When I dreamed of traveling the world alone, I always assumed I’d make friends on the road — but I never dreamed of just how good friends they would become.
I’m a solo female traveler — that’s who I am, and that’s how I define my travels. But despite how much I love traveling solo, some of the best times on the road have been when traveling with the friends I made.
Times like these…
And these.
I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time with a number of these friends even after our travels ended. And it was as easy as tagging those friends in a Facebook status.
Which led me to a realization:
Thanks to Facebook, today, travel friendships can last.
Back in the day, if you made a good friend while traveling, you’d exchange addresses and write letters. Most of the time, you’d fall out of touch, change addresses, or lose information. That’s what happened with my mom and her travel friend Sandra .
These days, I talk to my travel friends on Facebook all the time. Daily, even. It’s funny — two of the travel friends I talk to the most are people I just hung out with for a day or so in Cambodia or Indonesia. Before Facebook, so many of these friendships never would have lasted.
Thanks to Facebook, we get to see what our friends are up to, find out where they’re traveling next, see their life milestones like weddings and babies — oh, and most importantly, relive your inside jokes again and again.
Two weeks ago, we had a reunion here in Chester — and yes, it was all organized on Facebook. You’ve heard me talk quite a bit about my Vietnam group, how traveling from Hanoi to Saigon with these guys was some of the most fun I’ve had…well, ever!
Through the falls off the motorbikes…the illnesses…the purple sunburns…the collarbone dislocations (blame Vang Vieng)…we were there for each other. (And yes, our antics kept some gap year travel insurance companies in business.)
It was Mike’s birthday, and Ste came over from Manchester to visit Mike, Dave, and me.
Here we are in Hoi An, Vietnam, eight months ago:
And here we are in Chester, two weeks ago:
Darren and Sander couldn’t make it, but they were there in spirit.
And it was a really great day. It was Ste’s first time in Chester, so we showed him around the city and sampled some delicious Cheshire Cat ale (one of my local favorites!). We couldn’t stop retelling our funniest stories from Asia. We joked how the travel insurance companies in Europe would make a fortune if we actually rented a canal boat and tried to make our way through Lancashire via the locks.
I don’t consider myself lucky to be living the lifestyle I work hard to maintain. I do consider myself lucky when it comes to having so many wonderful friends in my life.
Like all other relationships, you must nurture your travel friendships. Check in now and then. Drop them a note. Comment on a photo or status, and ask them what they’re up to these days. Be all caught up when your travel paths cross once again.
So next time you find a great traveling buddy, be sure to friend each other on Facebook before you leave.
You could be building a friendship that could last a lifetime.
Treasure your travel friendships — and remember that they don’t they have to end.
