Travelling alone

One of the nice things about travelling alone are the people you meet; those who might want a chat because they are also travelling alone. A few minutes, or a few hours spent with people you know you will most likely never see again can seem pointless, but on the other hand it is about connecting with humanity and doing it gives you a sense of belonging to a race of friendly supportive people, something I think we can lose sight of in the current political climate.

From the woman with a husband and two young children on her way to Thailand, who envied my travelling alone, to the 17 year old travelling alone for the first time to America, who I befriended so that when she left her mother she had someone to talk to, to the Ugandan lady I sat next to on the plane who now lives in London and is visiting her family for the first time in 3 years. I only found out their names as we parted, but it doesn't matter, the stories we shared and the connections we made were valuable even if we never see each other again. Three very different lives all continuing unaware of the others.

I find myself wondering if they got where they were going. Particularly the Ugandan who travelled for 10 hours yesterday when the plane turned round half way and she ended up back in Brussels as they were denied entrance into the airspace poverty the Sudan. Today we are going round this airspace so the journey is a little longer than predicted... But nothing compared to what she went through yesterday! I am writing this in the air, and I don't want to jinx it, but so far my journey has been way more easy than hers!