What is more important than fear?
The Mind Has Mountains
Love as a Higher Perspective
What is more important than fear?
As much as they love travel, these ostriches be terrified sometimes. Some possible reasons why…
- Pre-trip conversations with parentals who project their fear of what they do not know and have bias against other countries like Brasil, deeming them unsafe, when ironically the US has equal if not greater reasons to be concerned for your safety in daily life.
- Canadian wildfires that created zero visibility conditions that grounded flights in New York the day of our flight to Brasil.
- Travel always involves nudging yourself out of what is known in your comfort zone and into the unknown
UStriches were a bit distraught as we made it from our first flight out of Detroit to the New York airport for a 10 hour layover awaiting our overnight flight to Brasil. You would think for a travel couple we would look excited and be enjoying every second of what we love to do – to travel the world, especially to Brasil, a destination that we have mutually desired to visit together since our first date many moons ago. Yet, here we were dragging our talons to our gate after an epically long layover that gave us a ton of time to fully feel the fears, anxieties, and stresses of travel.
And even though we could have cancelled our trip, when our boarding group was called we chose to cross the threshold of gate security and get our plumes onto the plane. It is an experience of feeling fear but being driven by something that is more important than fear. It’s your life. It’s adventure. It’s the real you that inner voice that moves you forward to experience fullness. It’s love. All it takes is taking a step forward through the fear, then another, and then all the magic happens.
The Mind Has Mountains
We landed in Rio, after one more flight from Sao Paulo, and made our way to an Uber to get to our hostel. Aquarela do Leme Hostel is located pretty close to Copacabana Beach except from the beach you need to go straight up a mountain into what is technically a favela to the doorsteps of this stunningly vibrant hostel. After traversing this mountain, we were greeted by a colorful lobby complete with two dogs and two kids running across the floor naked. The owners of the hostel, whose family coordinated the welcome scene, were incredibly warm and we quickly were drinking a welcome Caipirinha while being shown to our room that had a balcony with a hammock overlooking the ocean.
After taking in the view for like 32 seconds, the winter darkness hit like a blanket across the sky. We had to immediately break every rule we had read (don’t go out at night/walk along the beach at night) because we needed to find some dinner. Even though it felt intimidating to now go down this mountain at night in search of food in a city we did not know and barely speaking Portuguese, we were met only with warm positive interactions as we found our way.
After reclimbing the mountain, plus 4 flights of stairs back in our hostel, I found myself with a throbbing calf cramp that left me limping to walk. Now on any ordinary day this would be non-ideal but this just happened to be the day before the Rio Marathon…a marathon I signed up to run and Pidge signed up to run the 10k her first international race!! Waking up with my leg feeling tough to walk on started to eat away my confidence that I would be able to run at all the next morning. In addition to this, Pidge accidentally filled up our water bottles with non-filtered water and so my cheeks began quivering. Really ideal before a race.
We went to sleep and I got up at 3am and proceeded to hobble my way down the mountain to an Uber to get to the start line. When the race started I realized that I could still feel my calf muscle tighten but that I could run. I then realized that the racing shorts I had bought at the expo, were way too big for me and were slipping off my butt crack. I was holding them up like a 90s high schooler holding up their pants! At many times during the race, I had thoughts of stopping and quitting. I don’t know what kept me going, maybe the fun-spirited Brazilian culture where everyone was dancing through each tunnel we went through or the cheering along the beachfront course. 1km turned to 2km turned to 20km and when I reached around 34 km’s I texted Pidge and told her I would be making it to the finish line – just slowly. It made me tear up. I was proud of myself even though it took me almost 5 hours to finish. My mind has always had mountains and it amazes me how the highs seems to be just around the corner when there is a low. This was my 13th marathon and my 5th continent. Only Australia and Antarctica to go! …and getting my cheeks back up the mountain for some rest (thanks Pidge!) Also congrats to Pidge for finishing her first international 10k race!
As a celebration the next day we went parasailing! I was kind of scared but after Pidge went first I felt less afraid 🙂 And there is something more important than fear…new experiences, full living, love.
Love as a Higher Perspective
The next couple days I was more mobile than I thought I would be and we were able to do some adventuring. We relaxed on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and tried some Brazilian cuisine…and more caipirinha’s! We somehow managed to do a Samba dance lesson and then go up the Christ the Redeemer mountain for some 360 degree views of Rio De Janeiro. We visited the Santa Teresa neighborhood for some local art, authentic Brazilian food, and views of the whole city. Our time in Rio concluded with an amazing Churrasco on Brazilian Valentine’s Day. As we sat there and laughed with some friends we had met at our hostel while trying a million types of meat, I had some thoughts crystallize. I felt such gratitude for the treats of Rio – the views of the mountains intertwined with the ocean reminded me of how a larger perspective helps you see how everything fits together. The brilliant balancing between the land and the sea, the known and the unknown, reminds us of how love includes it all – the highs and the lows, the mountains of the mind and the valleys of the heart, the fears like waves on the surface of the ocean and the depth below I feel of peace and gratitude of being in love with Kait/Pidge.
