Chance Meetings

One of the major perks of travel is making those chance acquaintances. These are the best kind of people to meet. They are either like-minded adventurist or simply the person fate brings you to meet to share an intimate moment. The worst part of these meetings is social media. Yes, it can help keep you connected, but let's be real for a second.  It's so rare to have a real relationship after that vacation or study abroad or solo trip to the Galapagos. It's best to leave these meetings to what they are, chance.

I had my first when I was 14 in Disney World. The week before I left I dreamed of a boy I had never met. I know science claims this to be impossible, but go with me for a second. That next week I met him in an arcade in Orlando. He lived in Boston. We somehow ran into each other again before leaving the resort and traded instant messenger names. We are still Facebook friends today. We don't talk. 

The next time was when I was 22 and alone in the Galápagos Islands. I had run into a young man on the island of Santa Cruz and we had a very brief conversion. I learned both of our English skills were stronger than our Spanish, him being Brazilian and me American. Then on  the island of San Cristobal I saw him again and we climbed together to the top of a deserted lighthouse and watched the sunset. Being both from the east coast of our respective countries, we had never seen the sunset over the ocean. Afterward he walked me back to my hotel and told me about how evolution and creationism go hand-in-hand. I only leaned his first name, occupation, and the city where he works in Brazil. Neither of us asked for our numbers or Facebook names or anything. Somehow that would cheapen the experience. He will be immortalized in my memory as the man who made me realize faith and science can work together. I don't need to see his latest profile picture to remember that connection.

These meaningful meetings happen so rarely in today's world. We claim to be so "connected" but we aren't. It's all a facade. Thankfully we have travel to help bond us and have us share these experiences of new adventures. Please don't take this as advice to not make friends with anyone you meet along your travels. Honestly, sometimes those are the best relationships you can have. I'm talking about those fleeting moments you share with people from outside your typical world become so much less valuable when you observe their life from a computer screen. Whatever you read into these chance meetings is up to you. But sometimes it's better to leave them deeper than the face value of Facebook.