Have you ever walked in the rain? Not just from the car to the house, I mean really walked in the rain. Where your destination is at least 15 minutes walking distance. That is a short walk too. A fifteen minute walk is a two minute drive. Let’s say a good thirty minute walk. Some people walk faster than others, and traveling distances are either miles, kilometers or other, depending on where you live. Time is standard when considering seconds to minutes to hours. So the question is have you ever had to go to a destination that is thirty minutes walking distance from you? In that walking distance, it seems somewhere in the direction you will walk, it will rain. You can see the clouds from a distance, but cannot see rain. It is not raining in your immediate area where you are standing. If you were faced with the choice of whether to go walking even though it might rain, then you have an idea of the feeling you might get in getting caught walking in the rain, your clothes could get wet. There are so many issues that run through your mind that would probably have you lean towards not walking.

You could wait, you can call a friend or family member, you can postpone. There are quite a few options that you have to choose from. But what about someone who has to get to work and has no transportation. Many people have still the option to either wait a while, family or friends, or rideshare options that we have now. However, some will still not have those options that I mentioned. So there are now less options to choose on whether to walk or not on a path where it might rain. It is not a definite yes that it is raining, since in the area you are standing at, it is not raining. Depending on where you live, there might be options to take a bus to get where you are going. Bus options means you will do some walking too, though. So your mind might go through what options do you have before taking the walk.

Now let’s say there are reasons that you decide there are no other options but to walk to where you are going. You convince yourself that those clouds are not that bad, or maybe the thought doesn’t even cross your mind, because you are determined that you need to walk to the destination no matter what obstacles there might be along the path. There are many reasons why you would choose that option. Especially, like I said, if it is not raining in the area you are standing on. So you have made the decision to walk and your journey begins to your destination. I am not sure how many readers have been faced with this decision and decided with little to no thought that they are going to walk that path. For those that would not even consider the option to walk, let me paint a picture of how it would look like for someone who does.

You begin your walk down to the destination you are going, feeling the breeze, smelling the air, and walking the walk. Compared to a hot summer day, walking on a cloudy day with a chance of rain is might more pleasant. When you walk on a very hot summer day in the high nineties or above, then by the time you get to a destination that is about thirty minutes away, you are soaked in your own sweat.

As I am writing this now, my mind is starting to hurt, and my body is telling me it is time to go for that walk, after waiting. I am finally back from working and doing the things I had to do. My walk went well, I did not get rained on. But imagine the young lady having walked miles away from what she called her home. She went on a long journey in search for a better life, and there are many miles still ahead of her. It is too far to walk back and there is no one she knows in the area she is located at, except the five guys that walk on this journey with her. Many times she has gone against the grain, the opposite direction from the caravan of people who are on a similar journey as her. What do you decide to do when you are in an area where you do not know anybody, and you see a storm far away in the direction that you are walking?

Imagine, if you have never had to make a decision of what to do when there is a storm far away, how it must be for the young lady, my G-Rated friends. She is walking against all the elements that might come her way. If it rains at a moment when there is no shelter, she gets wet. She is not driving, so there is no cover from the rain or moving away from it quickly. She just get rained on as she continues to walk to a point where she can find shelter, or she outlasts the storm. I say she, but it is like that for anyone who is on a long journey in a place where they do not know anybody and does not have the money to spend to be welcomed. It is like that for her and her friends who have been walking for weeks and weeks.

It is not like going for a thirty minute walk, getting wet for a while, and having the opportunity to clean up, shower and get dry clothes. If you are walking and get caught in a heavy storm, then all your clothes and belongings get wet too. These walkers do not have money to pay for a motel, or get a decent meal, or even traveling on wheels. They take this journey by foot, for many months, in search of a better life than the one they have at home. A better life that many take for granted. A better life, that somehow seems to bring many Americans into depression and mental health problems. Many people migrate to this country for a taste of that better life that just doesn’t seem to please some people living here, and become bitter to others for trying to live the “American Dream”

It takes a good while for the young lady and her friends to dry up after being hit by that heavy storm they had to endure. They walk down this path and somehow they are able to find enough necessities to help them keep going. They lack shelter, a moving vehicle, or ample food, but what they do find they share, and their bond helps them all to keep going. Through the toughest rain.

Click below to read parts 1 and 2 of Traveling Trails

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