- Empress Hotel, Victoria, B.C.
We rode TAZARA train through Tanzania, wine tasted our way through Oregon, California and the Okanagan. Once, we danced in 42°C heat to Santigold at Coachella. So many times you drove me along the Garden Route to/from Cape Town. The waves of Tofino pummeled our boards but not our smiles.
One night, we sprinted across a Malawian border crossing. We danced to show tunes in a tiny Palm Springs bar. We baked on South African/Tanzanian/ Mexican/Canadian beaches. The thickest rain storms in the Maritimes were no match for our wanderlust. We drank beer and wore ridiculous hats while boating through the Shuswap. We speaker danced with gaggles of pretty boys in Montreal, we snowshoed in Jasper and we played birthday beach croquet in Ucluelet.
Brave, you sat in the back seat with babies crying their eyes out as we sped down Vancouver Island. We made our way through Alberta whiteouts, your white knuckles ensuring our family’s safe passage. We skipped through a Seattle park to fly kites. We dove and laughed and glowed in the phosphorescence of a Mexican lagoon. We went for fancy drinks in Victoria.
They say your vibe attracts your tribe. I say your tribe attracts your vibe. And what a great tribe of travel buddies I have/had. Travelling is not about pressing replay. These memory-making moments will rarely be carbon copied, so go ahead: risk something, do something you would not do at home, follow you friend’s path because it could be surprisingly different (and more awesome) than your own. In my years of travel, my travel buddies determined the vibe of my journeys. Lucky me, I have had some fantastic trips thanks to my carefully curated companions.
Develop the foundation of sweet nostalgia that floods your mind long after the trip is done, the tickets dog-eared, the photos faded (or erased). HOLD ON TIGHT to the people you share your journey with. The destination is often the backdrop, your travel partners, the focal point.
Who is your favourite travel companion? Why/why not?
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