Spirit Bump

"Sometimes you meet someone for a day, sometimes for a week. But as long as they have an impact on your life, then there's a reason you met them," my friend Robert - from Jamaica, now living in London - told me. "Sometimes you just have a...a Spirit Bump with someone."

Living "on the road" I meet the most incredible people; folks from England, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Germany. Not to mention from all across South America. I've met a group of hilarious Argentinians traveling for 2 weeks during their summer break, and a young gent from Belgium who left home over a year ago and has since graced four separate continents. When everyone you meet is doing the same thing - living out of a backpack as simply and as cheaply as possible - how can you not have an instant bond?

After arriving to a new hostel you first go through The 5 Questions at least 40 times:

• Where are you from?
• Where have you been?
• How long have you been traveling for?
• How much time do you have left?
• Where are you going next?

Occasionally one of these questions leads to a longer conversation. But more often, by the last one you're nodding your head politely and thinking "shit, I already forgot their name." But then sometimes, you meet a Spirit Bump - someone you have a connection with and can't really explain why. With a Spirit Bump you shoot past The 5 Questions and find yourself comparing cultures, discussing micro-finance theory, and telling pent up stories of past relationships and family dynamics. And you think to yourself - how did the conversation get to this point with someone I met just 20 minutes ago?

Back in Puerto El Morro, Ecuador when we said goodbye to fellow volunteer Stefan from Germany, he told us in parting: "You always meet twice in life." And with that in the back of my mind, when I part ways with new friends, I try to say - see you in Buenos Aires, when I'm traveling Europe I'll look you up! Yet...after a couple months of saying goodbyes, after seeing people come and go, it's hard not to feel a little cynical, a little discouraged. It is human nature to seek out connections with people; it is natural for people to scour one's community - or even the world - for others they have a bond with. How then can a life of travel be sustainable? How can you keep your spirits up when some of the most remarkable people you've ever met come in your life and in the course of 3 days exit just as suddenly?

It is here where Jamaican Robert came into my life. Just when I was feeling cynical, he explained the Spirit Bump - that everything, and everyone, happens for a reason. And then yesterday night as Amanda and I were about to board the train down the mountain from Machu Picchu to Cusco, German Stefan's theory panned out. As we stumbled out of a small tienda holding bags of snacks for the journey home, we ran smack into Sweedish David - my absolute favorite person from our time volunteering in Pisco.

The universe spoke at just the right time proving that when you meet someone you care about - even if it's a Spirit Bump just for a few days - your worlds will collide again...or at least twice in life.