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Nightwear

ruthazel said:
Wow, what a great response to my question! It’s taken me a while to get the hang of replying but I think I’ve got it now. All useful advice - thanks!
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Yes, you have nearly 80 replies to sort through and they ALL offer very pertinent advise! Take good notes on everything!
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Hi ruthazel,

Welcome to the Forum.

Many views, many experiences, many Pilgrims.

So, to sum up, your choices will depend on a number of variables.

When will you walk? Colder times will require warmer items, hotter, lighter items or none at all, lol.

Personal accoutrement will depend also on personal preferences of ettiquette. One mentioned the art of averting eyes. This is an essential art. You will see, well, try not to, LOL.

Can night wear be used daytime or evening wear? It is essential to make things work for multiple uses, to keep items and pack weight to a minimum.

Bottom line, wear whatever works, covers as many needs as possible, and weighs nothing, or as close to it as possible.

And enjoy!!!
 
I used to wear dedicated nightclothes. Hated the thought of wearing clothes. Last camino I really wanted to drop my pack weight. So I tried wearing my clean set of walking clothes to bed. It was fine. Now all I take is two sets of walking clothes. When I arrive at the albergue I shower and put on a clean set of walking clothes, and wash the just worn set. When I sleep I pull off my walking skirt but otherwise sleep in the clean walking clothes. It is very boring but it works. In the morning I pull on the skirt and am ready to go.
 
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Absolutely Robo by the time a pilgrim arrives at Pamplona modesty is forgotten for practicality and next days underwear is worn for the remainder of the trip....except the French lol
 
ruthazel said:
Do people take pyjamas or other nightwear?
Click to expand...
Interesting topic and the answers are as individual as the folk who answer! Two women I met experienced a close encounter with a chap climbing down from the top bunk sporting large loose 'Y front' underpants. That alone convinced them to stay in private rooms only! In warm conditions, I wore basic black knickers with a black top (lightweight merino) close by to put on in case I needed to get up in the night. I never found removing my sports bra at night once in bed (or putting it on in the morning) a problem, in order to sleep comfortably without one. Perhaps folk practiced the 'averted eyes' policy; I didn't check, following the policy myself. Colder nights, I simply wore the top and knickers or extra layers if necessary.
 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Ah but my ‘sports’ bra is made of silk and not at all like the usual sports bra. I just don’t have another name for it. It’s really comfortable. Though it is not red.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
If you're wearing the next day's gear and it's warm in the Albergue you might wind up in slightly damp clothes that be uncomfortably cold if it's cool/cold outside. Since I generally sleep "hot" I have a pair of very lightweight shorts (swimsuit with the liner removed) and a light tee shirt specifically designated for sleepwear. It's worth the extra half pound.

I first tried wearing my hiking undershorts to bed (to have something that was dual purpose), but they are too confining. I figure I can always use my sleep shorts as swim trunks (as originally designed) thereby justifying their utility via dual purpose!

Didn't need socks at night on my recent trip, but normally in cold weather mine are blue. Do I need to get red ones specifically for the Camino??
 
Deputy Dan said:
you might wind up in slightly damp clothes that be uncomfortably cold if it's cool/cold outside.
Click to expand...
I never sweat in bed so my clean walking clothes were never damp in bed, however I walked in April/May.

FYI- The need for red socks is intended as a "pun" that's been floating around, but I assume you knew that, so your blue socks should be just fine.
 
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domigee said:
Absolutely, t'is the law!
Click to expand...
Domigee, I apologize! Should have told @DeputyDan that he can only walk the Camino IF he comes prepared with red socks! Guess I'd better run out and look for a few pairs myself, but they'd better be cushy or I won't comply!
 
I also cannot sleep in hiking clothes. So, when I pack for the camino I consider my lightweight cotton nightgown a necessity. I also take an old cashmere cardigan that I can wear if it's cold at night and I can also use the cardigan for layering during the day. Reading all the posts it seems that our nightwear is as individual as the footwear we choose!
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
What you do in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. What I saw in those camino albergues at night stays in the camino. Full disclosure, I slept with the next day walking long sleeve shirt and short, they were clean, and this worked fine for me. To all caminantes, buena suerte y que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
 
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I now have an important piece of equipment to spend hours researching and choosing - red merino socks for sleeping. (I like the wool socks for evenings and night, while I prefer synthetics for walking.)

The red socks will become a sort of forum badge. @ivar should stock some!
 
C clearly, we will just have to make sure that whatever chic scarf we bring to jazz up the clothing we wear to dinner has a bit of red in it to match our new socks.
 
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
ruthazel said:
Do people take pyjamas or other nightwear?
Click to expand...
People run about in their underwear, both men and women. I only ever saw one guy in pyjamas. The thing is, you get used to it pretty quickly. At least I did. At first, I was horrified and did not know what way to look. Same sex toilets and showers scared the life out of me. Sleeping in beds pushed together with a strange woman next to me was mind boggling. But after a while, you just don't see it anymore. It does not register as it becomes the norm and inhibitions melt like the snow on the Pyrenees in spring. My biggest problem became tooth brushing. I felt really self conscious taking out my dentures and brushing them in front of others. So shorts and a tee shirt you can walk away in next morning will probably be your best bet. But don't get all bashful when you see others in their underwear. It is quite common and nobody really gives a hoot after a long day walking
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
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A selection of Camino Jewellery
Didn't need socks at night on my recent trip, but normally in cold weather mine are blue. Do I need to get red ones specifically for the Camino??[/QUOTE]

Deputy Dan red socks can be purchased only in: SJPP, Roncesvalles, Viana, Rabanal del Camino, Samos, (at the gas/petrol station) next to Monastery, and Sarria. Buy them, "true pilgrim".

Buen camino.
 
Sleeping on Camino
Is reward for your long day
Lay you head softly on a pillow
Take a deep breath
Maybe pray

What you wear
May be a smile
For others silkie things
And me a grateful attitude
With all the love He brings
 
RJM said:
I'm also a firm believer in the multi purpose philosophy in what I carry on the Camino. My sleepwear in albergues is something I also walk in.
Click to expand...
Most easy so, 5 o'clock in the morning!
 
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ruthazel said:
Do people take pyjamas or other nightwear?
Click to expand...
I wear silk long johns and a silk long sleeved top. They are very lightweight and can be used as an extra layer of clothing during the day if need be.
 
Had a very light, sleeveless nightgown.
No way am I wearing my clothes for the next day to bed. Bad enough wearing a nightgown, but in a room full of strangers I don't think they want me to go commando at my age.
 
Clean hiking T, undies, socks and leggings over freshly showered bod is what I sleep in. In the morning I just slip on my Macabi skirt, boots, morning jacket and away I go. I use my sarong (76-79g if I remember right) as my hair towel and blind for sleeping on the bottom bunk.
 
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Wear what you are comfortable in/with. Lots of ideas above.

The most important piece of nightwear MAY be the “shoes” you wear to the bathroom if you need to “go” during the night.

My experience of communal bathroom floors is at best (politely) “wet” especially the men’s
 
At home I sleep naked because it is warm...but on the Camino I basically wore a jogging outfit with socks to bed because I was always cold...worst of it was nothing dried on my Camino so my clothes were always damp and had to warmed up with body heat...but that is the American Albergie standard...the young European women mostly sleep in there underwear...and one morning at a Catherdal Albergie this young Italian girl half my age changed her underwear while laying on her sleeping mat about 3" from my sleeping mat...one of the most sexy things I have ever seen...please note I did not mention this sleeping situation to the wife when I returned home from my religious Camino.
 
ruthazel said:
Do people take pyjamas or other nightwear?
Click to expand...
It's like acting in community theater. You just get used to everyone changing clothes around you. Modesty (with the exception of nudity) goes out the window. I just wear my undies and an undershirt, long or short depending on the weather. Don't bring anything special for night. Just wear stuff that you'll wear during the day. You don't want the extra weight.
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Now you've done it! The Camino will now become even busier because more guys will be wanting to walk AND stay exclusively in the albergues. Maybe if I show your post to my hubby he will finally get the bug to join me.
 
ruthazel said:
Do people take pyjamas or other nightwear?
Click to expand...
Walking in May I take 2 pairs of very lightweight longjohns (70gms) and long sleeved vests(70gms) . I wear a pair in the evenings as an extra layer if it is cold and then the same night as pyjamas. I take 2 pairs to be sure of washing and drying them like any other undies.
Most of my packing has 2 functions if possible so this is one example.
 
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Everyone said not to take it. Everyone said it was a waste of extra weight.

Wore my caftan, floor length, to bed, wore it while doing laundry if needed. Wore it out to dinner because it was comfortable. Put it on, over my clothes, in a small pubic park so I could take off the warmer weight clothes and put on lighter weight things one day. Wore it as an extra layer to stay warm. That 7 oz was one of the most used items in my pack. With a silk bag liner and caftan I was warm enough, cool enough and very comfortable.
 
Yesterday, my cousin said she sleeps with socks, pj's, etc.

I told her no frills is the way to go: warm, and lightweight. On camino change in bag and no one will know.

However, until an above-mentioned post I did not know changing in bag could be considered sexy.

Oh, wait. That is okay. Initial camino I was a young looking 39; now, in fifties; so making arrangements in bag won't raise anyone's libido.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
My spring caminoes always include sleeping in my (light) woollen longjohns and a woollen flece pullover as my sleeping back is ultra thin.
I find it protects me from colds...
The longjohns are emergency unders if I hit long rainy days or cold nights, as I always wear shorts .
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I´m afraid I would look silly in a sarong !
 
While I rarely wore them to sleep in, I did take a pair of Under Armor running shorts that I wore while washing my only other pants/shorts. They also did duty as something to swim in at the pool at the Cuatro Cantones albergue, the dammed river at Molinaseca and the beach at Finisterre. Very light, dried fast, took up almost no room and served multiple purposes.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).

Kanga,
I do almost the same thing. After my shower I change underwear socks and wear a silk sleeveless tank top with either my tights or my skirt. Don't be shocked but I don't wash out my skirt every day but every few days. I wear panties liners and they keep it fresh. My hiking tank top is dry by bedtime so I sleep in it with tights or underwear. This way I only need one hiking outfit---I wear my Capri length tights over my skort liner if it's cold in the morning. The rest of the outfit is a long sleeve SPF blouse that I will wear in the morning. As the day warms I remove the blouse and hike under my silver umbrella.
My luxury is a silk day and night dress that weighs 1.7 oz. I wouldn't dream of sleeping in it it looks too nice on a hot summer day sitting around sipping tinto verana con Limon. After living in the same clothes for up to 7 days on Pacific Crest Trail almost clean clothes are don't bother me. However, I wear a little cream deodorant every day. Last September my pack weighed 10 pounds. If you are one those people (and I hope you know who you are) whose clothes can standing by up on their own and are fragrant after a day of hiking please bring two hiking outfits.
 
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Oh my...I could not imagine anything worse than a G-string when riding a bike!! Mind you, be glad that they didn't go nude under the bike shorts though...that would have been more uncomfortable for everyone else.
 
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ernie pease said:
Every night including Roncesvalles my night clothes consisted of my very comfy underwear.
Click to expand...
Same here. The T-shirt (no bra of course) I was waking in the next morning and my black long boxer brief ExOfficio underwear (which look like shorts). In the morning I just had to add my ExOfficio crossover bra and throw on my skirt. All done in the dark in my bunk. Can’t get any easier.
 
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The only thing easier is me sleeping in my next day's clean clothes, including a comfy bra. No, the girls don't get to roam free in the camino bunks. All my clothing pieces are stretchy, so they work fine. I admit it does take a few days to get used to it, but then no problem, easy peasy. I just jump out of bed in the morning...I mean hobble to the bathroom, wash my face, drag a comb through my hair and I'm "good to go"!
 
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