Again, by chance

As traveling goes — we form friendships easily, primed for the likelihood of never crossing paths again. Keeping up on socials is feasible, but we know how quickly life moves. It’s far too commonplace for years to drift by without saying a word, even among friends and family we’ve known for years.

The other night, I found myself among people who felt like they’d always been part of my life. One of those sobering moments, blown away realizing everyone around was once a complete stranger – but in this moment they actually were not too long ago.

In the summer of 2023, I was passing through parts of Arizona when visiting family. Not in my hometown nor my usual friend group, I arrived at a party to where I was nothing more than a background character. I vividly recall standing in a backyard about ready to leave, when a blonde bombshell (she’s gonna love that one) emerged with presence out of the house, laughing loudly with a joint in hand, beaming with joy – I immediately wanted to be her friend. I don’t remember how or when we got to speaking, but the friendship felt instant, like a twin flame.

We had met to catch up only once in those two years, as she and I were both traveling and following our separate paths in the interim. When chatting over socials one day, we discovered that we each had intentions of visiting Colombia in the same month – incredible. Immediately, she and I got to planning and arranged to stay in Medellín in the same area. This is Schae.

December of 2024, I began a Spanish course online and my teacher happened to be from Cali, Colombia. She is vibrant, smart and driven – we saw so many commonalities between our interests and values, there was an immediate connection. We had never met in person, but I left the course with a new friend, Geraldine, and vowed to meet her on my next visit.

This leads me to early 2025, where I spent a few months in Brazil. What was to be a three week stay quickly turned into three months – as Brazil's stunning coastline and hospitality trapped me in a tropical feverdream. Near the end of my stay, I landed in a small beach town on the Santa Catarina coast. There is much more randomness to how I landed in that town which is a story of its own, but one thing led to another and I booked a cabin only for three days before my departure to another city. In those three days, I made friends with an easygoing Brazilian who happened to be my b&b host.

I was all packed up and ready to leave on the morning of my departure when I walked to his house, which was on the same property – to say goodbye. In that goodbye, he asked me to stay with him instead. Fully aware this was insane, I agreed, and ate the cost of the bus ticket to the next city. I stayed with him for nearly a month – life was simple and easy. We were laughing, hiking, cooking, lifting, and everything just seemed to flow. It flowed hard enough for him to fly out to Italy and help with house renovations a few months later, in the summer, and is with me now in Colombia – my partner, Medryck.

Shortly after time spent in Brazil, I made a trip to Argentina. Originally, the plan was to stay in Argentina for the majority of my travel time, making only a pit stop in Brazil, but it ended up the other way around.

In Buenos Aires, I roomed with a lovely Colombian gal, Lorena. One of the sweetest souls I’ve ever met. We shared a few nights out in the city and our times were effervescent and joyous – so in planning for a Colombia trip, she was one of the first to cross my mind.

Returning to the present moment and I'm surrounded by these four, among other new friends and we are being taught how to salsa – Lorena and friends leading the charge. With all the laughs it was nearly impossible but to savor every second. In the heart of Provenza we spent the evening dancing, drinking, and launching ourselves into ball pits — not a single complaint on my end.

As I went to bed that night, the serendipitous meetings of each of these dear people surfaced in my mind. How beautiful is chance, especially when we leave the door open for newness.

With many miles in between, the likelihood of never crossing paths again was much greater than the alternative — maybe that’s what made this night just a little bit sweeter. Four seemingly coincidental meetups turning into friends I’d like to keep tabs on for the long haul. Grateful for moments like these, and to each of them for leaving their doors open for me.

With so much love.

Summer Reflections