Who would have thought?

by Nina Tello (Mexico)

Making a local connection Ecuador

Traveling solo has a ton of advantages, but the most important one is that you get to do whatever you want at your own rythm. Bombarded by everything new around, you get to reflect, introspect, process and if its the case forget about everything from your daily life. Most people when I share that I travel by myself say one of two things: its either how brave I am, or if I really enjoy it without someone else. Our society fears loneliness, and it often equates it with being alone. The idea of voluntarily going away on your own might be overwhelming, but here’s the trick: you are never alone if you don’t want to be. There’s always other travelers, some that go solo and some other with friends, there are also locals who like to exchange the knowledge of their own city for travel stories or tips. Some of these interactions are just a distraction for the day, but some of them become trascendent and leave a deep impact on one or both parts. To my mind comes a specific one where I got talking to the owner of a very hip colombian restaurant located in Isabela, one of the four populated islands of the Galapagos. First he just explained the plate that I had ordered, it was swordfish which I had never had, and talked wonders of his new peruvian chef. However, as we continued to talk he started to tell me how he longed to be on vacation in Medellin, just to go to the movies, just to have a small gathering with friends. Here was this guy living the dream of leaving all behind and dive into the fresh new adventure of living a relaxed life, the being-your-own-boss in a paradisiac island in the middle of the Pacific kind of life, telling me he sometimes missed the city buzz. To me this single piece of information put a lot into perspective, it made me rethink what traveling means to me. Traveling is about an intrinsic desire to get away. I might yearn to watch all these wonderful creatures in their own environment and being in a remote location with very limited communication because I live in one of the biggest cities in the world. I am saturated with noise, people, light, and I am virtually never awakened by singing birds. But some others might yearn to live precisely the crazy nightlife, the museums and the sophisticated restaurants because they live in a small island with no clubs, no theatres or any other art scene and practically no gastronomic options. Only an ocean view, walking to work and spectacular sunsets. Traveling lets you experience anything you want, it could be as far as you want to get from your usual life and your usual self. It is a perfect opportunity to get to know yourself better, and learning is a powerful feeling. For me its hiking, snorkeling, diving or simply staring at a starry night. For this Galapagos entrepreneur its visiting his hometown to reconnect with all his loved ones. My point is that what we need from traveling we can get no matter where we go, no matter with whom we go with, when we do it and even what we do. As long as we let ourselves be surrounded and soaked with everything that's novel around us, we will learn. And we can say that we have traveled.