Traveling Makes the World a Small Place

Written by Bessie about Colombia. Feelin' happy

We've made a lot of friends here in Colombia, some Colombian, some foreigners. One thing we're noticing though, is the interconnectedness of us all. For example:

We Meet Again!
About a month ago, we met up with our friend's dad's family's foreign exchange student from about 30 years ago. Lilly is a wonderful woman that lives in northern Colombia, and she tried connecting us with her sister, Vivian in Bogota. We didn't get to meet Vivian in Bogota, but as it turned out, the same weekend we'd be passing through Cali, they were having a family reunion there, so we all met up. :)

Vivian, Werner, Kyle, me, Meike, Lilly & sister-in-law in Cali

Further cooler, is that we're getting an apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina in February, and Lilly will be there as well, teaching a seminar about the Holocaust to fellow teachers. Oh, and as luck would have it, Lilly & Vivian have family in Buenos Aires.

We're Going There too!
A week ago, we me this super cool Dutch couple traveling a similar trip to ours, from Mexico to Argentina. (Oh, Dutch means they are from The Netherlands aka Holland, where Amsterdam is, but most people there don't smoke marijuana, but they do ride bicycles.) We'd figured out we've stayed in a number of the same hostels along our trips, especially all through Colombia, where we narrowly missed meeting them about 5 times. We'll continue passing through the same towns as them for the next few months, including Quito, Ecuador in early December and Lima, Peru for New Year's Eve. It's nice having cool friends to tour & of course party with along our route.

with Meike & Werner at a cool salsa club, Tin Tin Deo in Cali, Colombia

When we have a Couch, You're always Welcome.
We've made a number of other random friends during our trip: co-workers from El Salvador, and fellow travelers from Australia, D.C., and Spain. Some we may never see again, but the way that travel makes the world a small place, something tells me, we'll cross paths at some point. And I hope we do.

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November 24, 2008 Karl Laufenberg: Hi, You don't know me but I believe you know my sister Jenny Evans. She forwarded me the link so I could follow your path and I must say that I am jealous of the path you are following. It is a dream of mine and my wife to travel the world and help others in their lives and to learn more about Jesus. I would love to speak with you sometime about what led you to take the journey and how you are accomplishing it. I hope all is well and really do enjoy your updates. Looks like you are seeing some beautiful things and having fun along the way

November 26, 2008 Bessie: traveling like this has definitely been a dream of mine, and I feel really lucky to be doing it, and sharing it all with Kyle. It's easier than it might seem to get out on the road and find adventure of all kinds, the hardest part is making the decision to do it.

Our faq gets more into planning and about our goals, but if you want to know more, don't hesitate to Contact Us under the About tab. Cheers & happy travel dreams!

November 24, 2008 selena: aww bess this is one of my favorite posts! it makes me happy to "see" u so happy and having such a good time =). it's good to hear people are treating u well.

November 26, 2008 Bessie: awww, thanks Cece! Good people can make such a difference while traveling, and it's great to be able to meet some.

November 25, 2008 Anne: Now that I finally figured out how to set up one of those fancy RSS thingys, I'm ALL OVER your blog. I mean, nothing inappropriate or anything, but I just thought you might want to know :) Good to get an update, Happy Thanksgiving you two. I am thankful to be connected to people doing inspiring things in the world!