When planning the Camino, consider taking the following “non-essential” items. You may find that they make your Camino more pleasant.
- A titanium spork (a combination spoon and fork utensil). I often bought tins of sardines, tuna, or yogurt for a picnic lunch. This lightweight utensil made eating easier and was better than plastic, which can break.
- Ear plugs that fit your ears are are comfortable. Try them out before you leave. I had purchased foam plugs that did not stay in the ear and which were not very comfortable. For information on buying the best earplugs, see The Sound of Silence.
- A bandana. This has many applications—a hand towel, a place mat, or eye cover, for example.
- Clothespins. Be sure to put your name on them. Many albergues have clothes lines, but not the clothespins. To reduce weight, some pilgrims use safety pins. Since I did not want to put holes in my hiking clothes, I used clothespins.
- Anti-diarrhea medicine…if you need it, you will be glad you carried it.
- A comfortable head lamp with a high-lumen output and red LEDs (the red light is less prone to irritate sleeping pilgrims). Wear it for a while to see if it hurts your head.
- Key chain light. I attached mine to my backpack to make it easy to look inside. Lindsey talks about why she carried a key chain light on here Camino.
- Waterproof bags to keep things dry. You can use zippered freezer bags or hiker dry bags. I had both and was surprised that the zippered freezer bags lasted for the duration. For peace of mind though, I used the dry bags for electronics and things that I needed to keep dry.
- A light daypack. These are great for in-town shopping or toting shower paraphernalia.
- An adapter plug. While on the Camino, we also bought a three-way extension socket because many albergues only had one outlet per room. With the extension socket, several pilgrims could charge electronics.