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I always prefer free travel, even if it is often accompanied by various unexpected situations.
What will you encounter when you choose to travel freely abroad?
Some experiences were unexpected before departure. Here are some accidental encounters during the journey.
At the local wholesale market in Sri Lanka, I clutched my wallet all the way. The market there is like a village temple fair decades ago, with crowds crowded shoulder to shoulder.
In this environment, I am most wary of pickpockets, so I focus all on my pockets. It’s hard to squeeze out a section, and there are fewer people in the other area, but trucks come and go, and the ground is not tidy.
I saw many crows pecking at the scattered rice, wondering how so many rice grains were spilled on the ground, when an old man suddenly appeared, pointed to the crows and said to me, “Look, this is Sri Lanka.”
In Yerevan, as a newcomer, I couldn’t figure out how to pay for the bus. After asking the driver, he took the initiative to walk to the ticket vending machine and patiently taught me how to operate step by step.
I went to the shop in front of the community to ask for directions. The local brother put down his work and helped me check the route and connect the Wi-Fi in the store. Even when a guest came in, he would say “sorry” to me, a stranger.
At the foot of the snow-capped mountain, the bus put several of us travelers on the side of the road. My companion saw the fruit piled up beside the station and wanted to buy some with great interest.
The shopkeeper stuffed an extra handful, and finally waved his hand and said, “There is no need to change.”
InMestiaI walked alone from the village to the town. There were vast mountains in front of him, and a pickup truck drove by behind him and stopped in front of him.
The chubby old man in the car knew neither English nor Chinese, so he greeted me to get on his ride.
In many places, you don’t even need to give your thumbs up, and enthusiastic locals will stop and invite you to go with you.
I paid in US dollars at the hotel in Giza, and the other party gave me Egyptian pounds. The boss said there was no change and asked us to pick it up later.
After asking, he still insisted on converting it at an exchange rate worse than that of the airport, insisting that there was no change, even though his pocket was clearly full of cash.
At the late night airport in Tbilisi, my companion and I walked several kilometers to the commissary to buy water. There’s always a shadow following us along the way.
It moved back and forth, like a bodyguard. I still don’t know the name of that big dog.
Eating in Istanbul, a very small cat took a fancy to the shoulder strap of my backpack, jumped up and played with its paws, and was not afraid of meeting people.
I bought 10 lira a bag of black tea in the scenic store, which is even cheaper than the single cup sold in many restaurants.
On the edge of a cliff not far from the Aegean Sea, I met a whole piece of colorful bougainvillea. In all the unexpected encounters, I saw different scenery in the world.
But what is more memorable than the scenery is people after all.
I will remember the layered blue Red Sea, but I will certainly remember the fellow travelers who encouraged me not to be afraid at that time on the boat.
I can recall the clear and salty water of the Red Sea, and I won’t forget the stray cats waiting for opportunities on the trash cans near the youth hostel.
These are the unexpected scenery on the road, and they are also the fragments of life glimpsed when traveling outside.
They could be someone, a story, or a small animal. Different lives have a common name-memory at the moment they look at you.
There are always many things that are taken for granted when traveling freely, and many unexpected things will also be met. Perhaps this is the surprise it gives travelers: everything is unknown, and everything is spread at your feet.
These encounters with the world have convinced me that “always young, always with tears in my eyes” is not a false word, but the truest footnote to the fate of walkers.
