Sleeping bag for early September Camino Frances?

[Lhollo]

I’ll be doing the first section of the Camino Frances, from SJPP to Los Arcos, between 1st and 10th September (including exploration days).

I’ve booked private rooms in advance for the whole route (medical reasons—wish I could stay in bunk beds but can’t). Some of the rooms are in hotels or guest houses, others are private rooms in albergues.

My question: will we need sleeping bags? Or just liners of some sort?

I’m thinking about bedbugs, temperature and pack weight.

Re the bedbugs: I’ve had to request lots of extra pillows in the accommodations and it hadn’t previously occurred to me that bedbugs might be a problem. Given that I’ll be using the accommodations’ pillows, is it worth worrying about the rest of their bedding, or are the blankets and mattress the main issues?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[dougfitz]

You might want to confirm that bedding will be provided, either directly with the albergues or checking a site like Gronze. I would expect you will get bedding, and shouldn't need to carry a sleeping bag, or even liners if sheets as well as blankets are provided.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Hi, Lhollo. . .

It will likely still be very warm to hot on the Frances during your time there.

Bedbugs do not live inside the bedding, or inside pillows, or inside mattresses per se, but more in the cracks and crevices of the bed frames, baseboards and around furniture. Sometimes if folded bedding is left undisturbed they may hide there, and at any seams of mattresses.

A quick look for signs of bedbugs will help to identify a potential infestation. I check any place that I lodge at, even at a Parador. This is a YouTube video on what to look for. It is for a hotel room, but it will give some good instruction on what to look for in general.

Permethrin and pyrethroids are often mentioned as repellents to help keep bedbugs from biting, but they do not repel bedbugs. If the bedbugs are not 'immune' to permethrin, then if they are exposed they will eventually die. . . just not before they are able to feed. However, it can be a good strategy to spray the inside of a backpack and the insides of stuff sacks so that any bedbug hitchhikers die before you unpack in the next albergue and potentially let loose the critters.

 

[Lhollo]

You might want to confirm that bedding will be provided, either directly with the albergues or checking a site like Gronze. I would expect you will get bedding, and shouldn't need to carry a sleeping bag, or even liners if sheets as well as blankets are provided.

They all provide sheets although it’s an extra cost in some places. But from what I’ve been reading, people tend to prefer their own sleeping bags even though sheets and blankets are provided? I’ve read a few horror stories about the blankets in particular.

I’m not sure how hot/cold it will be: whether we’ll want added warmth toward the end or actually will be trying to keep cool (although I see in an above response that it should still be hot at night).

 

[Lhollo]

Hi, Lhollo. . .

It will likely still be very warm to hot on the Frances during your time there.

Bedbugs do not live inside the bedding, or inside pillows, or inside mattresses per se, but more in the cracks and crevices of the bed frames, baseboards and around furniture. Sometimes if folded bedding is left undisturbed they may hide there, and at any seams of mattresses.

A quick look for signs of bedbugs will help to identify a potential infestation. I check any place that I lodge at, even at a Parador. This is a YouTube video on what to look for. It is for a hotel room, but it will give some good instruction on what to look for in general.

Permethrin and pyrethroids are often mentioned as repellents to help keep bedbugs from biting, but they do not repel bedbugs. If the bedbugs are not 'immune' to permethrin, then if they are exposed they will eventually die. . . just not before they are able to feed. However, it can be a good strategy to spray the inside of a backpack and the insides of stuff sacks so that any bedbug hitchhikers die before you unpack in the next albergue and potentially let loose the critters.

Thank you, that’s a really helpful video

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

Lhollo, my wife and I have walked Camino Frances three times and are planning our 4th for this fall. The first two times we walked, we brought silk sleep sheets and light sleeping bags. Nights can be cool even in September so we were glad we brought these. For our third camino, we had reservations in private albergues every night. We brought the silk sheets in case we needed them, but we did not. We will leave these behind for our camino this fall. So I don't think you will need to bring anything for your camino.
Bob

 

[RJM]

You will not need sleeping bags if you are staying in hotels, pensiones etc. Do not bring them unless you feel a need to because of a fear of bedbugs, but keep in mind the sleeping bags will not protect you from bedbugs and when you get to your rooms you would have to completely strip down all the beds to the bare mattresses and sleep on top of that, after inspection of course. I personally would not want to do that and I have slept in many hotels and pensiones on the Camino Frances and never encountered a bed bug in one. I would not worry about it. Why go on a holiday worrying about such things.
I have walked the Frances in September before. Was not really very cold at all, even at night. I stayed in albergues in September and carried only a liner.

 

[dougfitz]

But from what I’ve been reading, people tend to prefer their own sleeping bags even though sheets and blankets are provided? I’ve read a few horror stories about the blankets in particular.

I cannot tell whether you will want to use blankets provided by albergues. I have never had a difficulty with this, but neither have I relied upon albergue blankets. I carry a sleeping bag and liner, but have used the provided blankets from time to time. Everywhere I have stayed in a private albergue, fresh sheets have been provided, but you might carry a liner if, for example, you want to avoid the cost of fresh linen if there is an extra charge for that.

 

[notion900]

a holiday

 

[RJM]

Well it certainly is not work, so based on the norm in regards to 1. work versus 2. holiday, I have to go with door number 2, lol.
I would guess that most of the locals working along the Camino in the various customer based service industries (wait staff, housekeeping at hotels, reception at hotels, bartenders, cafe staff, shoppes and market employees etc) do not look at pilgrims as a bunch of people arriving in Spain (or France, Portugal etc) to go to work, lol. I imagine they see pilgrims as a bunch of people who are off from work (that is what is known as a holiday) or retired or perhaps financially secure enough to be able to spend 1-5 weeks trekking along carefree without any real sense of a schedule.

 

[notion900]

Well it certainly is not work, so based on the norm in regards to 1. work versus 2. holiday, I have to go with door number 2, lol.
I would guess that most of the locals working along the Camino in the various customer based service industries (wait staff, housekeeping at hotels, reception at hotels, bartenders, cafe staff, shoppes and market employees etc) do not look at pilgrims as a bunch of people arriving in Spain (or France, Portugal etc) to go to work, lol. I imagine they see pilgrims as a bunch of people who are off from work (that is what is known as a holiday) or retired or perhaps financially secure enough to be able to spend 1-5 weeks trekking along carefree without any real sense of a schedule.

Many times I've been treated as special, I've been given things for free, helped, treated as someone who is doing something very hard, who is putting myself in a vulnerable sitation for a higher purpose. Not really how the average vacationer is treated. Spanish people in general do see the camino as a higher purpose, unless they detect that the pilgrim is actually a touregrino.

Here's my friend talking about his caminos:
"Siento que he colmado mis expectativas y me siento realizado con lo que buscaba y me ha dado el Camino. Me siento realizado con todo lo que he hecho"
"I feel that I have filled to the brim my expectations and I feel fulfilled in what I was looking for and in what the Camino has given me. I feel fulfilled with everything I have done."

TBH it bothers me that you are assuming you know what people think without asking them. I've had accomodation owners eagerly show me their own compostelas. I've had the bus ticket man at Sevilla airport randomly pull up his trouser legs to show me his camino tattoos!!!

Anyway we were talking about sheets.

 

[Tincatinker]

Anyway we were talking about sheets.

And Bed Bugs, and Pillows, and perfectly normal pre-camino panic . And, next September - by which time we may all have succumbed to COVID-19 and the previous questions may have no relevance at all.

I once got offered the "Peregrino discount" in the Parador in Santillana del Mar - which was nice - despite that I wasn't a Peregrino on Camino, I was just a scruffy hiker on my way back to Santander after a month in the Picos. Perhaps I smelt like a Peregrino.

 

[notion900]

COVID-19 sounds like a brand of bed bug repellent.

 

[trecile]

All of your rooms in guest houses, pensions, etc. should supply all the bedding that you need and towels too. I have stayed in private rooms in albergues that have bedding, but I would contact them to make sure if I were you.

 

[RJM]

Many times I've been treated as special, I've been given things for free, helped, treated as someone who is doing something very hard, who is putting myself in a vulnerable sitation for a higher purpose. Not really how the average vacationer is treated. Spanish people in general do see the camino as a higher purpose, unless they detect that the pilgrim is actually a touregrino.

Here's my friend talking about his caminos:
"Siento que he colmado mis expectativas y me siento realizado con lo que buscaba y me ha dado el Camino. Me siento realizado con todo lo que he hecho"
"I feel that I have filled to the brim my expectations and I feel fulfilled in what I was looking for and in what the Camino has given me. I feel fulfilled with everything I have done."

TBH it bothers me that you are assuming you know what people think without asking them. I've had accomodation owners eagerly show me their own compostelas. I've had the bus ticket man at Sevilla airport randomly pull up his trouser legs to show me his camino tattoos!!!

Anyway we were talking about sheets.

Sorry you are bothered, lol.
I can only add that when it comes time for me to schedule time away from work to walk the Camino, I do not say to my boss "I need two weeks off in June so that I can put myself in a vulnerable situation for a higher purpose", lol. I usually say "boss I need two weeks of vacation time in June".
TBH, I have never felt vulnerable whilst walking the Camino.

 

[notion900]

@RJM

treated as someone who is doing something very hard, who is putting myself in a vulnerable sitation for a higher purpose

Other people's perceptions. Plenty of Spanish people have said they are worried about me, walking alone.

 

[Lhollo]

Your responses are all really interesting and are making me think! So there’s a bit of pondering, below, about holiday/work/higher purposes.

First, I am still unsure whether to take a sleeping bag liner I’m considering a silk one because it would offer some warmth, in case we needed it by the end of the trip or at higher altitudes, and from what I gather the silk can protect from bedbugs, should we encounter them. I realise that we will have sheets provided but… those bedbug stories.

The trouble is that if I were to get badly bitten it could affect my ability to complete the walk because of my other medical problems. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome type 3, a connective tissue disorder which causes joint dislocations and partial dislocations. I manage the illness well, but an injury that causes me to walk unevenly could have a cascade effect, so I’m wary. But I’m also excited. It isn't panic so much as having six months to wait and wanting imaginatively to begin walking IMMEDIATELY!

In terms of the holiday/work/higher purpose debate, I’m really interested in this. I think that polarising the Camino as either holiday or work doesn’t quite make sense, although I can see that if you’re in full time employment it is logical. I’ve done a multi-day walk previously so am drawing on my experience of that as well as on what I’ve read about other people’s experiences.

For me, the walk will certainly be a holiday in the sense that it will be a break from the pressures of ordinary life, for both myself and my partner (it’s actually a secret birthday gift for him and I am bursting with not being able to tell him about it until March 5th!). For him, it will definitely be a much needed break from work. But he likes walking for some of the same reasons I do: lying on a beach, touring in a car, or visiting tourist sights can’t give the same type of mental space—that uncluttering of emotion, that making sense of oneself—that walking for several days does. Walking feels natural, organic, and puts us in touch with something we’ve perhaps lost.

Maybe it is always a luxury to take two weeks away from everyday life. I myself am busy with research (PhD) and freelance work; I’ll be taking time away from the administrative aspects of that work, but that is quite easy for me to arrange. There’s an element of the Camino feeding into my research (I am a writer, so time and space to create ideas can come close to an idea of ‘work’—the boundaries blur a bit). But by late August, both my partner and I will be panting towards the Camino, so I suppose that suggests it is a holiday!

Or is it? Because of my illness I am very aware that some people might be going through a period of no work with a relatively unrewarding everyday life, and that in those cases, where there is a type of struggle, the Camino might feel like work, albeit in a positive way. Three years ago, I couldn’t walk or chew and had to leave employment, so working towards doing a five day, 82 mile walk in 2018 was a big deal for me then. This Camino is still a big deal really: it will be something I work towards all spring and summer, and an added motivation to keep myself physically active. Managing a physical illness can feel like a massive chore if there is no end goal.

And then there’s the spiritual aspect. Yes, it is there for me. In my everyday life, I don’t have the space, nor the contact with nature, to make sense of what the heck any of this means. For me, and for my partner, walking is a very good way to gain insight into something that is beyond us, something almost magical, something spiritual and necessary. Maybe that is a type of holiday. Maybe it is the most important work any of us can do: to figure out what actually matters. I don’t know.

But I can’t wait!

Still wondering about those silk liners

 

[Tincatinker]

@Lhollo, thank you for that post. A reminder to all of us that hacer camino is as individual as the prints we leave in the mud and the smiles we give and receive.

Sadly, that silk liner is unlikely to have any impact on a Bed Bug - but they are very snuggly on a cold night.

Buen camino peregrina

 

[trecile]

and from what I gather the silk can protect from bedbugs,

I wouldn't count on that at all. Bedbugs can just as easily crawl into a silk sleep sack as onto cotton sheets.
I was bitten by one while I was inside my silk liner.

 

[notion900]

@Lhollo I think you need personalised medical advice on the bedbugs - you are unlikely to have any contact with them but it sounds like if you did get unlucky and get a biting, it could make you ill. You might need to bring some medication with you just in case, and a doctor's letter.

There's pretty much nothing you can do to stop them getting on you in the night if they are there. I've stayed at a very remote unstaffed albergue where it was a choice between endure the bugs or sleep on the ground outside, but that's never going to happen on the French way, as there's so much accomodation and it's better run. If you arrive and check before unpacking and see signs, just leave. If you know your luggage has been exposed (by which I mean you unpacked and stayed there), take great care when getting home - there's a resource on here about what to do. But don't go around with the heebie jeebies the whole time, trying to wrap yourself up in liners. Sunburn is a far bigger concern in general.

Oh yes, and reading your description of your condition, I would seriously consider poles. Maybe talk to your physio about this.

 

[trecile]

If you know your luggage has been exposed (by which I mean you unpacked and stayed there), take great care when getting home -

Please don't wait until you are home to de-bedbug your gear. Put everything that can go into a dryer for 30 minutes on high temperature. That will kill the bugs and eggs. Don't worry about washing on hot. If it's a warm/hot day you can put items that can't go into the dryer in a black plastic trash bag, seal it up and set it in the sun for several hours. The temperature inside should get hot enough to kill the bugs and their eggs. If it's not a hot day liberally spray everything inside the bag with bug repellent, seal the bag and leave it for several hours.

 

[Lhollo]

@Lhollo I think you need personalised medical advice on the bedbugs - you are unlikely to have any contact with them but it sounds like if you did get unlucky and get a biting, it could make you ill. You might need to bring some medication with you just in case, and a doctor's letter.

There's pretty much nothing you can do to stop them getting on you in the night if they are there. I've stayed at a very remote unstaffed albergue where it was a choice between endure the bugs or sleep on the ground outside, but that's never going to happen on the French way, as there's so much accomodation and it's better run. If you arrive and check before unpacking and see signs, just leave. If you know your luggage has been exposed (by which I mean you unpacked and stayed there), take great care when getting home - there's a resource on here about what to do. But don't go around with the heebie jeebies the whole time, trying to wrap yourself up in liners. Sunburn is a far bigger concern in general.

Oh yes, and reading your description of your condition, I would seriously consider poles. Maybe talk to your physio about this.

My Nordic walking poles are my best friends

I don’t think bedbugs would make me ill. Dislocations are the concern, and almost stopped me completing the multi-day walk in did in 2018. Then, I lost my rhythm because of a twinge in my foot caused by a slightly tight lace. My knee then dislocated on a downhill. I realise there’s only so much that can be done about this! Just want to do as much as I sensibly can to avoid ruining the walk.

I am sort of trusting that it will all be ok. Having paid for much of the accommodation in advance, I can’t afford for it not to be. And people with all sorts of illnesses have completed it, haven’t they?

I’d appreciate… well, anything supportive really.

 

[David Tallan]

They all provide sheets although it’s an extra cost in some places. But from what I’ve been reading, people tend to prefer their own sleeping bags even though sheets and blankets are provided? I’ve read a few horror stories about the blankets in particular.

I’m not sure how hot/cold it will be: whether we’ll want added warmth toward the end or actually will be trying to keep cool (although I see in an above response that it should still be hot at night).

If sheets and blankets are provided, I wouldn't bring a sleeping bag or a sleeping bag liner. It seems to me just extra weight with no added value. I don't think they provide protection against bedbugs and, if there are bedbugs, they would just increase the chances that you transport them to other locations. In terms of temperature, I'd expect it still to be quite warm atr that time of year and it seems to me that they bedding they provide has you covered (as it were ).

 

[Tincatinker]

@Lhollo none of us can guarantee your camino for you. I will certainly mention you to my Old Guys next time we are having a conversation. You strike me as a good soul and that usually does for them. Others here will no doubt offer their prayers and hopes for you. This forum is a gathering of remarkably generous people.

You are correct in that people with all sorts of challenges have made Camino, some over huge distances, arriving in Santiago in triumph. Others, young, fit and eager have broken down and been obliged to abandon their plans. Over ambition, the folly of youth or just bad luck can change the world in moments.

I appreciate that you are looking for support and that is my intention. I wonder why you are planning to set out from St Jean and to tackle some very challenging ascents and descents in your first couple of days walking. I would urge you to consider walking from Roncesvalles to say Logrono rather than risk that hill. The Camino does not start in St Jean pied de la Porte.

 

[Lhollo]

@Lhollo none of us can guarantee your camino for you. I will certainly mention you to my Old Guys next time we are having a conversation. You strike me as a good soul and that usually does for them. Others here will no doubt offer their prayers and hopes for you. This forum is a gathering of remarkably generous people.

You are correct in that people with all sorts of challenges have made Camino, some over huge distances, arriving in Santiago in triumph. Others, young, fit and eager have broken down and been obliged to abandon their plans. Over ambition, the folly of youth or just bad luck can change the world in moments.

I appreciate that you are looking for support and that is my intention. I wonder why you are planning to set out from St Jean and to tackle some very challenging ascents and descents in your first couple of days walking. I would urge you to consider walking from Roncesvalles to say Logrono rather than risk that hill. The Camino does not start in St Jean pied de la Porte.

Thank you. This is very kind of you (although I confess that I don’t yet know who the Old Guys are! Sorry for any ignorance).

I know the first part from SJPP is really hard and is a risk. There are two reasons for starting there. One is because it is that landscape that first attracted me to the Camino and I’ve been dreaming of walking there ever since. The other reason is that I am a sucker for a challenge! It’s not just wild ambition though, I need the goals. I am actually pretty fit—I have to be, to keep my daft joints in place—so should be up to doing it (I usually feel this way, when I’m not having a confidence wobbly as I did in the above post!). Just need to avoid injury.

 

[Lhollo]

Thank you. This is very kind of you (although I confess that I don’t yet know who the Old Guys are! Sorry for any ignorance).

I know the first part from SJPP is really hard and is a risk. There are two reasons for starting there. One is because it is that landscape that first attracted me to the Camino and I’ve been dreaming of walking there ever since. The other reason is that I am a sucker for a challenge! It’s not just wild ambition though, I need the goals. I am actually pretty fit—I have to be, to keep my daft joints in place—so should be up to doing it (I usually feel this way, when I’m not having a confidence wobbly as I did in the above post!). Just need to avoid injury.

Should add that I know my partner will want to start in France too.

 

[Tincatinker]

My Old Guys? Rock, Air, Water, Fire. Though usually encountered on Camino as Mud, Wind, Rain and Sun. The quartet drivers of my happy world

We don't do religion here so I'll leave this at that.

Buen camino

 

[Lhollo]

My Old Guys? Rock, Air, Water, Fire. Though usually encountered on Camino as Mud, Wind, Rain and Sun. The quartet drivers of my happy world

We don't do religion here so I'll leave this at that.

Buen camino

 

[jltheobald]

Something I haven't heard discussed, perhaps it's the nature of the inexpensive private albergues/hotels we stayed in last October. The heat in the rooms is often on a timer and depending on how you sleep (we're desert dwellers so we prefer things a bit warmer) it may not be working when you want it. In fact, one of the times we used our sleeping bags as blankets (0.43 kg) was in a hotel because to us the room was quite cold and the heat had gone off later in the evening. I'm guessing, since there seemed to be a lot of welcome emphasis on energy conservation all along the Camino, that this was an energy saving scheme.

 

[Jackieduda]

I’ll be doing the first section of the Camino Frances, from SJPP to Los Arcos, between 1st and 10th September (including exploration days).

I’ve booked private rooms in advance for the whole route (medical reasons—wish I could stay in bunk beds but can’t). Some of the rooms are in hotels or guest houses, others are private rooms in albergues.

My question: will we need sleeping bags? Or just liners of some sort?

I’m thinking about bedbugs, temperature and pack weight.

Re the bedbugs: I’ve had to request lots of extra pillows in the accommodations and it hadn’t previously occurred to me that bedbugs might be a problem. Given that I’ll be using the accommodations’ pillows, is it worth worrying about the rest of their bedding, or are the blankets and mattress the main issues?

Thanks for your thoughts!

In sept-oct 2018 I walked the CF with only a silk liner. I was fine in Sept. it got a little cooler in Oct so I slept with my nylon jacket on. I was fine with that. As for bedbugs, you either get them or you don’t . I encountered them in my first week, but only once during the entire 6 weeks of staying in alberges nearly every night.

 

[Lhollo]

In sept-oct 2018 I walked the CF with only a silk liner. I was fine in Sept. it got a little cooler in Oct so I slept with my nylon jacket on. I was fine with that. As for bedbugs, you either get them or you don’t . I encountered them in my first week, but only once during the entire 6 weeks of staying in alberges nearly every night.

Thanks for this. Did you find you needed the silk liner toward the start of September, or was it mostly later? Did anything help with the bedbugs or did you just get bitten?

 

[Jackieduda]

Thanks for this. Did you find you needed the silk liner toward the start of September, or was it mostly later? Did anything help with the bedbugs or did you just get bitten?

The liner was fine for most of September. If it gets cool you can ask for a blanket. Bedbugs often go for exposed flesh. My bites were on an arm that was outside of the sleep sack. You can inspect for bedbugs at any accommodation. Even in the US i always check for evidence of these before I use a room while on holiday. Check out youtube for many videos on this. Buen Camino to you Lhollo!

 

[DwainS]

I'am starting Camino Frances around Sept 8th. I have a silk liner already that was around a 100 dollars. So i'am going to start with that and if It gets to cold I'll buy a light sleeping bag in Spain. Buy one here or in Spain doesn't matter to me. Rather buy one in Spain if needed than buy one here and pack all the way to Spain and not need it.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I use a lightweight down bag for all my Caminos. I cut the hood and zipper out so it’s more like a blanket with a foot box . I love it!

 

[Kathy F.]

Just one minor thing.
You said in your original post (OP), that you wish you could stay in bunk beds but can't, apologizing for having to stay in a private room.
For heaven's sake, don't apologize for that! I WISH I had a reason to not stay in those bunk beds.
Once, I was assigned a top bunk in the albergue in Burgos. I spent 20 minutes NOT being able to climb up into it (I think my - ahem - center of gravity is a bit too full on the bottom) and eventually had to PLEAD with the hospitalero to give me a bottom bunk somewhere else - he was not at all pleased.
The experience of the Camino is not any one piece of it. It is a journey made of many parts that (usually) come together as a whole and is your personal journey. Bunk bed, city bus, backpack transport, no one thing qualifies or disqualifies your experience, and don't let anyone make you feel otherwise.
So, enjoy.
Just don't brag about not having lost sleep to snorers. THAT could get you a punch in the nose.
PS - I have been guilty of thinking that those who do not walk the whole way, carrying all their stuff, from at least SJPdP, are not REAL pilgrims. My lack of humility makes me embarrassed and ashamed. I need to work on living up to the advice I gave above.

 

[Nanouk]

The liner was fine for most of September. If it gets cool you can ask for a blanket. Bedbugs often go for exposed flesh. My bites were on an arm that was outside of the sleep sack. You can inspect for bedbugs at any accommodation. Even in the US i always check for evidence of these before I use a room while on holiday. Check out youtube for many videos on this. Buen Camino to you Lhollo!

What about your face since it has to be somewhat exposed...if only to breathe!