Visiting those friends from another trip

Malibu, Californie

It became a habit. You travel, you meet strangers and you share details.

Nothing new, you'll say. But one doesn't need to go far back in time to find the moment where mail adresses and telephone numbers would get lost. Six months, one year... that French friend you met in New York? No news at all!

Facebook revolution! Stay in touch without any effort. Or make a relationship stronger where there was nothing special at first. So give me a break with the theories about the social medias alienating people. When one knows how to use it, it's the opposite.

So there you go! The new friend sends you a request on Facebook. Tells you you'll always be welcomed in his house, Who-Knows-Where. But the truth is you will probably be too shy to visit that new friend.

Too bad!

Two years after meeting a girl from Hong Kong, in Germany, I visited her in her country. Not only reuniting felt natural, but it felt like we had just met the past week-end. We started talking exactly where we left the conversation before. That friend, she was very enthusiast to share her culture with me. She brought me places I would never have visited otherwise.

So for my last trip, I tried it again. Spent a whole week with friends in California. It is a different way to travel. Less museums, less major attractions, more small places and villages, well kept secrets. A slower pace too. But vacations are made for that. And learning to know a friend might be more rewarding that looking at beautiful landscapes.

True, there is a risk. A risk the first impression was totally wrong and you might have nothing in common. A risk to destroy precious souvenirs from a previous trip. But there is also a chance you'll discover even more common interests and that'll make the friendship stronger. Still, being right about the first impression is already something special.

And who knows. Once you have a place to stay somewhere, it might be easier to go back. Just have to believe they mean it when they say "Anytime you come close to my town, you can stay at my house."