When I weigh my beautiful purple pack at the post office today, I’m not thrilled with the numbers on the screen. “15lbs 5oz” it reads. And this is without water. Being unwilling to disclose too much information here, I’m not going to tell you whether that’s more or less than 10% of my body weight but I will say this, I’m not pleased. (And if I’m honest with myself, I think part of that’s to do more with pride than anything else. If “they” can get their pack weight down to a mere 7 pounds, why can’t I?)
Anyway, my thoughts turn to the contents of the pack; the negotiables and the non-negotiables. Rain poncho: non-negotiable. Hmm. Now that I think about it, pretty much all of it’s negotiable.
In that case, time to prioritize. I begin with the Tevas because after the the sleeping bag (a whopping 2 pounds, making it VERY negotiable except for the little matter of needing a good night’s sleep), the Tevas are the heaviest item at 22 ounces. But I love my tried-and-true water sandals that I’m convinced I’ve been hiking in for 20 years. I will be able to wear them in the showers at the albergues, I will be able to wear them in the evenings around town, I will be able to change into them during the day if I’m tired of my trail runners.
But they weigh over a pound. (Twenty ounces, in fact.)
As usual, I turn to the Camino Forum for guidance. I start searching “Tevas” and come up with a few threads. In the first thread, as usual, many former pilgrims mention their love of Crocs as evening footwear. But there are also many who extoll the features of their Tevas (or other water sandals); it would seem that what I love about them, others love about them. “Take the Tevas!”, “LOVED the Tevas”, and “If I hadn’t brought mine [hiking sandals], I would have bought some.” As I continue to read, what I notice is that I can’t find one person who has taken hiking sandals who wishes they hadn’t taken them. Nobody has mentioned sending their Tevas/Chacos/Keens home or leaving them in a “free” box. Everyone who has taken them would do it again and recommend taking them to others.
And besides, check out the amazing life you will have when you wear Tevas:
I guess I will Teva…
