Companions

 

By Jillian Owens

 

 

I love to travel.  As most of you know by now, I love living in Columbia, but I also love getting away.  It doesn’t take much to coerce me into skipping out of town for a bit.  Beer festival in Asheville?  Sure!  Wine tasting weekend in Georgia?  Wine not?  Do I want to save some leatherback turtles in Costa Rica?  “Viva las Tortugas!” I’ve been known to scour airline websites for freakishly cheap airfares and just fly to a random city for no particular reason.  New places, new strangers (I have a theory that Columbia has the same 45 strangers, but that’s an article for another day.), new food, and new experiences excite me more than just about anything else.  If you invite me to go somewhere with you, odds are I’ll say yes.

 

When my good friend Ryan invited me to be his plus one for a wedding in Hawaii, I was powerless to refuse.  I’d been under a lot of stress lately (Don’t worry…I’m just neurotic enough to stress about everything), and a week spent in a mansion in paradise sounded like just the reprieve I needed.  Don’t hate me because my coping strategies are more fabulous than yours, okay?

One thing that all my travels have in common is that I never go it alone.  I’m the type of person that has to share an awesome experience with at least one other person.  I want to share everything, be it my homemade lamb stew or a new favorite song.  I like seeing the world through other people’s reactions to it.  I enjoy debating the merits of a local dish with someone who’s as equally food-obsessed as myself.  I crave the unexpected conversations that creep up when you’re driving with the same person for hours.

 

Companions are important.  They can make or break your trip.  Doctor Who knows this and so do I.  But what makes a good travel companion?  I feel like if I have any of life’s mysteries figured out, it’s this one.  Here are my Top 3 bits of advice for being a good companion:

Be a good sport.

This could also double as my mantra for life.  Does your friend really really really want to visit that boring memorial that you have no interest in?  Just go along with them.  It can’t be that bad.  The road to that restaurant you were dying to try is closed and you’re going to have to take a half hour detour to get there?  No big.  You’ll get there.  Is everyone else in your group taking forever to get ready to go sightseeing, and you know you’re going to be behind schedule?  Deal with it.  When things go awry – and they always will – good sports will find the humor in the situation.

Be adventurous.

I’ve never understood why some folks will travel outside of the US and then eat at McDonalds.  Seriously?  Are these people actually human beings? Experience the culture you’re in.  Don’t be afraid of that slightly dodgy Moroccan restaurant your friend really wants to try (Hint Hint, Ryan…be a good sport!).  Paddle the rapids.  Do the things you’ll never get the opportunity to do again.  Life is short, so don’t be a wuss.

Have an open mind.

The more you see of the world, the more you’ll see that you don’t understand.  You’ll probably see a lot of things you’ll dislike quite heavily.  That’s okay.  Talk to people.  Get to know them and the context in which they live their lives.  The more we connect with others, the stronger our ability to connect with others gets.  Don’t judge towns or cultures that seem backwards or weird to you at first glance.  They’re probably much more complex than you realize.  Don’t be a jerk.

 

 

So.  There ya go.  My Top 3.  It would have been a Top 5, but my hankering for adventure is pulling me away from my laptop and towards the ocean outside my door.

 

Aloha!

 

Jillian Owens is a writer, designer, and eco-fashion revolutionary. A Columbia SC transplant, she graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BFA in Theatre and English. When she’s not gallivanting about, she’s busy refashioning ugly thrift store duds into fashionable frocks at ReFashionista.net or helping the underserved through her work in Community Impact at United Way of the Midlands. She also reviews local theater productions for Jasper Magazine and Onstage Columbia, and is an occasional contributor for The Free Times. Any comments, questions, or crude remarks can be directed to [email protected].

 

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