Today I found myself emptying out some shampoo from a small plastic container. I brought the weight down from 75 gms to 50 gms. So I shaved 25 gms off the weight of my backpack.

You have no idea how happy I felt!

Over the past few weeks, I have packed and repacked my backpack countless times, trying to lock down what’s essential and what’s desirable. Desirable, if it weighs more than 10 gms, has no place on my back!

I’ve weighed, on the digital kitchen scales, everything I’m taking – from my beanie to my undies. (If you’re interested, my Bonds comfy undies weigh 65 gms. They are synthetic, not cotton. I’ve learnt that cotton is a real no-no on the Camino. Cotton takes a long time to dry, and it quickly becomes stinky.)

The weight of my backpack has become my obsession. Rule of thumb states that it should be no more than 10% of your body weight. Given that I weigh about 75 kgs, that means my backpack should be 7.5 kgs. But I can’t get it down to that – no way.

The lightest I can get it is 9 kgs – which means I have to do one of two things: I have to either lose 1.5 kgs off the backpack, or gain 15 kgs body weight.

So, bring on the buffets…

What’s making my pack heavy is my iPad (650 gms) and my camera (670 gms). That’s almost 1.5 kgs there. But I really need both, so 9 kgs it is. Actually, I’ve been training with this weight, and it seems to be manageable.

And after all, I did save 25 gms off the weight of my shampoo!