Gearing up
You will be hiking for about two months in a country with a very different culture, climate, and environment. So… what do you bring besides your best manners and sense of adventure?
This has been an ongoing investigation (and struggle) over the past months. Everything you bring needs to be necessary — otherwise it becomes extra deadweight on your back. I’ve read through countless packing lists from other henro and pilgrims, and watched hours of YouTube backpacking tips. I’m amazed and impressed by the ultralight scene that exists on long-distance trails around the world. But ultimately, you have to think about what you need and what you can handle in terms of (dis)comfort. I could lie to myself and pretend I’ll rough it out, but honestly, I’m a bit of a spoiled traveler and I’m used to a fair amount of luxury, comfort, and convenience.
So, while creating my “basic” setup, I chose the middle ground between weight and comfort. As I’m planning on traveling and camping for another two months after the Shikoku pilgrimage, I decided I will bring a tent and sleeping system.
For shelter I opted for the MSR Elixir 1, as it’s easy to set up and can stand on its own without hiking poles or trees.
For my sleeping system, I have:
I’ve tested this combination in early spring and during the summer, and can confirm it works perfectly for my personal sleeping needs. For the first month of the pilgrimage I’ll probably stay in hotels, minshuku, ryokan, and temple lodgings, but in the second month I’m hoping for some nice camping weather.
For my backpack, I chose the Lundhags Padje Light 60L — a lightweight pack with enough space for all my belongings, but one that still has a sturdy aluminum frame to distribute weight. I especially like the three large stretchy mesh pockets that add a lot of extra room.
I attached two hipbelt pockets for quick-access items (aka sunglasses, sunblock, dorayaki, and onigiri 😋).
As a sling/fanny pack, I’ll use the Alpaka Bravo Sling Mini V2 for my phone, passport, money, and other important items.
Lastly, for day trips, I have the foldable Osprey Ultralight Dry Stuff Pack.
For tech, I’ve tried to keep it simple. Since I don’t want to bring a laptop or tablet, communication will be limited to my phone.
I’m bringing:
As I’m allergic to mosquito bites, I’m also bringing a Nitecore EMR06 Mosquito Repeller to hopefully keep the suckers at bay.
And of course, I’m bringing a Anker Nano Travel Adapter 5-in-1 20W to be able to plug everything in.
I initially wanted to bring my system camera and lenses, but that would have added too much weight — so I’m still considering a compact camera, because I do love shooting with a dedicated camera.
Then we have the famed ditty bag — the ever-growing collection of trinkets and random items you need quick access to, but that don’t really belong anywhere else. It’s like that one messy junk drawer everyone has: you want to clean it out, but you can’t, because somehow everything in there is essential. Mine is still fairly organized… but by the end of the journey it will probably contain twice as much stuff.
Currently, it holds repair kits, a headlamp, a Swiss Army knife, a massage ball, Leukotape, and some other bits and pieces.
I won’t go into the details of my clothing here, as this blog entry is already getting long. Instead, I’ll add a full gear list on the resources page later, since I’m still fine-tuning that part of my baggage. Suffice to say: clothing has always been a difficult topic when packing, and on past adventures I tended to bring far more than I actually wore.
Shoes are another subject entirely, and they deserve more attention than one paragraph — so let’s save that for another time.