For the first time on this trip, I'm alone. (Mom/Dad, don't worry. I'm at a secure campground run by the tourism police in Antigua and there are 3 other overlanders here.) Ashwin and our fellow overlanding friends went on an overnight hike up a volcano but I, unfortunately, am babying a knee injury so I decided to stay back and hang out with the cops at the (free!) campground.
I have not been truly "alone" since Ashwin and I left CA in November. We wake up together, eat together, sit (sometimes in silence) together, explore together, hike together, drive (sometimes in silence) together, set up camp together, make dinner together, and so on.
Alone time does not come easily on a trip like this. I have to relentlessly and selfishly carve it out for myself. So when my travelin' crew left early this morning, I thought, "Sweeeet alone time!!" But 10 minutes later I was like "UGGHHH alone time?!?" I didn't know what to do.
I won't bore you with the details of my 45-minute nap or my time spent at McDonalds, but I will tell you that I quickly realized that "alone time" is not the point of this trip. Alone time cannot share in the joys and frustrations of a day on the road in a foreign country. Alone time cannot calm your nerves when you don't feel safe. Alone time is not what brings this kind of adventure to life. But the *people*, specifically these three, can do all of the above. And so much more.