12 years I have been packing my backpack and venturing around the world, coming home for breaks and then setting off again. I’m always having to do all the planning myself, never with help as I have never travelled with friends on my long journeys.
Maybe this is the reason why I don’t want to travel alone anymore, the planning, or maybe it’s because when think back or talk about travel stories with others there’s no one else to bounce the story off of, or to remember the details that I can’t remember. The name of that little town, or when I was actually there.
Backpacking and staying in hostels you meet every type of traveler, I like to make new friends with people and often coming across groups of friends or couples that travel together and their stories, ideas and conversations are normally told together, private jokes or even the shared costs involved in traveling. Heck even having someone to watch your bags so you can go pee in that tiny toilet cubicle is a huge advantage to traveling with someone.
Yes, you can make good friends on the road, you may even find someone wanting to travel the same path, so you travel together for a few weeks before having to split up again. It’s nice to have the company, but that person probable won’t be in your “hometown” or next country when you move on to help with the memories.
The BONUS is that you don’t have to check with someone if you want to do something. Want to eat, go do it, move cities, go do it, jump off a bridge, go do it. You don’t need to consider anyone else, which is great 99% of the time, and is why I have always travelled this way. But now I find myself getting a little lonely, or not telling my stories at home cause its just not the same as having someone else to help tell it, or remind you of stories your’ve forgotten, someone to say..hey remember that time in Colombia.
Facebook is a godsend for keeping in touch, but its the vocal spewing that I miss the most, face to face, tears rolling down the cheeks cause of memories that I miss the most.
The answer maybe that I start taking more group tours of countries, trying to have a base country to live out of and taking short trips around the world rather than the constant backpacking OR maybe the answer lies in finding a good travel buddy to have shenanigans with. Who knows, facebook groups are full of people looking for travel buddies who are likeminded, maybe even that is the answer.
BLUE EYES OPEN 