Hi folks!  I'm back.  It's been a long time since I last posted.  Lots of things have happened since then.  During the Fall of 2015, I was a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile trek on foot across Spain.  Folks have done this pilgrimage since at least 900 AD.  I learned a lot and am still learning from the experience.  Every pilgrim will tell you the same thing about the pilgrimage: "It will change your life."  It's absolutely true!  There are lots of reasons to walk the Camino:  religious, spiritual (me), dealing with grief or a life event requiring time and uncluttered thought to sort  through, travel, even adventure.  There are lots of blogs about the Camino so I won't write too much about it at this point.  A few neat things happened to me on the trail that I will just put out there:  I have Native American blood and I started to embrace that aspect of my heritage around Summer 2015.  I walked the Camino during Fall 2015 (started a week after my 60th birthday) and told some of my Native friends of my plan.  They remarked I was going on my vision quest.  I had to go research what exactly a vision quest is--I grew up as a white guy (Celtic and North European heritage) in Appalachia.  Turns out, Native Americans do their vision quest while undergoing puberty.  So at 60 years old, I was a bit of a late-comer.  In essence, persons seeking their "vision" typically go out alone and wait at a place, sometimes for days, for their totem (spirit guide) to assist in providing a "vision" or epiphany that indicates what life-path one will or should take.  My totem is the crow and in recognition of such I had a crow feather hanging from my pack as I walked the Camino.  A crow alerted me to my vision during that trek and I didn't even have to stay at one static location.  Got it while walking alone.  Bottom line is I did get my vision and it turns out I had intuitively chosen the right life-path decades ago.  Also, I believe I met an angel on the pilgrimage.  I am an investigator by profession so I'm a bit conflicted by that conclusion as the investigator in me needs additional evidence but spiritually I can't say with certainty the interaction was not with an angel.  I also met a friend for life from South Africa and we correspond multiple times a week.  I consider her part of my family.  While on the Camino, I had opportunity to put the gear I had chosen for the walk through the paces and most of my choices were spot-on in terms of utility, weight, pack space, function, and durability.  Just about every pilgrim will tell you they long to return to the Camino.  There are numerous routes to explore.  I also long to return and to that end, I have selected improved items to take on my next pilgrimage.  The next few topics will discuss my upgrade choices and why.  They can easily be used during any travel so I hope you will like them and find this blog helpful.  As always, please ask questions and tell us all your thoughts, experiences, and reviews of travel gear and destinations.  Looking forward to it!