No, I don't fly, not since 1966 - anyone who has read the smallest amount of information about global pollution would choose not to fly - though I realise that pilgrims from the far ends of the world have no choice - for me it is embarrassingly simple, a short ferry and I am on mainland Europe.
Also for me it is not about rejecting modern inventions. I am not a luddite, I do not hanker for a medieval past, I use every new gadget that is useful.
So - as to bladders versus bottles and drinking water in general - all reliable, trained, professional, people in this field will tell you that drinking when thirsty is too late. The whole thing is to hydrate before; not during, nor after - this is the key, the secret, hydrate before. (I don't mean don't drink on the way, we all drink on the way, I mean they say ensure you are well hydrated before
).
My point is that bottles force (enable?) one to stop - to stop that relentless moving forward to the next cafe/milestone/refugio/ - for me it is like this: the Camino is a time out - possibly, probably, the first time in one's adult life that one steps out of all the lies, the false viewpoints, the indoctrination - the lifetime of being enculturated into moving fast, into working not lazing, into fearing the future and working hard to stop a possible bad future coming; it isn't named the treadmill for nothing! - the Camino is a different place - it is not the real world, or rather, it IS the real world ... it is the place, the reality, where one has the opportunity to become what we really are, relaxed, kind, generous, spontaneous humans. Humans who go through personal pain, stress, fatigue ... but, by going through these things one becomes - well - free, connected, light ... the old world drops away (as long as iphones, music in headphones, constant mobile phone use, logging in at wi-fi machines is also rejected) .... this is YOUR TIME - it is outside the mediocre world - it is your time ..... so, I say (my
personal opinion) forget the bladder camel-back system (camel-back - explains it all, don't you think?) ...
I say, go with two bottles. Just the cheap plastic bottles you buy in the supermarket that you can re-fill wherever you are, and walk out there (you can get 750ml ones!).
Forget the fear of not having a bed to sleep in, forget the fear of not walking enough miles each day - forget the fear, dismiss the fear,
banish the fear - be there, in that moment, each moment ... so, bottles ... sure, it is almost impossible to slide one out when you are wearing your pack - so you are forced to stop ... we all know that each day you walk, unless you are really aware, you fall into projecting the day ahead; how many miles, which stop where, where will you get a coffee, where will you sleep and so on - and it is a rotten state of mind to get into - I say; walk as if there is not tomorrow, no booked flight, no fear of being bed-less - and that is a major part of me saying use bottles.
You get thirsty - you reach for a bottle and cannot quite grab it - so you stop, take the pack off - shrug, stretch, yawn, grin, shout "Hello world!" and then pull that bottle and take a big slug of that wonderful water. You smile at passing pilgrims - occasionally, maybe only once, a pilgrim will ask you for water because they have none - and then, at that moment, you are one of the saints, one of the humans, one of the Camino tribe - you give water to another in need .. you tell me! what could possibly be better than that?
I am accused of being romantic. Am I? - I prefer to think of myself as being human, or rather, an eternal undying unborn spirit, just like you, on a human journey - you tell me, what is better than giving a pilgrim, a dog, a cat, a flower, water ????
You tell me how striding along without stopping, not even to smell the flowers or see where you are
at that moment, sucking on your tube, is better than being a relaxed, open, warm, friendly, caring, smiling, pilgrim, willing to share what they have, and whilst they wait to share what they have just revelling in the moment, that place they have stopped at, where they can see how far they have walked, and how far they may walk, that being in the absolute centre of it all - that Camino Experience?
Water isn't just water - it is a life gift, a gift of life ..... don't you think? Or am I just being romantic here?
This is my personal opinion, it is how I see it - what you do, well, it is your choice - no attacks on me are necessary ....
Buen Camino!
