Yesterday’s walk was a blur of twists and turns. I had no idea where I was going, where I’d been. 

I could afford to be lackadaisical because I was walking with a friend who lives in those parts and knows the paths like the back of her hand. She led the way as we strolled down one trail and then another, past a daycare, a park, and pickle ball courts (my first time to witness the sport). 

While such walking doesn’t expand the mental mapping capacities, it can be lovely to turn off the piloting function, to be led, to follow. 

(Signs in Sintra, Portugal, where my mental mapping switch was most definitely turned to “on.”)