The People we Meet on the Road

Traveling is great for many different reasons, one being all the friends one makes along his/her journey. Erica Johansson, writer for hackwriters, describes a friend she met while traveling in her article; London Life.

“Excuse me.”A podgy old lady clad in a creased jacket, a brown long skirt and an awry hat, holding a neat purse by her chest, is standing in front of me.

“I do not have my glasses with me. Can you help me press the bottoms at the cash machine over there?”She is pointing towards the empty area around the two cash machines by Hackneys local bank branch a few yards from us. “Yes, of course.”I follow her to the cashpoint. Quietly she tells me the right numbers to press in order to make the withdrawal successful. The pound notes are carefully folded into her black wallet. With a thankful smile and an appreciating nod she strolls down Hackney Road towards the pedestrian crossing.

A stranger is simply a friend you have not got to know yet. What lies between are openness and contact. It does not matter whether you are in London, Lisbon, La Paz, Laos, Lesotho or Long Beach. Cross that boundary line. Maybe you will get a nice chat, prejudices confirmed or refuted, another viewpoint, a new friend. Your travel experiences will however be richer in many ways. “