The luxury of meeting people again
Long-term traveling has many perks and frequently I realize that they are not what I had imagined earlier. One of them is the sheer physical possibility of meeting people again as I can show up in many places around the world. Thanks to SNSs, we live with the impression that we are connected with others who are far away, but meeting friends again in person is still a special experience to be appreciated. So I am grateful that I can afford many places and relatively lots of free time for reunions.
Karim is one of my ‘vehicle shipping’ friends from Panama to Colombia from about an year ago. Renting a container is costly so travelers would find others to share the fees with, and Karim and I first met ‘online’ when we were looking for shipping partners. In the end, we did not share the same container but I don’t think that affected our connection 🙂
I enjoy meeting the same person in several different contexts. It is a rich experience of understanding, much more than watching the same movie twice 🙂 Karim had finished his Pan-American travel many months ago, and he has a new set of agenda in his life these days. Hearing about his current interests, hearing him talking in his native language, getting to meet his family allowed me those new contexts, so it was quite special to me.
I don’t know when exactly, but I already have anticipation for the future encounter. And I feel very lucky that I could fill some of my days in life with these memories.
with Karim
Photo 1- Ciudad Amurallada, Cartagena, Colombia, March 6, 2018
Photo 2 and 3 – Frankfurt, Germany, April 21 and 22, 2019
