“Do you want this
bottle of wine? I can’t drink two
bottles of wine.” I looked up from the
Seattle, Washington map that I was studying.
A petite girl with
long dark hair was directing this question to the guy next to me and not to
me. Good thing she was not asking me
because my idea of alcohol to get me tipsy was a wine cooler. The guy next to me looked up at her and said,
“No, I do not drink alcohol because my father was an alcoholic.” The girl’s eyes and
mine met. Clearly, our eye gaze read the
same thought: We were both bewildered that this guy was so open about sharing
his personal business about his father.
The girl then asked me and I played the game as the guy next to me of
revealing all to complete strangers, “No, I do not really drink alcohol. I do not like the taste of it and, plus, I
have had two kidney transplants and just want to keep healthy.” That is when the girl
and the guy next to me both stared at me.
That is when I realized that this is how you get with strangers. You just start sharing your stories with
strangers because you will probably never see each other again so you have
nothing to lose. In a hot, stuffy, and
sweltering common room in a hostel in the heart of Seattle, Washington with the
fan blowing on high blast but not doing anything, these strangers and I ended
up chatting about our lives. The guy who
shared about his alcoholic father was from Ohio; He went on to tell us his
marital woes with his wife who left him after finishing up her chemotherapy
treatment. The girl was actually with
her boyfriend, and they were from northern California and were here for the
Pearl Jam concert. As for me, I was there in Seattle, Washington
all by myself in a bare necessities hostel and in a dormitory room with three
female strangers that would save me over $200 in the heart of Pike Place Market
to fulfill a two-for-the-price-of-one Live List item that crept up on me about
six months ago when I was making travel arrangements to go to Salt Lake City,
Utah for the Transplant Games of America:
Live on less and little to realize how much I truly have in my life. Six months ago, I
tried to recruit people to come travel with me, but no one could commit or no
one had the financial or time off from work abilities. If there is one thing I learned long ago and
I know it sounds terribly selfish, but I do not put my life on hold or wait for
anyone. If I wait around or depend on
someone to travel with or to do something with me, I will probably end up
waiting forever. And, ‘forever’ is not
something myself or any of us have. If I want to do something, I will do it—with
or without anyone. My friends and even
the transplant center somewhat scolded me for traveling all alone and in not
the most hygienic of places with strangers.
Hostels do not get the best of reputations—especially dormitory hostels.
I had stayed at hostels before, but they were either alone in the room or with
a good friend. This was the first time I
would stay in a dormitory setting. In
fact, it was the first time ever in my life I was going to be in a dormitory
setting because I did not experience that in college. Granted, hostels are not 4-star luxury hotels
or even a motel, but they get the job done as a place for me to sleep, go to
the bathroom, and even eat breakfast. I
was going to sacrifice comfort to save money and gain life experiences. The three strangers
ended up inviting me out for weed and cannabis.
Marijuana is legal in Seattle. I
learned that the hard way when I arrived.
I was already having a hard time breathing and was all congested in the
mornings in the stuffy hostel from lack of air circulation/no air conditioner and
from the scent of weed. I kindly
declined. They looked disappointed. I joked, “You have extra fun whiffs for me!” For the two nights I
was in the hostel, I was sweaty and craving the comfort of my air
conditioner. I was the only one to put
the small fan attached to my bunk bed on full blast. Not having fresh air in the room made me all
the more grateful for the somewhat fresh air when I would go out to walk in
Seattle at breaking dawn. I walked more
than I had walked than when I was at home.
The aches and pains in my feet made me all the more thankful for now
having a hip replacement so I could actually walk now more than I ever could
growing up. I happened to meet a girl
from Italy on a food tour who was also traveling alone. We bonded over people questioning us single
women: “Oh…why are you traveling all alone?
That is sad.” I am sure that if I
was a guy, I would not be asked this or receive a piteous reaction. On the contrary,
traveling all alone brings you to place of such freedom. I highly recommend it to everyone. You see things, people, places, and
experiences in a whole different enlightening and eye-opening light that you do
not get to experience when you travel with the familiar. You talk to people you would not normally
talk to. Your senses are heightened and
on more of an alert than if you were with someone else. Your natural instincts kick in of who you can
talk to and who you cannot and where you can go to and where you cannot where
safety is put first. It is purposefully putting yourself in a vulnerable place to come out stronger and much more open to adventures and experiences. It is unfamiliar,
uncomfortable, thrilling, and exhilarating. It is life on less and you gain all the more. It is when we have little
or less that we realize how much more we really have. Have you ever purposefully put yourself in a
place of hardships and challenges to test your strength and abilities? Have you ever hit rock bottom only to realize
how much you really have and how truly fortunate and blessed you are? When have you had ‘less’ to see how much you
really have? Keep smilin' until we meet again, Mary ;-) |
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