Yet the internet also makes a big world a lot smaller. Sure this can be viewed as a bad thing. But in more ways than one, it can also be a good thing.
On a backpacking trip a few years ago in the mountainous region of the Philippines, I crossed paths with a guy from Wisconsin. Reid. Back then he was doing some work in Korea. I remember that whenever his photo was taken, he'd do the universal Korean pose of holding up two peace signs while squinting his eyes. As all backpacker friendships go, we emailed a couple of times, trying to keep in touch, but eventually lost touch.
Through the massive social networking that is Facebook, we crossed paths again. Since his last email of being back in Wisconsin, I find out from Facebook that he is now in South America, in between jobs as he is about to move further south the continent. For a few moments of my day I take joy in reading up on an old friend who a few years ago was right next to me on a narrow empty highway waiting for a bus to take us to Manila. He is now miles away leading a very different life from me. Yet, he is also a few taps of my forefinger away. Makes you realize how the world is so massive and yet so small at the same time.
Thinking of Reid makes me think about the others I've crossed paths with in my travels:
Eric from Switzerland who I shared a sunrise with in Vientienne.
Wil from Singapore who I bunked with during a chaotic New Year's Eve in Luang Prabang (this guy was bad ass with the map and called "miles" "clicks").
Mercedes who I met in Sagada and travelled to Batad with. She was from Madrid working for an NGO in Cebu.
Paddington from the UK who belted out Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town with me while I played guitar on the sidewalk of Kho San Road.
Hung and Ousman who I met in Sapa. A Vietnamese Russian dancer and a French computer programmer, respectively.
Stefi and Korina, German girls who were scared of cockroaches we shared drinks with on a junk boat in Halong Bay.
Pedro who I shared a cigarette with in Florence. Originally from Guatemala, it was his wife's birthday when we met. It also happened to be Valentine's Day.
Richard & Sue from London. We spent 2 days having breakfast together in Amsterdam. Richard was a double deck bus driver. I gave Sue pearl earrings before I left.
Ralf (?) by the Dam Square in Amsterdam. I gave him and his friends the last of my goods as I was leaving the next day, they shared a rolled hash tobacco cigarette with me.
Juan from Barcelona. Introduced to me via Facebook by a friend. He was an artist who lived in a beautiful apartment in Tibidabo. He made me coffee and rolled me cigarettes, I washed his dishes.
Andy at a bar in Madrid. He had a lisp and reminded me a lot of a dorky friend I loved. We talked about his love for South East Asia and music. He liked Rum Lemonade and bought me one before the night died out.
There are so much more names and places I don't remember: a club owner in Vang Vieng who liked Pink Floyd, a Chelsea-loathing Brit who lost his surf shorts and was forced to buy Chelsea shorts for kayaking, an annoying American who thought he was an existentialist but didn't know what that meant when I asked, a Polish dweeb on a train to Segovia trying his best to explain to me how the train's schedule worked...
Where are these people now? What are they doing? Do they think about me once in a while, too?
Big world, small world. To explore it is one good way to live.
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