What I love most about traveling is not the places I see, but the people I meet along the way. Near strangers have opened my eyes and taught me more about myself than any psychologist could ever attempt. I think that is because one’s true nature shines through in strange places. There is nothing familiar to hide behind. No box to fit you in. Simply put, travel is freedom.
One of the best lessons a near stranger and now best friend taught me was the value of making a home wherever you are. We met in Salamanca, Spain as she spent the summer studying and I working. One evening she suggested we return to the same place we had been the last few evenings, while I suggested we go somewhere new. She said to me “Why go somewhere new when we have already found a place we really like?”
(This video always reminds me of that summer)
She explained that while traveling she likes to make a home in each new place. Throughout our month in Salamanca I watched her do this. Everyday she went to the same bar for café con leche and the waiters often gave her free food. She knew the name of everyone in our dorm and they lit up when she would enter the room.
At first I thought she was crazy. My nature is to wander and try new places. Searching for a novelty, excitement, something special or close to perfect. But that summer I followed her lead and realized how rewarding it felt to set down roots, albeit temporary ones. The only downfall was that this made it all that much more difficult to leave in the end. Regardless, it was worth every tear.
I guess roots don’t have to be forever and home doesn’t have to be just one place.
Where thou art, that is home.
Emily Dickinson
a road less traveled 