Traveling isn`t always sunshine & lollipops--- rainbows & open green pastures. There are aspects of travel that really (pardon the slang) suck. It really bums me out when I meet someone, spend oodles of time with them, and then more or less look them in the eye as they`re leaving and say good-bye. But, really, that good-bye for me is like saying, "well--- it was nice knowing you. Hope you have a nice life." Sometimes I find myself deliberately ignoring new travelers in the hostel because I think it`s just easier that way. I mean, really, what is the point of going out of my way to get to know someone who is just going to be leaving in a few days?
Yesterday, someone who has been around in Coogee for almost as long as I have left to return home, and I was feeling really bummed afterward. The past three months have been spent hanging around with that person and having that person around--- and then poof! He`s gone! Your life remains the same except that person is no longer in it--- and all of a sudden you don`t know what to do with yourself.
The past three months have been the most ridiculously confusing months of my life. It has been like one big roller coaster ride! I may not see this person again--- and within a few days it might not even phase me so much if I ever see this person again... but I will probably always regret the way I acted around him--- the way things progressed between us. It was this "why bother getting to know new people who are just going to be leaving" attitude that I`ll always regret...
But I really think everything happens for a reason--- and I really think that I was intended to meet this individual to teach me something about myself. I think I was intended to meet someone who was going to open up my eyes and make me realize that such a "cynical" and "assertive" attitude is such a poor one to have while traveling (or at any time at all). "We never know what might happen--- where things might go---- how things might turn out---- whether or not we might see that person again."
I am going to try my hardest to loosen the grip on my protective shell...
A few random pics from the past three months....
A Tuesday night out at the Coogee Bay Hotel spent watching a Rugby game in the Sports Bar. Sadly, I look like a deer caught in the headlights (so not such a good pic).
On Monday mornings, I help out Rachael (hostel cleaner) with her duties because it is a really busy check-in/check-out day for the hostel. Here is a pic from a few months back (when we first met in the hostel). No doubt, American Frank is saying something really American- like (arrogant and ignorant) and I am flashing him my turned up nose look that says "I can`t believe you just said that to me." Haha
The night we all went out to watch a Rugby game between two Sydney rival teams...
Just another night in---lounging in room #3... Frank went for a haircut a few weeks back and ended up leaving the shop with an Australian mullet, which then led him to shave his hair all off.... now he just looks like a peanut...! haha
The three American stooges... (back when Frank had a). hair & b). a six pack and not a beer gut... haha
The barricade the Americans created in the hostel on one of their very first nights in an attempt to meet other people... haha (you wouldn`t even believe their tactics!)
And so another chapter is closed. May a new one begin...
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