Hit By A Bus, A Philosophical Discussion

Today I walked from Vila do Conde to San Pedro de Rates

Years ago I started trying not to make decisions or take, or not take actions based on fear. Basically, I didn't want a life choked by fear. For some reason when I was deciding whether to do something the fears came racing at me chattering about all the things that could go wrong, I would think, "what If I don't do this, and I walk out the door and get hit by a bus."

For me, it's about not living a life with unnecessary limits. For example, I had always wanted to visit China. In, I think it was 2002, I decided to do a bicycle tour of China. I signed up, paid for it, and was very excited. I was going to Hog King for a week to wander around by myself and then going to the mainland to meet the tour people. When I told people about it, they asked if my husband was going with me. I tell them he didn't want to go, it's not his thing. The response was always, aren't you afraid. I was puzzled it had really never occurred to me to be afraid of going on a bike tour by myself. Then SARS happened. After about 100 people asked if I was afraid or if I was going to cancel my trip, I thought maybe I should be afraid. 

So, I did some research. I looked into how the disease spread and decided I wasn't going to be on any medical team treat SARS patients and I was planning on having sex with anyone on the trip. So I couldn't think of any reason to not go, and what if I didn't go and got hit by a bus.  

It turned out I was the only one on the tour, because everyone else canceled due to concerns about SARS. I had a ball, got some kind of intestinal problem, got treated at a Chinese hospital, was given some medicine a a scroll saying that I was in good Heath. Later, I was riding down a misty mountain that looked like one of those mountains on Chinese paintings, thinking to myself how grateful I was that I didn't miss this experience because of fear. 

The same series of events happened when I decided to do the Camino the first time, alone. Again, I was surprised by the reaction I got. And again I thought , what if I don't do it and walk out the door and get hit by a bus. Again, I was grateful I did not miss that experience. 

There are so many experiences that I might have missed, if it weren't for that bus. I am grateful for the bus. 

Today, however, getting hit by a car, truck or bus was a real possibility. The walk today was a little scary and nerve racking. The streets in the older parts of Europe are usually narrow, and most of the cities and countries have traffic regulations to reduce the risks. Portugal, however, seems uninterested in restricting traffic. And for some reason the Portuguese people seem overly fond of high stone walls.  The result is that roads originally designed for horse carts have two way traffic in modern cars, trucks and busses in both directions. And the roads are lined on both sides by 8 foot stone walls. There are no center lines. Maybe because then it would be apparent that there is not room to safely accommodate two way traffic. And there is certainly no room for sidewalks. So walking on said roads is very exciting, especially in the vicinity of blind curves. 

Needless to say I didn't listen to my iPod today, because I needed to be alert for the sound of approach vehicles. Some came so close I could feel the air caused by their movement. But, I didn't get hit by a bus, or any other vehicle. And I am grateful to be laying here writing this blog. Hopefully tomorrow we will be on trails. I'll report tomorrow, unless I've been hit by a bus lol

I believe when it's time to go, it's time to go. But I'm not going waste time watching the clock. 

Pictures from today: 

Sunrise on the river

My first snail of this Camino

You have to love a country that makes pretty manhole covers. 

I love the goats