as much as my full pack? Does it make me less of a pilgrim that I want to capture the beauty of Spain without spending every evening taking pain killers and crying into my pillow?

If not carrying my full pack makes me a tourist in some peoples opinions, so be it. I am still going to enjoy my Camino. I'm willing to bet I'll enjoy it more than the people who spend their days angry and waste their time judging the way I'm doing my Camino rather than reveling in their own.

Maybe we should classify the difference between a pilgrim and a tourist as whether you are going to have an experience, learn something about the world or yourself, and whether you're going to judge other people. Tourist's spend their time belittling people without knowing them, or complaining about the things that are different. From what I understand the "real" pilgrim spends their time learning something new and experiencing something different.

Maybe I'm wrong, but as someone who has been traveling the world since I was 9 months old, and have been to over 70 countries the difference between a traveller and a tourist has less to with the weight of you pack and more to do with the chip on your shoulder.

 

[grayland]

I first walked the Camino in 2008, and have just returned home after walking part of it again. In 2008 most people I met before Sarria seemed to carry their packs most days- but this year I sometimes felt like a 'rarity' carrying my own pack. Many more people seem to be using baggage services on a regular basis.
Margaret

I have noticed the same thing, Margaret. Many, many more people seem to be using taxi service for packs. It is now very common as opposed to rare in 2009 and 2010.

I have also noticed that the practice of "backpack taxis" seems to have become the new normal on the forum. It seems that it has become the normal thing to do as opposed to even a couple of years ago when you usually only heard a discussion by people who had a physical or other condition that made carry a pack difficult or impossible.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There is a Forum factor at work here, I think. With a lot of repeat walkers, some members have added a backpack taxi just as they have added an occasional hostal for a quiet night of sleep. Out of 250+ segments, I have used a baggage service twice, and regretted it once because I had to work extra hard to catch up to my pack! Just as it is hard to describe the healing power of a complete rest day, it is hard to describe how much easier it is to walk without a pack. Still, I like having it with me, so I carry it. Also, the increase in pilgrim numbers means that a lot of pilgrims who are unsure of their physical capabilities are attracted of late. For them, a baggage service makes the trek possible. By the time they reach Santiago, they probably realize that they could be carrying their packs, saving some money, and losing a few pounds more from the extra exertion! Rather than resent the pilgrim using a backpack taxi, I am going to reserve my ire for the twenty-something who still has spring in his step. THAT is really unfair.

 

[soch]

The pros and cons of day-pack, back-pack or no-pack adherents, have been so well expounded here, that I cannot now decide which side to favour. So a bemused ‘thankyou’ to you all. :|

Of one thing I am sure however, that amongst my most memorable Camino moments this May, was accidentally stumbling across the interior baggage carried by some of my fellow peregrinos. Always surprising and often humbling.
soch