By: Kara Mae Adamo
Today, I stayed behind to get some work done. I organized my calls so they would take place when I had the best internet connection and everyone else went on a hike.
After I finished up and did some laundry, I took a much-needed nap and, when I woke up, I found that everyone was still a good hour and a half outside the city.
But I’m starving, so I went searching for food…and I realized something: throughout all of my international travels, I don’t think I’ve ever just gone somewhere completely alone…even for dinner.
And it’s kinda cool. There’s something deeply satisfying about ordering my sushi in Spanish without a translator…of sitting alone with my laptop after bidding our building’s guard a good night and just…being.
Being out. Being alone. Being alive in a new place, giving a shy smile to the guys hand-rolling my Lima roll and ordering a sake-sour all by myself.
Being somewhere where I’m the one with the broken language skills, but knowing that if people visiting the States can do it, then so can I.
I recommend being alone in a country you don’t really know very well…even if only for an hour or two.
Stay safe, of course. There are places everywhere that you should avoid, especially in places like South America, but right now I’m at Makoto in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Miraflores.
But be alone in a foreign country at least once. There is a quiet to not knowing the language…a peace to hearing chatter around you that melts into a sort of white noise…the ambient vocal sounds becoming the soundtrack of your private little adventure.
It’s liberating.
Today, I stayed behind to get some work done. I organized my calls so they would take place when I had the best internet connection and everyone else went on a hike.
After I finished up and did some laundry, I took a much-needed nap and, when I woke up, I found that everyone was still a good hour and a half outside the city.
But I’m starving, so I went searching for food…and I realized something: throughout all of my international travels, I don’t think I’ve ever just gone somewhere completely alone…even for dinner.
And it’s kinda cool. There’s something deeply satisfying about ordering my sushi in Spanish without a translator…of sitting alone with my laptop after bidding our building’s guard a good night and just…being.
Being out. Being alone. Being alive in a new place, giving a shy smile to the guys hand-rolling my Lima roll and ordering a sake-sour all by myself.
Being somewhere where I’m the one with the broken language skills, but knowing that if people in the states can do it, so can I.
I recommend being alone in a country you don’t really know very well…even if only for an hour or two.
Stay safe, of course. There are places everywhere that you should avoid, especially in places like South America, but right now I’m at Makoto in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Miraflores.
But be alone in a foreign country at least once. There is a quiet to not knowing the language…a peace to hearing chatter around you that melts into a sort of white noise…the ambient vocal sounds becoming the soundtrack of your private little adventure.
It’s liberating.
Cheers.
Kara Adamo is a globe-trotting ex-bartender, booze nerd, and booze writer. She is the author of Fancy Grape Juice: De-Snootifying the World’s Snootiest Beverage; Artimals: Coloring the Whimsical Wild; and Brews & Hues: A Coloring Book About Beer.
Adamo is a digital nomad, working as a UX writer and UX designer.
She is writing her fourth book, Layers of Cake.
Karita's Travels 