My good friend was in town to meet up with me. We haven’t seen each other in years and we needed to catch up. Who knew this experience would be so reflective.
I was excited to meet up with my friend. We haven’t seen each other in years. This guy is like a brother to me. We been through a lot of rough times with each other. We knew each other since toddler years. He has been through a lot in life. So, it’s always good to see him with a smile on his face.
Of course knowing me, I convinced him to eat some Indian food. We went to a nearby Indian restaurant and we were a little bit thrown off. To our surprised, the restaurant was aimed more for romantic couples. This brings the joke of bromance to a whole new level.
Of course, we didn’t care what others might think and we ordered our food. As we waited, we exchanged stories about our lives and how our old friends are doing. After some time, the topic of my travels came up. Explain to him about my travel experiences and all my personal growth. Also, spoke about the awesome people I met, the cultures I learned about and the countries I have been to. The conversation became deep and intense.
He could sense the passion in my stories. Eventually, after speak for what seemed like 30 mins, we got our food. To his surprised, he saw I ordered food he never seen me eat before. My friend told me with a smirk on his face, “travel has really changed you. You aren’t the same person I grew up with. The Hugo I know, would eat the same food until he died.”
Taken by Hugo Morel
Those words really cut me deep. I was scared that I was becoming something that nobody back in my hometown would be able to relate to. The part of California we are from, there wasn’t much diversity at the surface. You really needed to look hard to find a Nepalese restaurant or anything diverse. All we had was awesome mexican food, some Chinese and occasional soul food. Unfortunately , that is usually it.
Still with my fears, my friend and I still had a great time. It felt great to enjoy your time with a childhood friend. All the laughs made me forget about the strom being created in my head. Best to live in the moment, being lost in thought would be disrespectful. Especially, when friends fly just to see you.
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Sweet Post
Growing up and growing out is a good thing. Those who love you always will. 🙂
Good friends are those who allow to grow and change and still you can connect at the heart level. Those who require you to stay stunted aren’t real friends at all anymore….just part of your past.
I feel the same: whenever I return to LA, I feel out-of-place, even in such a cosmopolitan city. I would say, though, that there’s more to LA’s cuisine than you think: I’ve had great French, Ethiopian, and Lebanese food, so I do like the diversity of food there!
Well written! I look forward to your posts these days!
I’m always amazed by how many different personality types exist on earth. Realistically, few people could do what you do as often as you do and truly enjoy it, “traveling all over the world.” Change is inevitable even for those of us who only travel a few times out of the year, or not at all. Expanding one’s horizons makes him or her a bigger person socially and intellectually. That said “yours truly couldn’t do it!” I used to dream of traveling all-over when I was younger, but now traveling by plane is no longer a pleasant experience for me. My daughter was a flight attendant for almost 10 years until she developed neuro-sarcoidosis. She loves to travel, who knew? She certainly didn’t get the bug from me or her dad. Great post!
Travelling does really change you.
Great post!
Travel does change you, I agree. But I’d say this is positive change – traveling has opened you up to new experiences and so your newfound curiosity makes you choose a dish you wouldn’t have considered in the past 🙂
Thank you for your comment on my post btw 🙂
Travelling is beautiful and helps form us by opening our mind and overall possibilities. Its always nice to catch up with old friends- a great time to revel in how far we’ve grown. Fun read 🙂
This warms my heart! Somehow it’s almost magical when meeting up with a childhood friend after years of not seeing each other, and reconnecting again feels a little like home. We experience all sorts of challenges and meet different people on our journeys that may change us. However, to a childhood friend who is familiar with us, and has watched us grow, they know deep down that there are parts of us that don’t change. I find comfort in that familiarity with a childhood friend. Thank you for writing this post. 😄
Great post! I love the insights in the article, and noticing those differences between home and where you are can be scary and liberating at the same time!
It’s nice to catch up with old friends – no matter how we’ve grown they’re always gonna be a part of our lives. I enjoyed reading this.
Travel and experience changes people; the spice of life. The more we are able to taste, the wider our understanding and empathy become. Good post.
“He could sense the passion in my stories.”
When you’re living in your purpose, your light shines bright to others!
Looking forward to reading more adventures!💞
Growth is always a good thing, and travel certainly encourages that. Those that truly care about you enjoy seeing you evolve. May you continue to enjoy such good friends!
Hi Hugo, I think it’s great that you’re open to different things after travelling. I think experiencing local culture is really precious and eye-opening. I travel alone most of the time, although I learnt to be careful around people, I’ve met a lot of kind people who offered help although I didn’t ask for it or sparked a conversation because I said ‘Hi’.
There was a random stranger who offered me a seat on the long 1+ hour crowded bus journey because I was carrying a large backpack, my Airbnb host’s neighbour from my home country who offered to bring me around and visit her home (and became a good friend after I moved to Australia), a chef who shared his learning journey, an elderly lady from New Zealand that I met on the tour bus in Australia who chatted with me the whole day during the tour and showed me photos of her adventures. It’s a very humbling and enriching experience.