The Fellowship of World Travelers

Traveling solo I meet a lot of people. And a lot of them are traveling solo, too, both men and women. To me it is amazing their detailed knowledge of the US. They know about Gavin Newsom, Sarah Palin, Charlie Kirk, Boeing, the Rust Belt and Jimmy Kimmel. They are mystified as to how the American voters elected Donald Trump and look to me for answers, though they have good theories of their own.

When we find ourselves in the same space we have great conversations about the state of the world and more. Sometimes I wish I had photos of everyone. But I would feel silly asking everyone for a photo after I converse with them for an hour. But Wes from Australia will serve as the representative in the picture above. He’s around my age, but most of them are much younger.

Wes is an adult educator who is traveling around the world in the opposite direction. Then there’s a young French guy who looks like Sting and knows every detail about American life, a Filipino woman who works in Jerusalem, a student from Poland, a group of businesswomen also from Poland, And a Russian on business in Georgia who tells me he is opposed to the war in Ukraine, but cannot say anything back home.

And a woman from Belarus who left rather than live under the man who has been dictator her entire life and her boyfriend from Turkey. They met in Georgia and live here now. He quotes Americans as having a 60% voter participation (I don’t actually know the number) and finds it incredibly low. They speak to each other in English. It’s clear that English is the lingua franca for the world. I’ve actually only met a few native English speakers.

And a few Germans, all of whom recognize how history repeats itself, as the world evolves more to fascism, reminiscent of Make Germany Great Again after WW I in the 1930s.

It actually gives me hope that these young people are very aware of the world as it is. That’s a start.

And people who travel in this style have a bond…and stories to share.Read more