Saying Goodbye

If I had to name one hardest thing about being a constant traveler, it would be having to say goodbye to the people you meet along the way.

It’s bound to happen. You stay at the same place for weeks, frequent the local bars, eateries, and touristic attractions. You eventually create bonds with locals or fellow travelers.

Some relationships will shine brighter. Some will burn out, others will fade away. Saying goodbye is a form of breakup: the future is uncertain. People come and go and there is nothing we can do about it. Everybody gotta live, as the song goes.

This is the reason why meeting new people while traveling is about learning to surrender ourselves to the present moment, free of worries about the future and its consequences.

If we meet again, so be it. 

If we drift apart, we can always find each other again. The world isn’t as big as it used to be. We can work from anywhere, we can live anywhere.

Avoiding goodbyes is easier: if we never depart without a word, aren’t we still in each other’s company? Technology makes it possible to stay connected with anyone anywhere and anytime.

But isn’t it nicer to let the distance separate us before fate leads our paths to cross again? Happy the man who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage, and then returns, experienced and knowledgeable, to spend the rest of his life among his loved ones.