Month 3, Lesson 3 | Start Walking

We're living without a vehicle right now and near a main highway not far from Managua so we figured that whenever we need to get somewhere, we'll get there. We're not on any time constraints right now, and aside from a few Skype appointments each week, we're not accountable to be anywhere at any time for anyone. While that kind of lifestyle can be lonely, we're seeing it as freeing because it'll be short-lived, and that means we can live without a vehicle for a few weeks.

Nicaragua is a country that's easy to get around. If you've got some sense of adventure and a little cash to spend, you'll get where you're going - whether via city bus, taxi, mototaxi or foot, something can happen. But it takes a little time. And if you're going somewhere and hoping to hop on a means of transport, your best bet is to first just start walking. You might get picked up along the way, and you might not. But you won't get anywhere if you just stand there and wait. (At least, not from where we live).

Turn left out the blue gate onto the highway and just start walking.

We've had a few instances in the past two weeks where we started walking, and saw a car coming to a crawl beside us, the window rolling down to reveal friends we have made here who offered to take us where we were going. Once, our destination point was exactly the same.

Other times, we've had taxis or mototaxis roll by to tell us their rates. Sometimes we hop in, sometimes we scoff at the gringo pricing and keep on walking. Another will come.

And once - only once - we've walked the whole way to our destination. It was dusty and dirty and fun.

But we got there every time.

And I think that's the lesson for month three. We've learned from our time here that there are a lot of places that our family needs to be going. And to get there, we need to just start walking. Shed the fear of how long it might take or how dirty we'll get on the way or which crazy method of transportation we'll be paying to ride on: we'll either enjoy the ride or get some good exercise along the way.

And that's month three.