Unexpectedly, one of the hardest parts of life on the road is making friends.
When you’re a kid, making friends is easy. Anyone you share the playground with can be your new best friend. When you were the new kid in town, the neighborhood would come ‘round asking if you’d come out and play. Things were simpler then.
Making friends as an adult is harder. Walking up to someone at your gym, office, or coffee shop just gets tougher with age. It’s hard not to think you’re interrupting someone or being a bother.
And I‘ve found it’s that much harder to make friends when you travel from place to place. sometimes people just aren’t willing to make the investment knowing that in a month or so you’ll be moving on to somewhere else. It’s as if you have an expiration date.
I never really gave this much thought until i was talking to someone at the gym in St. George, and another person walked by and joked “don’t waste your time with that guy, he’ll be gone in a few weeks” 😑
That stung for a bit. while that person later apologized and ended up becoming a good friend, it’s still something I’ve dealt with often on my travels - and it can be hard.
Now don’t get me wrong - I’ve made lasting friendships while on the road. Some of my closest friends these days are people I’ve met along the way. It’s such a gift to befriend people in different cultures. but it ain’t easy.
And while setting up routines to make friends at the gym, co-working, and local watering holes help... things have gotten exponentially more difficult with social distancing and having to wear a mask 😷
But I’ve come to learn this is all part of the process and it makes me even more grateful for the friendships I’ve made over these last nine months.
And i’m especially grateful to all of you for following along and taking this journey alongside me. You mean so very much to me.
So, next time you see a “digital nomad” just passing through, don’t be afraid to say hi. We’re probably not serial killers and likely have interesting stories to share.
And even though our time here may be short, our friendship will last a lifetime 👫🏻