Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending
— Author Unknown

Today marks another departure of a friend that I have been fortunate enough to have met on my travels, and while we have become close friends among all of the wonderful people I have met, Marc is a genuine person of character that shares the same passion for life and for others as do I. Even though his absence will only consist of several weeks visiting family back in the UK, returning mid-September, his sarcastic nature and our many hours of conversations will surely be missed during this time. I still find it quite interesting how you can develop friendships so quickly while traveling–often with such brief meetings, while back home it may take months to really get to know another person. Maybe it’s because of the closeness in proximity of the living conditions, the freedom of distractions, and the overall perception of partaking in a lifestyle that many find to be crazy. But, who’s the crazy ones, when we are living life free–making real connections that exist outside of Facebook, but tend to be sitting around a table of people from around the world as we share ideas, thoughts, and plenty of laughter. These new friends that I have met for only hours are willing to invite me to visit their country, their city, and stay in their homes. Where have we lost our sense of trust and personal connection with one another to be replaced with fear and paranoia?
