Hi,
@SimplySina,
Welcome to the forum! You are not alone in wondering about safety, but I know that there are many forum members just like me, who have walked many caminos alone. Just last month, I finished walking the Lana from Alicante to Burgos. Though I was lucky to always have one or two friends to meet up with at night (
@C clearly and
@Krimpa), we very regularly walked alone. And I do mean alone — because in all our four weeks on this route, we did not meet any other pilgrims at all!
I have walked many caminos in solitude, which I love. I have had a fair number of flashing incidents, but I have been able to deal with that and not let it ruin the Camino for me. I love walking alone and cannot imagine a camino without huge chunks of alone time.
I cannot tell from your post whether you are fearful and anxious, or if you are simply wondering about safety. If it’s the latter, I can assure you that the Camino is one of the safest places anywhere, though of course bad things occasionally happen. If it’s the former, if your brain just can’t accept the reality of the data and you are scared, then I don’t think you should walk alone. Walking in that state of mind will probably make it a walk full of anxiety and feeling uncomfortable. And that’s certainly not the point of walking a camino!
The Camino Portugués is a very well-traveled route, at least from Porto north. You can probably be assured of having others to walk with if you are feeling nervous. If you are starting in Lisbon, I think you will have to accept the likelihood that there will be many times when there are no other pilgrims in sight, and you will at most only have a few for company at the end of the day.
Good luck with your decision, let us know what you decide to do! Buen camino, Laurie