The final weeks of the adventure brought me through Peru with my family, meaning mostly big beds, sharing a room with my sister, and showering every day just because the shower was nice. When my parents went home and left us to our own exploits for a few days in Cusco, we moved back into the hostel scene, taking advantage of the $8 12-bed dorm, hanging out in common rooms and hostel bars, and what really caught my attention: travelers meeting travelers.
It's the beautiful thing about travel. You can be in any hostel common room, alone or with travel companions, and if you want to make some new friends or adventure companions, they're there! I found nine of the best wine-touring, airplane-jumping, meat-buffet-eating friends in Mendoza, people I hope I will always be in contact with. I met the craziest Aussie and spontaneously rented a car to trust my life to him that same night. I joined tour groups to sandboard the Peruvian dunes.
Travelers are spontaneous, open, and beautiful. No one showers frequently, they wear the same clothes every day, and just about all agree that that is OK.
At the end of the trip, though, I found myself ready to leave and quickly learned it was time. I listened in on a conversation on a train in which two new acquaintances discussed where they'd been and where they were going. I had no interest in the conversation. In the hostel young travelers met up and went off to dinners or bars or daily adventures and I preferred sister time with our Irish brother. I had moved on. I was no longer part of the beauty of travel but onto the next thoughts and endeavors.
And being back to my "Real Life" (a joke when you realize I lead tourists on zipline tours or serve them BBQ food and beer and really am Living the Dream) I realize it was acceptable to finish up in that way. All good things come to an end and it's not a bad thing, it's just life. I'll be ready for another trip one day, but nine weeks was perfect.
Now I'd better start replacing some funds and make some Real Life friends.
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