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May 12, 2007 04:37 +0000  |  'Round-the-World Self Reflection Travel 13

So I've had this plan for the longest time: I quit my job in September, hop a plane to Europe somewhere, gallivant about the continent for a couple months, and then head home to Vancouver. It's a good plan, lots of people dream of this sort of thing and I'm actually going to do it... how often do you get a chance like this?

The whole plan seemed great until the other night. I was walking around the city (it would seem that I'd been bitten by an exploratory bug) when I realised how boring it is to do this sort of thing alone. I sat in a square, wrote some code, listened to the water fountain, had some food and did some shopping... the whole time trying to think of someone to call to meet for drinks or just to talk to... and then it occurred to me:

Is this what Europe would be like?

Now don't get me wrong, I love my alone time. I rather like the idea of wandering a street alone, talking to strangers, eating bits of local food and sitting at my laptop in a public square somewhere. The idea of sharing my time with someone who has needs/demands of their own is not something I want... and yet the idea of being alone for 2months for this trip is not something I think of as appealing.

Am I wrong to think this way? Is it illogical to assume that I'll not make friends as I go or is it just nuts to go half way around the world only to be alone?