Couchsurfing from Porto to Lisbon

Hey friends! Writing to you from Lisbon. I spent the last week making my way down through the centre of Portugal to this fabulous city.

Frankly, it’s been SUCH an emotional rollercoaster. I go from these wild highs of joyously embracing myself and my life and my planet to the typical post-breakup feels. I’m still a bit lost at sea. There’s nothing but my own willpower and the occasional travel booking to get me out of bed in the morning. I only have a couple of hours of work each day, and I go through days where I’m not sure what my motivations for life are. The three main things I was living for (my school, my relationship, and my work) are either gone or drastically reduced right now. I think I’m having my quarter-life crisis. I know WHO I am, that’s not the problem – I’m not sure what I’m doing, though. I’m in a weird, in-between, searching zone. Send help.

Thank god for travel.

Not only is it distracting, it’s always unexpected and new. I cleaned up my housesitting place in Porto and left for the train station last week. Since then, every day has been fresh and unusual.

I went off-the-beaten track to a small town towards the border with Spain just to meet up with this amazing anthropologist. I found her on Couchsurfing and sent a request, not really expecting her to respond on such short notice. But hey! People are amazing. She picked me up from the bus station, dropped my stuff at her *adorable* little home, and then took me on a wild walking tour of her little city. We got lost, we got unlost again, I was impressed at a crumbling old church – she thought this was funny, having grown up with them in every town. Eventually we ended up drinking beers outside one of the little local pubs. A game was on inside – apparently a pretty big one, but I don’t follow sports. We talked sustainable development and marketing and geography instead. She was awesome – single in her thirties; a brilliant researcher living her best life. I left feeling inspired the next day.

My next Couchsurfing host, a gangly web developer living at the top of about 8,000 stairs in Coimbra, showed me how to find a $3 cheese toasty just about anywhere in Portugal. We wandered around the city with our toasties, munching and chatting and watching his extremely well-trained dog wander around.

There are a few things I’ve noticed about Couchsurfing so far:

• People, in general, are super nice. The world is full of strangers who want to connect in a meaningful way, and even the somewhat scary-looking ones will surprise you
• Every stranger I meet is quick to reach out and protect me and make my trip an incredible experience, all the while worrying about the other strangers out there
• Buying someone dinner and listening to them talk about their lives is cheaper and infinitely more interesting than paying to stay in a hostel dorm
• Rental dogs are the best
• You will end up eating whatever they love to eat – be prepared for a surprise

The cheese toasty, for example, was quite innocent. The chicken giblets, however… hello, unexpected new dish! Don’t get me wrong, my tastebuds were in love. My brain was the problem. I didn’t realize until I’d chowed down half the plate that I was eating livers and hearts and the weird bits that mentally bother me. It was a culturally broadening (actually fairly delicious) experience!

I’m in Lisbon now, after criss-crossing the country by bus and train. I’ll be here for a few weeks. I’ve taken some time off to rest – after earning a blister the size of a quarter on the bottom of my foot, the down time is needed. Lately I’ve been walking an average of 10km per day. Can you believe it? Ahh! Proud of my bendy weird body for holding out.

Updates on Lisbon to come. :)