People helping people (Day 1,2 … on the Camino)

One of the fascinating things for me has always been the helpfulness you can find when travelling. Of course, not all people you meet are friendly and nice. But you can find help almost everywhere in the world. It doesn't matter whether it's locals or other travellers. Often it's just little things, kind words, gestures or deeds. But since I'm often left to my own devices when I travel, I really appreciate these situations.

I don't want to tell you about all the nice little conversations, the many good wishes and encouraging smiles of the people I meet. That would take too long. But I will tell you a few little anecdotes that really made my day.

My plan was actually to see how far I could make it during the day and then find accommodation there. The first few days this wasn’t a good idea.

On the first evening the hostel was unfortunately full. However, the woman at the reception immediately

called the next hostel and asked if they still had a bed available for me and directed me there. I walked 2 km further. Arrived, took a shower and then went looking for supper, my evening routine for the next few weeks.

I found an interesting restaurant that serves Mexican and Asian food. My waitress was super sweet and told me directly about her time in Switzerland. The greeting from the kitchen was edamame, tortilla chips and a dip. Then came my starter, dumplings. After that, I waited for about 5 minutes. My waitress immediately came by and apologised that I had to wait so long for my main course. I told her it was no problem, and it really wasn't that long. A minute later she came to me with food. 'I asked in the kitchen if I could have the spring rolls for you since your meal is taking so long.' And another 30 seconds later, my main course arrived. That night I went to bed very full and very happy.

The next evening, at the next restaurant: I was the first there, of course, because the restaurants often don't open until 19/19:30 pm and the Portuguese rarely eat dinner before 8 pm. My waiter was a bit older and hardly knew any English. The greeting from the kitchen was a bowl of olives with another bean. A yellow, flat one, which I liked very much. So I asked the waiter what it was. He typed the name into his mobile phone on Google Translator. Lupins. I told him I've never eaten them in this form before and 30 seconds later he putted a bowl full of them on my table.

Then there was the pouring rain and the car driving past me. A woman waved an umbrella from the car and asked if I wanted it. Or when I was standing under a bridge, a woman came up to me and explained with her hands and feet that I should not take the next bridge, but this one, because the other one was not passable.

In every village I met people who wished me luck on my journey. Without all these people, I might have given up already and I am so glad I didn't do that.