Brief Encounters

One of the greatest parts of traveling alone is the time it leaves for journaling, and the necessity I end up placing on writing as it becomes my only outlet. Another aspect of traveling alone that I value is the openness it creates, particularly with regards to meeting other lone travelers. Unfortunately, the two don’t always compliment each other. When I encounter someone who I am able to unload all of my thoughts and emotions onto into the early hours of the morning, I don’t have the time to write nor do I feel as much of a need. That’s my brief explanation for my lack of communication over the past few weeks.

I had a conversation a little over a week ago with one of these fellow lone travelers about that nature of friendships such as ours. It’s remarkable how quickly relationships develop into intense connections. In many cases it’s difficult to determine how much of it is chemistry between personalities and how much is a result of the situation. I’m sure it’s a combination, as it takes a similar type of person to enter into and exist in this context. Whatever the cause, the bonds that form while living in a new, complex, and emotionally charged environment continues to amaze me. The experiences you share cannot be compared to anything that came before, the emotions are often so raw that you cannot help but reveal parts of yourself that you did not even know existed, and it seems as though many of the masks an boundaries that you erect in your normal life disintegrate so quickly that it leaves you feeling both vulnerable and comfortable at the same time.

It is often difficult going into an experience, into a friendship, knowing that time and place will only be your ally for a short while. While you fit years worth of knowing and understanding one another into hours and your heart expands to a level usually achieved in years if you are lucky…you know that it is but an encounter, a moment that will soon pass and become yet another memory to write about in your journal. Despite the difficulty of an eminent and likely permanent goodbye, I treasure the brief encounters that always seem to occur at just the right time, fill voids that longed for filling, and teach me some of the most valuable lessons about myself and my experience. The bonds that I have formed over the years during my travels in Africa have in many ways shaped who I am. Despite the brevity, these connections have a lasting impact that gives the experiences, the friendships, a sense of perfection as they are. I sometimes wonder if there were no goodbyes, would the relationship reach such depths and have such a powerful affect?

Alice Walker describes this experience in her novel “Warrior Marks”, when she says,
“I believe we are destined to meet the people who will support, guide, and nurture us on our life’s journey, each of them appearing at the appropriate time, accompanying us at least part of the way. I think specific human beings, sometimes only in spirit, will present themselves in such a way that their presence will shape and reshape our hearts until we are more fully who we are. This particular magic or synchronicity is activated by something both simple and profound: we must adhere to our own peculiar way, that is the only chance we have to meet those spirits who wander along our road; we must persist in being true to our most individual soul”.