Driving in Panama: Not really optional, but also not really advisable.

Our little beach town is spread out enough to very nearly require the use of a car. You could get by with just a bike, but not conveniently. I love walking, but you have to consider your final destination. Are you okay with showing up sweaty? No? Then you need a car.

Driving in Panama is one of those things you find a little hard to get used to. Why? This:

1. Blinkers seem to be optional.

2. Hazard lights, though, are in regular use, and usually indicate that the driver is about to do something inadvisable.

3. I have seen a car going backward up an on-ramp.

4. I have seen a car going backward on the shoulder of the Panamerican highway.

5. If someone tries to get quickly through a busy intersection, it's not unusual for the oncoming drivers to actually speed up and honk to punish them.

6. There are too many speed bumps, which makes driving incredibly uncomfortable and painfully slow on certain streets -- but then you realize how necessary they are when you're on a smooth street and you see people driving entirely too fast.

7. The city. That's another story entirely. I have not yet driven in the city and I don't want to, but I have served as co-pilot when Brent was driving, and I honestly don't know how anyone manages without a navigator. Brent was watching the traffic and I was looking for signs, landmarks, turns, cars coming from another direction, hazard lights, and more. It's really a two-person job, driving in the city.

8. There are not a lot of street signs. If you don't know where you're going, you can't count on help.

All this means that I avoid driving when I can. I walk to the yoga studio. The grocery store is on this side of the highway, so it's easy to drive there. In fact, most of what we do happens right here in town, so it's easy for me to go a few weeks without having to drive very far. Brent drives more than I do, but he doesn't mind it as much. And in the end, from grocery trips to city trips to across-the-country trips, we're super grateful to have a car.