A FORWARD ON ROAMING COMMUNITIES

There is a common line of questioning among the backpacker community. Spend at least ten minutes with a fellow traveler that you have met in a hostel, bar or tour and you will exchange these three questions in this order: “Where are you from? How long have you been traveling? Where have you been?” Most backpackers will extract this information before even learning each other’s names.

Until I went traveling on my own in Latin America, I hadn’t realized that there was even a backpacker community. I am from the generation that used to go on Europe trips after high school or college. Although I never had a desire to cross the pond, I knew people who had “bummed around Europe” for a couple months. In my pre-traveling naïveté, I just figured Americans went to Europe and Europeans traveled around their own continent and that was as far as backpacker routes extended. As an “ignorant American”, I was oblivious to the significantly worn trails young travelers have blazed all around the world.

Somehow, I was inspired to go and travel one of these well-worn paths for what started out as three months. Needless to say, I love meeting people from around the world and talking politics, culture or music. I have spent hours or days with random Australians, Dutchies, Germans, Israelis, Colombians, you name it, and I have asked that set of three questions a zillion times. After four years of traveling, mainly in Mexico, those three questions have become harder for me to answer without becoming long-winded.

Obviously, the question about where I am from is easy enough to answer, but being an American abroad gets mixed reactions. The politics of our government on a global scale are not so popular among Europeans and members of the third world. But, being from the States has sparked some great and heated discussions that make for truly great cultural exchange. In fact, I am proud to be an American abroad because with the reputation our government has given us, it’s important to set a good example.

The hardest question for me to answer in the backpacker interview is about how long I have been traveling. Speaking strictly in terms of time, I guess it has been on and off for four years, but it’s more complicated than that. This is where I tend to get long-winded explaining that I have not only traveled, but I have lived abroad, which leads to questions like, “Why?” and “What do you do when you live abroad?”

It’s hard to explain what I “do” when I travel around Mexico because it’s the experiences themselves that is the activity. Quenching the thirst of the “why” I travel is also part of the answer. I have fallen head-over-heels in love with Mexico and like with any smitten relationship, all I want to do is spend time with my lover. In this case, my lover is an entire country, culture and its energy. I am in love, addicted and absolutely thrilled by everything about traveling and especially in Mexico.

The answer to this question gets so complicated that I usually end up giving a generic, vague, partially true answer like, “I’m visiting friends.” But, I want to give the full answer and explain why I have been here for so long and why I keep coming back. So, I decided to write this book to reflect on how traveling has changed my life and how I fell in love with Mexico. I decided to write this book to try to inspire American women to go out and explore the world solo-style and to show you how much stronger you will become. In fewer words, this book is the answer to the question “How long have you been traveling?” and, by default, it answers the third question “Where have you been?”