In the last coupe of days , I have said goodbye to many. At the school where I work, I said goodbye to two really wonderful teachers and yesterday, I said goodbye to a friend I made 3 weeks ago...yes that isn't very much time but time goes by far quicker in the world of a traveler.
We bonded and got to know personal things about each other that would have maybe taken months or years in our hometowns. I think this has to do with the notion that we have limited time in any given place so we expect and want things to happen right NOW. That being said change in itself becomes the routine. Making new friends on a daily basis and sad goodbyes become things you are so accustomed to. I remember the day I said goodbye to my closest friends in Montreal. I broke down and hugged my best friend as I sobbed uncontrollably! That doesn't happen anymore but I always feel the loss when it happens.
Sometimes people are saying goodbye to me. I left Paris almost 4 months ago now and I had barely been there 3!!! My last two weeks, I was fitting in farewell dinners and coffees left, right and center. It was really bittersweet because somehow, I had grown close enough to those I had met in that little amount of time. But at the same time, I knew that's where we would stop sharing our routines. Daily yet again.
Some might say that with all these people that come and go and no fixed routine, life could get difficult. But I can honestly say after all this time, that it is really worth all the sacrifice. Each and every friend I have made over the last few years has been a plethora of wonderful discoveries. Each with their own cultures and experiences, I get to learn a lot about even the places I have never set foot in.
