World opens up solo

MASADA SIEGEL

The phone rang and rang. After the third try, it was clear to me that I was being stood up. She was a friend of a friend and had given me a number to contact her in Israel, so we could meet up. I should have known better but, being the optimist, I thought it would work out.

I stared at the phone on the counter in Tel Aviv, and wondered about my next move. Should I stay here in the safety of a city I knew, where I had family, or should I have an adventure on my own?

I was nervous, but I really wanted to see more of Israel. With an impish grin on my face, I figured I would go it alone. I would hopefully find this friend of a friend in Tiberius, where we had planned to meet, even though it was a completely crazy concept to find someone in a city of thousands of people, especially when I had no clue where she was staying. I grabbed my belongings and headed for the bus station.

I had no guidebook, no Internet, no phone, no nothing, and no idea where I would sleep that night. Simultaneously, I was excited and petrified. I promised myself that if I was uncomfortable or if it was too overwhelming, I would just return to Tel Aviv. But taking a risk to travel solo with no plans opened up the world to me in ways I could never have imagined.

The bus stopped in Nazareth, and the windows shimmered with sunlight bursting through clouds of dust. Five backpackers boarded. I smiled and said hi, and they sat down by me and started asking me questions on where I had been and where I was going.

These five Australians were nurses and physical therapists. They lived to travel, literally, living in London and working for a few months, saving all their money and then traveling for a few months. I was fascinated. They asked me how I happened to be traveling solo and once they heard my story they immediately said, “Why don’t you travel with us?”

The first night I found myself sharing a room with nine other people sleeping in a Crusader castle. The next day, we went hiking and exploring, picking up more people as we went along on our adventure.

The third day, I was wandering with my new friends and I bumped into the woman I was supposed to meet. She was with two other people hiking up the path we were walking down. I was so happy to see her, but even happier that she hadn’t called! I had met the most fantastic, friendly group of people, and was having a great time.

I spent the next two weeks traveling all over Israel with my Aussie friends. I bonded the most with Justin and Sue. We had countless conversations about our beliefs, experiences, countries and worldviews. They taught me how to travel on the cheap, and we met countless travelers, from the bars to the back alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem.

I started to see the world in a different way. These complete strangers were now friends. It was one of the best decisions I’d ever made: to take a risk and go it alone.

I fine-tuned trusting my instincts. When they hitchhiked, for example, I took the bus and met them at the next location. When they stayed in places that seemed a bit sketchy to me, I tried it out and then booked myself into another location that felt more secure. All the while, they accepted my differences, and I learned to trust myself in all types of new situations.

When they returned to London, little did I know that this had only been the beginning of a beautiful friendship that would span continents and generations. We would meet up again in London, New York City, Melbourne and Frankfurt. Our families have met here in Scottsdale and in Sydney, and Justin has become one of my closest friends on the planet.

Call it fate, destiny, whatever you like, but one of the greatest lessons I have learned is to call your own shots. When people disappoint you, or are unreliable, go it alone, whether it is to the movies or to another city on vacation. There are a lot of amazing wonderful people out there, and you never know who might sit down next to you, especially if you are traveling solo.

Masada Siegel is the author of Window Dressings, which can be found on amazon.ca. Follow her on Twitter at MasadaSiegel.

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