As any traveler will attest, you tend to make fast connections and tight bonds with folks you meet on the road. Both of you are in an equally unfamiliar world, and are drawn together by that simple fact. All of a sudden, you find yourself being more open and sharing more that you normally would with people that you just met. But it feels completely normal. These friendships, albeit quick lived and fast flying, can last for lifetimes.
Take Laetitia and Phillipe. I met them while I was traveling alone during my first trip to Vietnam in 2010. She spotted me eating alone, and invited me to join. What followed was lemongrass chicken, gin and tonics, laughter, rich conversation and an immediate, deep connection. We promised to stay in touch, as so many travelers do but often break. Surprisingly enough they came to visit me the following year in Oregon. When I made my plans to attend the Adventure Travel World Summit last October in Switzerland, who did I reach out to but Laetitia and Phillippe. They treated me like an honored guest, taking me to see Zermatt and Montreux, and it honestly felt like no time had passed at all since I had seen them the year earlier.
And then there’s Helene and Brendan, she is from Norway and he from Alaska. I met them while backpacking in Patagonia in 2009. Gems of people, seriously. Here Helene and I are pretending to be towers after our dawn hike up to the viewpoint. It was one of my favorite trips I’ve ever done, and a huge part of it was getting to know Brendan and Helene.
Walking towards the light rail last week in Seattle, who should I run into but Brendan! I was so surprised to see him, since I had known from Facebook that he was living in Norway. It brought such memories to see him again, and I couldn’t help but grin, even after a long flight. He told me Helene was coming to visit next week, and we immediately made plans for dinner at my house.
Flash to last Monday, and we had a full-on reunion in Seattle, complete with Argentinian wine and homemade pizza. Again, it was like no time had passed. It felt so wonderful to reconnect, bringing me back to that incredible viewpoint at Torres Del Paine in Chile.
We made plans to meet up in Norway next winter, agreeing that if I could get myself there, they would host me and show me all of the best cross country skiing I could ever imagine. And, on top of that, we would make homemade pizza again. Because, seriously, homemade pizza should be a part of every reunion.
So go on, be friendly to folks when you’re traveling. You never know who you’ll meet, or how meaningful of an impact they will have on your life. Not to mention you never know where you might get free lodging. 🙂