Basket of Thoughts

It felt great to take a shower yesterday. I walked around the town and found a shop that had everything I needed to feel fresh and clean. I’m hoping my backpack arrives today so my trip won’t be delayed much longer. I’ve met a few people at this hostel I’m staying at. There’s Zach who is from Kansas. A white, skinny guy about my height (5’10”) with short, brown hair, and blue eyes behind his thin black rimmed glasses. He is in the same room as me and is here in Peru for a research team at his university. He has 3 weeks to kill I guess so is going to be traveling a bit before he goes to work. I don’t blame him, make the most of the situation. Also in my room is a guy who is from Ireland. Near Galway is what he told me, if my memory serves me right. Well, anyway he puts my 5 week trip to shame. He’s traveling all over the place for 6 1/2 month! Good news though, he told me Buenos Aires was the best city he’s stayed at yet. That gives me some hope. Last but not least, if anything he’s most notable to me. Grant, a guy who is probably 6’2″ and lean. He is from New Zealand and is trying to get his bike fixed to continue his motorcycle trip up to Central America and into Mexico. He’s a pretty cool laid back guy. I’ll see if he wants to walk around for a bit today. He seems to have a good grasp on the area. He’s been stuck here for awhile already. Well it’s time I start the day.

The South America saga continues. The above was my 2nd entry of my journal when I was in Peru. It’s funny how I left out so many details in some things as I read upon these again. I remember the name of the hostel I stayed at still. It was called the Backpackers Inn. I think I do mention the name of it in a later entry but it’s interesting I didn’t bring it up to begin with. I love reading these and adding in my insights after the fact. It puts a much better spin on things I believe. I hope you agree. My words are true when I mention Grant was most notable. I still think of him even though I never really knew him. He was a bit of a security blanket for me I suppose and I felt comfortable around him. He was my kind of people. The sad thing is I’ll most likely never see him again unless there’s another side and we reconnect there. I don’t want to spoil things too soon but there are several people that I met during my trip I still think of. Even though we may never cross paths again they are forever in my life’s fabric. They helped to weave together my experience in a strange land where everyone was a stranger. Yet they were family to me for the brief moments we knew each other. They probably had a bigger impact on me than I did on them. I’ve not communicated with any of them since, even though some I am friends with on Facebook. The wire works both ways, I’ve never reached out to them either. Everyone lives in a different country so a long lasting real friendship isn’t likely anyways is it?? Honestly, these days it probably could be if we tried. That’s not really the important thing. The important thing is we did have some moments shared together on journeys we will never forget. I do wonder if they ever out of the blue think of the long haired, American they traveled a bit with. Many of the people I met had been traveling for a while and I believe it’s the life of someone that does extensive traveling. You’ll have many shared memories with strangers some that will always stick and others sometimes muddled. This is something I have learned from some of my other travels over more recent years. It’s possible I shared a memory with a stranger and I don’t think of them but they think of me. It’s the moments that matter, they affect each person in different ways. It’s the beauty of life.