La Vida Idealist

For Kate Bennett’s response to this post, check out  ”‘Lone Travelers’ Part Two: Lone and Liberated!“

I have a lot of respect for independent travelers. You see them dotted around; sometimes reading a book in a café, or riding solo on the bus with an iPod for company. They actually appear to be quite rare, and that’s the reason that makes them seem so brave to me.

Got to love the random

Now, I’ve never been particularly good with my own company, and, unless the oven is on, I sometimes find it difficult to entertain myself. Hence the idea that traveling alone, for me, is one of pure hell! Of course, there are arguments for and against. For one, I imagine you make a lot more friends as a solo traveler (any company is better than none) and I can also see for some people, it could be a truly liberating experience… only one schedule to stick to, only one opinion to consider when making decisions, and so on and so forth. But I can’t help but think that the whole notion of getting on a plane to a foreign and unfamiliar country would be 100% more terrifying without someone to hold my hand.

Very cool Natural Wonder

The concept of being ‘on a journey’ for me is about having someone to be on that journey with; essentially, someone to look at for reassurance, to debate over prices with, to enjoy the moment with. This was made really obvious last week during our little adventure to the viewpoint of Volcano Santaguito close to Quezaltenango (they don’t make it easy, do they?). Four hours into our two-day trek, I took a scary tumble, bashed my knee and got a very dizzy head. I only remember falling quite a distance and being upside down; then dark, nauseating rushing. Apparently, I had a seizure and went all rigid (please see “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” for full re-enactment). Obviously, it was very scary, but looking back, imagine if I had been a lone traveler? When I came around all soaking and shaking, who would I have instantly locked eyes onto? It was Dante I searched for and, even though I felt like death warmed up, I knew everything would be fine because someone was looking out for me.

Looking down over Semuc Champey

But don’t get me wrong, it’s not only the bad things you want to share. Being at Semuc Champey, floundering around in the cool water, was made all the more fun by having someone with me to look back on it. (Seeing a river dashing into a gaping chasm in the earth is pretty stupendous!). Even silly things like reaching the top of an epic walk is made better, because you are both drenched in sweat and both gasping for air like hippos on treadmills.

Travel is great no matter how many there are of you… but you’ve got to give some extra brownie points to those that truly go out there on their lonesome – it takes a lot of guts, and a lot of determination.

Sunrise over Flores

By the way, if that all seems a tad sentimental, it’s because I am deliriously warm, it’s my 26^th birthday today so I feel a little reflective anyway, and I spent all day yesterday shivering and vomiting. But I felt fine, because Dante was there to bring me fluids and hold my hair (so to speak) as my head plunged yet again into the loo! Travel — always bliss!

Alex Harker is a pastry chef from Cardiff, Wales, living in Mexico and training as a dive instructor. To hear more about his experiences, check out his blog.

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