Sometimes you can feel a persons desire to talk to you. Can't you? It's like their energy is leaping out at you like a pointed finger, tap tap tapping you on the shoulder.
Every time I looked up, he'd avert his eyes from looking in my direction. He was working up his courage to be outgoing. I know this. I remember being young. And scared and nervous.
I immediately liked this kid. He was about to embark on a life changing journey. I could tell.
I can't remember how he broke the ice. I think he asked me how I got my job. Which leads to a story about how I traveled for 9 years. It always does.
Turns out he had been in the Navy and wants to become a traveler. He wants to walk across Spain as I have done. He wants to be adventurous.
It was weird for me to have someone look at me in awe like that. And I remember being that kid. That kid with a dream and no idea how to achieve it. I remember meeting people 10-15 years older than me who had traveled the world, doing interesting things and thinking they were amazing and thinking I would never get there.
And then I got there, I became one of those people who have stories and adventures.
"I am really shy and terrified of going to an unknown place....but I think traveling will cure my shyness..."
I just wanted to pinch his cheeks. His vulnerability was so sweet. I knew this boy was going to turn out okay because he wanted it, he wanted adventure, he wanted change, he wanted life to be more and even though he was scared shitless, he was trying. It's something you don't see as much in your mid 30s. We get complacent.
I told him how I used to be so shy, I never knew what to say in conversation, I was insecure and now you can't shut me up. Everyone in the room was shocked at this. I owe my own personal blossoming to the open road. His face lit up, it was like I had given him the magical antidote. The funny thing is, this kid was unbelievably gorgeous, half Argentinian. It broke my heart to see how little he thought of himself.
He will be fine, he will travel and some European woman will rock his world and make him feel worth it, he will learn to be comfortable in his own skin. I wish I had become his facebook friend to watch his growth.
He kept asking me "how" I did it. I kept saying, just go, just start and it will all unfold for you.
I got just as much out of our interaction as he did. He was reminded just how far I have come. I am in a different place, I have learned my lessons and I crave community, friends, a home but seeing this young man in the infancy of 'the road is life' shows me how grateful I am for the path I chose and how much I love that I can encourage others to live their dreams.