Strangers on Planes

I remember seeing this in line in front of me waiting to board the plane, I was so jealous of how jacked she was. Her hair was long and luscious halfway down her back, she has calves that looked like something has surgically injected yams into the back of her legs and her butt had to have been sculpted by Gods. I was dying to ask her what her fitness regime was, but she was way too far ahead. Low and beyond as I got to my seat on the plane, and you’ll never guess who was sitting smack dab in the middle? I was going to wait until at least mid-flight before sparking up a conversation, but before we even took off, she asked me if I’d ever been to Bali before and who I was travelling with. I gave her a synopsis of my recent breakup but reiterated how excited I was to be going whether I had a companion or not. I told her how I couldn’t help but stare when we were preparing to board, she laughed and thanked me and then told me all about her personal training journey. 

 After going through customs, we exchanged numbers and she offered to show me around the city since we practically lived there. Her involvement in the fitness industry meant that she went back and forth between Australia and Indonesia regularly. I didn’t think much of the gesture other than her feeling sorry for me because I was alone.

Two days into my trip, I would receive a message from her on WhatsApp, inviting me to a pool bar the following day. Her only request was that I refrain from Googling the location and she gave me the address of where I should meet her. The following day, I rented a GoJek and almost missed the shuttle that would be taking us to our final destination because of all the traffic, which is the norm in Bali. 

We pulled up to this pool bar, skipped the line and headed straight for a table with bottles, lots of pretty girls and a food spread so vast, that I could barely make out what the table was made out of. It was stunning! The pool overflowed into the Indian Ocean, there was a DJ, and everyone just looked glamorous despite us all sporting swimwear. We took pictures, we laughed, we ate and eventually someone offered us their daybed by the pool (for free — they cost around 300CAD) and we made our way over. 

I ended up making friends with a young, teacher from Canada and a girl from Texas that used to be on The Real World. They were both super kind, down to earth humans, with some much life experiences — I will never forget those conversations. Fast forward into the night, we wound up in the booth of 3 brothers stuffing our faces with nachos and shots. They’d later offer us a ride home with their private driver. We’d end up back at their rental, and our laughter among other sounds would bellow in the halls of their beautiful Balinese home. 

The moral of the story here is this, you never know who you’re going to meet or what connections you may build. Whenever I travel alone, I wind up creating more friendships than I ever did when I was travelling with a friend. People tend to think you’re more approachable. As much as meeting new people is my favourite part of travelling, it’s also the hardest because eventually you have to say goodbye and there’s a great chance you may never see then again. It teaches me to make the most of every moment and that we’re not really strangers after all.