Travel Alone is Never Alone

This morning I woke tilted my head back and peered out the window.  Dark clouds loomed endlessly  in the atmosphere, so I went back to sleep. When I woke up for the second time I pulled myself out of bed and took a shower.  After bathing  I realized how bad I smelled, and counted the days on my hand since water had touched my skin, it was totaled four.  I thought to myself  ''eh not bad, I've done worse.''

Anyways travel alone is never alone. Over a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee, I struck up a conversation with one of my dorm-mates who was eating nearby.  We talked for a while about a bunch of things, and then I asked, ''are you travelling alone?''  He grinned, pushed his hair out of his eyes paused, then said ''yeah, but travelling alone is never alone.'' He went on to explain that when you are travelling by yourself staying at hostels and using public transportation you tend to meet people and sometimes end up travelling with them; this happens all the time.  He went on to describe the nature and mindset of of these situations. When you're travelling you meet people who are open minded, friendly and are happy to invite you on their adventure.  Just today I have met three people who are down to explore Bogota with me, and have given me travel advice for the future places I will visit here in Colombia.

On the flip side when you're travelling in groups your experience is quite different.  While writing outside I met a guy from France who is living in Spain at the moment and travelling through South America.  We agreed on the aspects of travelling alone, but he added on to the conversation. He said, ''when you travel in groups your mentality changes.'' The group keeps to themselves, they're not actively looking as much to add to their group, even though some people will join them for stints at a time. They're comfortable  in their social circle.

He then went on to talk about, how after living in Spain for a year he was shocked at how uncivilized people in France were to tourists  and immigrants after arriving back.  I think it left a sour taste in his mouth.  He even said that when he was in New York it was the same.  The French people congregated in packs and kept to themselves.  Birds of a feather flock together.

What have we learned? Travelling is great, you'll meet all sorts of new people from all over the globe and go on adventures and share new experiences with them.  When travelling in groups branch out a bit, step out of your comfort zone, and meet some people; the world is an amazing placed comprised of unique and interesting individuals with different experiences. There is much to learn from just talking to other people. Try it out sometime !!!