those yet to come

One of the best things about travelling is the anticipation before you leave.

Before you leave everything is still unknown. You might know your destination but I dont think you know much else. How you will feel when you get there, what it will look like through your own eyes, and most importantly, the people you will meet.

There is a quote I love, though I don't know the source:

- I'm in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met -

Before I travel I like to think about how other people, right now, are going about their lives, unsuspecting that soon they will play a part in mine, and I in theirs. It might be a small part, a chance meeting for half an hour, or half a day. You might never meet them again, or even think of them. Or it might be the start of a friendship that will last long after the travel has ended.

There are people I have met on the travels that I will never forget whose names I do not even remember;

- the pilot who took me under his wing when I got stranded at St Louis airport for a night and they wouldnt give me a hotel room since I was only 17

- the tiny woman, who couldn't speak a word of english, who guided my dad, my brother and I for four hours through the rice terraces and hill villages of China

Then there are those who I still talk to and think of regularly, and hope to see again sometime soon.

So here I am, just over a week out from indulging my wanderlust once more. While I am excited about the places I will be going, I am most excited about the people I will meet, because it is the people who really make the journey.

After all (google does give an origin for this one, possibly dubious...):

- There are no strangers, only friends  you haven't met yet - William Butler Yeats