Keagan’s World

It’s happened.

I’m no longer just your average vacationer. I’ve finally received the divine mark of a backpacker. What is that you ask? That crazy absurd moment of per happen chance running into someone you met in another country, 1000s of miles/kilometers away, months ago, when you were seemingly in another life without any clue they would be in the same place as you again.

And it happened in the basement of a grimy Cusco club (..?) of all places.

As I broke it down to Cotton-Eyed Joe on the dance floor (oh yeah, as gringo as a Peruvian club can get), I felt a tap on the shoulder with which I turned around to find a guy I had taken Spanish classes with for 2 weeks back in Buenos Aires during March. Now… it would be really cool to say how we had been boys back then and shot the crap around while we were there together. That we had this big brotherly moment of catching up and embracing. But honestly I can’t really remember his name…

I know. Bad Keagan. Self-centered stereotypical American Keagan.

But to be fair, I don’t think he likely remembered my name either just the same as myself that we had been tearing up (or more like limping through) B2 Spanish lessons together for a bit. Still crazy though.

And then it happened again.

I was soaking up my last few moments with two friends, Manon and Chicco, on the streets of Lima before I headed off the Quito later that morning. We had decided the day before we would all go to a “real French bakery” for a taste of Paris through means of an “authentic” pain au chocolat. I mean “authentic” because it only reached “mediocre” on the Frenchie quality scale, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Yes guys I can hear you @Manon @Chicco: “Classic American not knowing what good food is.”

Fair. I don’t.

I mean here’s what I contributed to our cultural exchange.

ANYWAYS. I’m getting side-tracked. The backpacker’s rite of passage.

Shortly after the lovely photo of a very happy Chicco biting into his pastry, I got a tap on the shoulder. When I turned around, there I stood another Vamos Spanish school alum who I had met back in January. And (this is where I redeem myself) unlike unidentified English man in the Cusco club, I had actually become friends with her so I remember her name – Jill (boo yah I’m not a complete dick).

And this one also was arguably so much crazier too.

1. While Cusco is a large city of around 400k people, Lima is a whopping 10M… your classic 25x population difference (yes I’m citing Wikipedia, deal with it).

2. It had been a full 4 months since I had last seen Jill as opposed to like 2.

3. I actually know her.

So in summary, it just so happened that 4 months later we would find ourselves in the same city, at the same French bakery, in a 30-minute window, on the same morning.

Insane.

It’s one of those things you don’t even really register how crazy it is in the moment because it catches you so off-guard. Now I would have really liked to have caught up for a bit, but I did have a ~cultural exchange~ to finish up, a flight to catch, and I’m pretty sure she was on a date (forgive me if you read this and I’m wrong about that one). But we spoke enough to realize I’ll be back in Lima before she leaves again so the chance to catch up could wait. And even if it doesn’t happen, still… what are the odds? (don’t worry, not the game again Manon – no more piranha eyes)

Speaking of crazy odds, I saw people from home for the first time since I left the States… and (almost) completely by accident. I was taking a chill little evening post-Machu Picchu hike and saw on my friend Izzy’s story that she was in Santiago, Chile as part of her post-graduation trip. As a joke, I replied to it with a “No way! Come to Peru!” To which she replied “We are! Cusco flight tomorrow!”

I was pretty certain it was a joke at first since that’s in fact where I was at the moment, but we quickly realized that we would actually be in Cusco at the same time for a couple days completely by coincidence. So I got to see Izzy, Alice, and Paige over a plate of Guinea Pig in the historical center of Cusco my final night there.

Again, what are the odds?

Like actually think about all of those things.

We always say “it’s a small world” when things like this happen but like what. It’s crazy how the world brings us the ultra-niche connection points while still being so in-freaking-credibly huge. It defies all logic. All the crazy little decisions that had to have been made to arrive at that same point in time without a shred of planning.

Like probabilistically, quite literally impossible. Yet it happens all the time.

Want more?

Walking down a random side street of Sucre a month ago, I walked by someone wearing a T-shirt from the high school I graduated from.

For our final night in Cusco, our random hostel selection put us in a shared room playing 3 hours of cards (Cambio to be exact – it’s always Cambio) with a girl who’s starting the same job… in the same city… around the same time as me.

In Huacachina, I posted a story of me doing some fire salsa dancing (don’t ask me how it worked once we had to do it with partners). Unbeknownst to me, the girl next to me in the video and throughout the duration of the little lesson happened to be a Michigan grad with a shared mutual friend in Neha Paragi.

In Quito, I’m crossing over the paths of two of my better friends I’ve made on two separate occasion just 4 countries, 4408 kilometers, and 3 months later…

And honestly, I’m sure there’s more. You start to realize the impossible really isn’t all that impossible after it happens enough time. And yeah sure I’m looking through this via the eyes of traveling, but it happens all the time at home too, no? It might not seem quite as crazy just because the reference bubble is smaller, but it still is.

All it took was one tiny decision change, a hesitation, or a little change of luck to make that random run-in with a past teacher at the grocery store or an old friend on the basketball court never happen.

Traveling just opens your eyes to just how crazy it can get. I live for those wild moments, the energy it gives you, the excitement you feel – it’s incredible.

Soak up the unplanned pleasant surprises life throws at you because the odds they actually happen are nearly impossible.