Things that were important to me

Here is a list of things that were essential for me:

-Seat cushion: Especially in winter, when all the benches are wet or damp or even when you sit on the floor, a seat cushion like this is something nice and I will definitely take this with me on further hikes

-Deer tallow and horse ointment: Deer tallow to moisturize the feet before, during and after hiking and horse ointment for all other ailments. Only next time I will take a larger amount of horse ointment with me. This time I just poured a little into a small cream container.

-Good headlamp: I got this before my vacation and invested almost €50. It has 6 different modes and you can charge it via USB. Especially since I usually start early, good light in the morning is essential. On my last Camino I had a headlight for €3, but the difference is huge and it just makes you feel safer.

-Pockets for the backpack: This is really ingenious if you have pockets in the backpack and can bring some order to the backpack. It always takes me a few days to know where I have to stow everything in my backpack, but it worked really well with the panniers.

-Travel guide: Even though you no longer need the travel guide because of the good signage and all the apps with all the information, I love going through the route for the next day in the travel guide in the afternoon and I like all the recommendations for places and hostels great, so I find it worth carrying the weight of the book.

-Rain cape: Even though the cape was a little annoying in the wind and it tore, I love the rain cape because it meant I could make myself rainproof at any time without taking off my backpack. In general, I always start sweating quickly, especially when I'm going uphill, and with a rain cape you can always provide ventilation. Of course, the disadvantage is that you get wet in heavy rain, but in heavy rain you get wet anyway, no matter what you have. You can also use the cape as a blanket and it dries quickly and it not only helped against the wind but also against the cold.

-Sleeping bag: I ordered an ultralight backpack for this vacation. On my last hike I still had my old sleeping bag, which warmed a little better, was three times as heavy and took up five times the space. The advantage was that it was easy to wrap.