The list to do The Camino de Santiago suffering

If you are going to do the Camino de Santiago there is a pain that is feared more than a toothache.

Foot pain.

If it appears, you will be out of the game, suffering at every step or abandoning, in the worst case scenario.

This is what happened this summer to one of Angel's friends.

She prepared for the trip with a lot of excitement and expectations.

She read blogs, got information and bought everything she needed to avoid having a hard time on the way:

• Waterproof boots from Decathlon.
• Waterproof socks.
• Detachable waterproof trousers.
• Windbreaker.
• Walking sticks.
• Vaseline for the feet.
• Anti-blister kit: Compeed for chafing, needle and thread to drain blisters...
• Nail clippers for ingrown toenails.
• Ankle braces just in case.
• Flip-flops for after the stage to free up her feet.

The "I'm going to suffer" list.

The very opposite of what the road should be.

And just at that moment his nightmare began:

The first day, chafing.

The second, blisters.

And on the third he suffered a sprain that prevented him from doing the stage. She had to do it by car.

From depending on herself, to depending on a vehicle.

And this is what happens when your feet are weak.

You won't be able to do what they were designed for.

And walking, something so basic to human beings, becomes torture.

The one that will prevent you from enjoying the road and extracting from it that incomparable feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself.

The feeling that allows you to merge with the environment and feel each step as unique as it is.

Good.

There is only one way for this not to happen to you.

Let your feet work every day, let them do their job.

And the only way they can do it is barefoot or almost barefoot.

With footwear that doesn't prevent their movements, that lets them feel it, that doesn't squeeze your toes, that is close to the ground...

The only footwear that allows this is minimalist footwear.

The only one that adapts to your foot and not the other way round.

The only one that allows your feet to move in all directions.

And the only one that doesn't go against evolution. That quality system with thousands of years of experimentation, trial and error.

There is no more.

No less.

Walking.

Whether on the Camino de Santiago or in Patagonia.

Something basic.

Something yours.

Don't let them take it away from you.

Xero Mesa Trail II


If you like more ankle protection, but that doesn't impede your movements:

Vivobarefoot Magna Trail Fg


Your health starts with your feet.

Antonio Caballo.

Pd. Angel's friend did some stages with the flip-flops, the shoes she had worn to free her feet at the end of the stages.