“In traveling, a companion, in life, compassion,'" she repeats, making sure of it. If she had paper and pencil, it wouldn't surprise me if she wrote it down. "So what does that really mean? In simple terms."
I think it over. It takes me a while to gather my thoughts, but she waits patiently.
"I think it means," I say, "that chance encounters are what keep us going. In simple terms.”
― Haruki Murakami

When the cellular network is weakest or nil, the actual connectivity begins. Disconnected from the world, a new connection emerges.

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On a train or bus journey, we usually travel for longer duration and end up striking a conversation with someone sitting next to us or someone who asked for a help or you asked for help from. Whatever be the reason, there is a sudden ignition that leads to a progressive conversation.

Unlike the usual introduction, your name is the least important information. The first question usually is “so where are you going?” followed by “and you belong to which place?”

Age, caste, race, etc does not matter, but common destination is all it takes to start a conversation.

The best part about travel friends is that they do not care about your financial status and designation at work. They do not judge you by your language either. In fact, they are more interested in you if you speak a language different from theirs.

A travel friend is a total stranger-turned companion. Old stories are shared and new stories are created.

It is weird yet amazing how a stranger in a strange land can become such an important part of our lives.

You have the liberty to present any version of you when you meet someone during the journey.

If you come across someone who is a native residence of the place you are visiting, you get to know some lesser known facts and pieces of information about that place with some interesting stories popular among the locals.

Meeting a fellow traveler is an entirely different kind of friendship. The only common thing is the wish to travel. May be the itinerary coincides and it leads to a stronger bond.

The hardest part of traveling is to bid goodbye to those friends we make during the trip. Unlike the random people we meet in our city, there is the slightest chance of having a mutual friend.

Knowing that there are least chances to meet again, we manage to keep a smile while parting ways. The only take away is the bunch of good memories for life.

Even though the separation is an unpleasant feeling but these chance encounters on a trip is what keeps us going. Meeting new people adds spice to life and milestones to journey.