I was reading a few stories on the Facebook synchroncity page this evening when a travel-related one caught my attention. Two women from a small town in Michigan went to Europe one summer. They knew each other, but neither knew the other was taking an overseas trip. So they ran into each other at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Surprise!
That reminded me that, from my own experiences, long-distance travel seems to generate such synchronicities. We are out of our daily routines, encountering new things in new places, and whether we know it or not, we are open to opportunities for meaningful coincidence.
One summer, while in Spain, my traveling partner and I kept running into an Australian named Maurey. It seemed that wherever we went, Maurey would show up. He wasn’t particularly friendly and never seemed surprised when we bumped into him.
After three weeks in Spain, we decided to go to Morocco. We ferried to Ceita and suddenly found ourselves in a culture where we didn’t speak the language, and couldn’t read the signs. We climbed into a bus with gaudy decor among the jalaba-wearing Moroccans. Several were involved in a heated argument near us and the Arabic music was loud and screechy. The bus was hot and dusty and my head was pounding when I noticed two Western men about three rows in front of us.
I tapped my friend on the shoulder. “You’re not going to believe it. There’s Maurey.”
We called out to him. Suddenly, he seemed like a long-lost friend. Maurey and the man next to him turned. To our surprise, Maurey was seated with the only other person we knew from our hometown who was traveling in Europe. But Dave was supposed to be in Sweden. We had no idea he planned to visit Morocco. But there he was…with Maurey.
That synchronicity from many years ago has always amazed me. Does anyone else have memorable travel synchronicities?
Rob
When you think about it, travel synchronicities make perfect sense. We’re outside of our normal routines and environments, perhaps more intuitively open,observant,aware. And I don’t think we have to be in a foreign country to experience this. A trip to our local grocery store might yield the same types of experiences.I, for one, am going to pay closer attention to what I feel and experience when I get in my car!