Sólo travel culture

When I'm in a city, it feels like home and I can't imagine leaving it, until the day before I leave, and then I get the itch, even seeing other backpackers with their packs on makes me long for a nice long bus ride, but at the same time filled with the dread/excitement/anxiety of figuring out the next step.  What transport/hostel/city/map/money is next!?!  The unknown.

I have a few things I'd like to share about this odd experience of traveling alone. I spend a lot of time now by myself but surrounded by others. I also spend a lot of time in dorms....I'm pretty much just living out every persons dream of living in a permanent state of summer camp....sometimes I really don't believe I'm a grown up at all, I could be 12 again! 
Dorms:
Metal bunk beds. Stories of bed bugs. Inappropriate things happening in bunks late at night. People being noisy. People staying up late giggling. People getting up early. People snoring. It's all part of it. I've now witnessed dirty people/clean people/loud people/messy peopme and it's never who I expect it to be!! Ladies can snore!!  Also....it's such an intimate thing sleeping....just in that sense, I've now slept with 100's of strangers!  Who can say that and really mean it?  So grateful for my sleep mask and ear plugs!

I believe this is my first/last time truly backpacking. After a certain age you can still do it, but you become the weird creepy guy/girl which I have become all too familiar with as luckily I do not take offense when the old Brit guy hits on me and I explain how things are *old and married and he feels bad for his creepy plunder gone south.  Not to mention, jumping up onto a bunkbed?!?  Not always so easy! I had one place where I was on the top of a triple decker!  Don't think I'll be doing that in 20 years.

So that's the thing I struggle with the most in my writing this blog. Do I talk about the incredible culture of the new beautiful places I'm seeing....or the new beautiful culture of truly traveling as a solo backpacker and all the pros and cons of that interesting and unique culture in itself. Every day meeting amazing people from far off places in a hostel. It's intense!  Plus, the hostel can make or break a city for me....if there's no atmosphere/social meeting space, my battleship is sunk. I rely on an open meeting area where I can introduce myself to others and make plans for the day....it's like speed dating for friends, but it's important!!!  We are all doing it and desperate for a connection in the storm.

A little note here about writing about places....a lot of times my time to write is on buses/I pretty much never have privacy....to truly write my feelings about the full experience of a place....it feels wrong and offensive knowing full well the local guy sitting next to me on the bus is reading my every word in English with interest and curiosity.

I have all kinds of biases and intrigues and attitudes. Also bad things happen and great things have happened and I've edited those out too....hopefully I can do better from here on out in sharing info...

Well.  I guess I can start now!

Two friends have been mugged in front of me. That's for starters.  Both in Cambodia. Luckily I have lost nothing but the trauma is real and raw and it's horrible to witness. Both are safe and in the end lost nothing special but had to cancel debit cards and will need to return destroyed items to REI. They were smart and lucky and cautious. Keeping money in a bra instead of a purse in one case or locking their bag to their bike in another. Both drive by motorcycle robberies on main busy roads.

The poverty here is intense. Grandma's digging thru trash heaps. Children begging and memorizing capitals to impress tourists. The line between rich and poor is beyond drastic and it's scary and real and raw.  Giving money to beggars with babies on their sides will accomplish nothing but it's heart breaking to walk by and do nothing. It makes me feel a lot of feelings about the support people need from each other.

So there's my thoughts on life tonight. Thinking of all of you that  I love in this moment sitting solo on pub street sipping an angkor beer and wish you well.  Cheers!