This is the first post in a series called “Love Your Story.” In this series, I aim to detail important moments that led me to my journey of Chasing Neverland. The events of this post are from a Sunday on November 18, 2018 when I came out of a long hiatus and tapped into my dreams through embracing spontaneity with a new friend.
Embracing Spontaneity
Sun kissed skin and windswept hair by the sea. Live music by local artists. A meet up with a celebrity. Streaks of orange as you sip on a cocktail watching the sun disappear behind the mountains. These are the make ups of a dream day–the product of meticulous planning. Would you believe it if I told you that none of it was supposed to happen? Rather, this storybook day was the result of embracing spontaneity.
The day was meant to contain a tour of Robben Island to learn about South Africa’s brutal history of apartheid. I was to go with a girl I had befriended the night before, Yvonne. However, the boat ride to Robben Island got canceled due to unsafe waters. This left our schedule wide open. We did the only sensible thing we could: bought beers and walked around the waterfront gazing dreamily out at the white, foamy waves in the sea and taking in the sounds of local musicians performing their hearts out.
Making an Unexpected Connection
We eventually made our way back to the marketplace for lunch. As we sat eating she asked, “Do you ever dream of quitting your job and this just being…your thing?”
“All the time.”
The question had barely left her mouth before I answered.
“Let’s do it. Let’s travel the world together.”
Whether these fantasies would ever come to fruition was hardly the point. In that moment, it was reality.
Vulnerability is a scary thing, but when on the road it seems to happen a lot more than you might expect. It is incredible the amount of emotional freedom and safety you can feel with nearly a complete stranger. I opened up about dreams and insecurities that I scarcely share with my closest friends back home. For an American boy and a German girl meeting in Cape Town, there was no danger of our transparency tracing back to anyone. We were safe to share anything we liked. In addition to sharing the day together, we shared our lives.
Spontaneity Takes the Wheel
We did everything our whims dictated; this included paying a few bucks to go into a snake exhibit. The owner, an eccentric older gentleman, gave us all the insight and knowledge he had regarding his family history, snakes, and his issues with our generation’s obsession with our phones. We both earned his approval due to my phone not working and hers having been stolen—details we didn’t share with him as we were more than happy to let him think we were vigilant youth unwilling to compromise our old fashioned standards for society’s trends.
After having explored the waterfront sufficiently, it felt time to get a move on. We noticed a rooftop bar.
“Should we…?”
“Yeah we should.”
That was all it took to direct our steps, and before long we were jamming to house music on a rooftop sixteen floors up, dangling our feet in a pool, and sharing about our lives back home. She told me about how life had become too mundane and filled with routine and how she had quit her job and come to South Africa. If it is possible to fall in love with the idea of someone after only knowing them a day I think I had managed it. We saw another rooftop much higher up where life seemed to stir.
We had to know. We had to explore. So we did.
An Evening for the Ages
We sipped cocktails and watched the sunset together dreaming aloud simultaneously of a life together on the road with each day carrying the same magic as the moments we were breathing. The crowning moment of our adventure came when we were asked to switch tables to make way for a party. Once the party arrived we realized we had been seat warmers for Miley Cyrus. Yvonne got a selfie with her while I managed a couple of awkward exchanges between drooling over her from across the bar.
I don’t know if Yvonne and I will ever see each other again, much less travel the world together. I hope so. Even if we don’t, however, our time together fulfilled a purpose simple yet sensational–all because our plans fell through. It filled me with hope. With excitement. Our conversations brought life back into me in a way I had not felt in a long time. Our spontaneous adventures reminded me that any moment of life can be unexpectedly dazzling. Yvonne’s story of quitting her job to travel inspired me. It infused me once more with dreams. Having been struggling with depression, this was monumental. I found purpose again–I found myself. I expected a good day; I expected to make a new friend; I expected a solid history lesson. I could not have planned for what I found instead.
What Comes Next?
Fast forward to August, 2019, and I am not traveling the world with Yvonne. I am, however, exactly three weeks away from quitting my job and boarding a one-way plane to Dublin, Ireland. My connection with Yvonne may not have lasted forever like I had hoped, but her impact and the impact of that day cannot be overstated. Not only do I love her story, but she helped me to love mine. If not for the events that transpired with her on November 18, 2018, I would not be on the verge of perpetually embracing spontaneity while Chasing Neverland.