One of the things I’ll have to get used to while walking the Camino is wearing the same thing, day after day. It’s advised that your pack only be about 10% of your body weight, which currently puts my pack’s ideal weight at about 15 lbs. I plan on hiking as lightly as possible, which should mean two changes of clothes, max.

As you might imagine, wearing the same thing every day is not only boring, but also potentially stinky, especially when you’re walking between 15 and 20 miles per day. From what I’ve been reading, there are opportunities to wash and dry clothing in machines once a week or so. In some cases, it’s even possible to have your laundry done for you. However, it seems that many people end up hand washing essential pieces in the afternoon after a day’s walk, then hanging them out to dry on a laundry line at their alburgue (a type of hostel along the Camino). Another option is to hang smaller wet clothes, like socks, on the back of your backpack as you walk the next day.

I hate washing clothes. Even with the modern convenience of a washer and dryer in my apartment, I still put off washing clothes until I’ve run out of all of my favorite t-shirts. More than just washing clothes, I especially hate hand washing clothes. I like soaping and rinsing them, but I really dislike wringing them out. When I was a girl, still living at home, one of my chores was to do all of the laundry, even when our washing machine died and this meant washing everyone’s clothes by hand. It’s just not something I ever want to do again, and I try to avoid buying delicate clothing as a result.

As lame as it may sound, I think this might be a small issue on the trip. Will I just deal with it, and hand wash when needed? Probably. Or will I hold out until the last minute, desperately hoping to run into a washing machine in the next town over? Well, there’s a good chance I might do this for awhile, too. One way or the other, it’s sure to be an adventure.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Basically Beyond Basic
• Pipework | Perspectives on life, universe and everything
• The Travels of Zack | The Jittery Goat
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Incidents of a Dysfunctional Spraffer
• Daily Prompt: Those Clotheses Won’t Fold Themselves | Under the Monkey Tree
• Home | My Little Avalon
• Daily Prompt: Those Clothes Won’t Fold Themselves | Under the Monkey Tree
• Hoover Wizard | Mara Eastern’s Personal Blog
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Awl and Scribe
• Just a dustrag | marjanitalarosa
• Home – Daily Post | Linda Long Writes!
• A Hero’s Home | L5GN
• Home is where love lives – Daily Prompt | alienorajt
• Lime kilns and float homes | Exploratorius
• Household Tasks
• Don’t make me do the cooking! | A mom’s blog
• I Do Not Do Anything Anyways | Lisa’s Kansa Muse
• Chore Lists, Unmatched Socks and One Medieval Monk | meanderedwanderings
• The Damned Vacuum- I say that lovingly | The Shotgun Girls
• The Superstitions attached with Putting the Silverware Away « psychologistmimi
• Chores… | Kate Murray
• Daily Prompt: Home | Tommia’s Tablet
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Being a Huntress
• Folding | Active Army Wife
• The Toddler Chore Challenge | The Pinterested Parent
• Ironing | Life is great
• Ugh, dishes.. | Relax
• It’s a Chore | The Zombies Ate My Brains
• PERFECT EXCEPT FOR THE DUST BUNNIES | Serendipity
• Dishes! | Wanderlein
• Dark Night of the Sink / Daily Prompt | I’m a Writer, Yes I Am
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Sued51’s Blog
• Why Can’t The Dishes | Flowers and Breezes
• Daily Prompt: These Clothes Won’t Arrange Themselves | Thoughtless Prattler
• Daily Prompt: Home | The Wandering Poet
• The Bearded Infant | thejimmieG
• Daily Post: Home | Destino
• Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | The Nameless One
• The Missing Daily Prompt: “BOOM” | tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | The Wandering Poet
• I Was Just A Little Girl From I Thought, A Normal Family….. | Just A Recovery Author Learning To Be A Better Writer
• Household Tips and Tricks for the Homemaking Impaired | Bright Tuesday
• A Woman’s Work is Drinking Wine and Watching Other People Wash Dishes, TYVM | thanks for letting me autograph your cat
• The View Could Be Better | Idaho Notion
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
• What Do The Cats Say?
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | From a Place of…
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Life In The Passenger Seat
• Home, where I unload my armor | Mishe en Place
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Po’ Girl Shines
• We Should Use Paper Plates…ALWAYS! | aMUSEing THINGS
• JJQ #63/Daily Prompt: Tasks, Home, and Talents | jak & Cimmy’s Journal Jar
• A Dictator’s Guide to Housework | James Clegg
• Isn’t There an App for That? | My Author-itis
• S. Thomas Summers: Writing with Some Ink and a Hammer | The Importance of a Toy Box
• The Journey Just Sucks | sayanything
• Cleaning vs Life | The Silver Leaf Journal
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | jane sleeps here
• scrub-a-dub-dub | Home is behind, the world ahead
• Cleaning: Then vs. Now | meg lago
• Hated Household Tasks | Jackwacker Gulch
• The Clean Up Challenge « lordmikle
• Don’t Expect Me to Make My Bed | Nodus Tollens
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Occasional Stuff
• The End | vic briggs
• Daily prompt: Housework? Not this little black duck | helen meikle’s scribblefest
• Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves | Tale of Two Tomatoes
• Housework: Doing It And Doing It And Doing It Well | Edward Hotspur
• Gourmet Cook Cuts Up | Virginia Views
• Daily Prompt: home | That Montreal Girl
• Home | The Land Slide Photography
• Daily Prompt: Those Dishes Won’t Do Themselves (Unfortunately) | Icesabel
• Your turn to wash the dishes | Lux