11 January 2017

Someone I met was really someone I've met before. Multiple times. I first met him when he was starting out his business and used to putz around on an electric scooter. His business has grown since then, owning 2 condos and running both his AirBnbs out of them. He says he gets his guests great stuff, like beer, ice cream, fruits, coffee, and the works. 

"Hey!"
"I'd recognize that voice anywhere!"
"How've you been?"

He gave me the rundown of how his business and app is doing, and his laundry list of where he's going next. In case you're wondering, he's going to Thailand, Georgia, then spending 2 months in Columbia. His Spanish is apparently very poor.  It's also very likely I got his itinerary wrong, but I'm not his mother, wife, or secretary. 

"You still seeing that guy?"
"No."
"Oh it's ok, I think I realized I really just like doing my own thing."

He waxed poetic for a little about how he's single by his choice and how much he loves it. He asked who initiated the break up (me). He apologized that it didn't work out, but I said one of us tends to like to do their own thing (also me). I explained that I generally will do whatever I want or need to; if you're in, cool, if not, I'm still doing it. 

"Yeah, so I was seeing this girl, and she was smoking hot. 24, really athletic, fit. So she spent the night once, and in the morning she asked me if I wanted kids. I told her I would answer if she answered first. She said yes. I told her that as much as I like her and think she's a great girl, I don't want her to stick around waiting for me to change my mind. If we keep seeing each other cool, but I don't want her to miss out on an opportunity for something she really wants if I can't provide it."
"Wow. That's really cool of you."
"Yeah. I mean the sex was amazing, and she was a beautiful girl, but I couldn't do that to someone. I mean we still talk and we're still on good terms. She told me she thought it was cool I did that because no other guy would."

A couple of thoughts went through my mind. It's cool to see someone actively choose to be single and run a successful business. I've met a few people like that over the years. I admire the ambition and appreciate the hustle. I also liked that he was upfront about what he was emotionally available for and what he liked.

At the same time, there was nervous, awkward smiling. Who says that stuff about a girl to someone they are casual acquaintances with and have met like maybe 10 times over six years? Do I really need to know about your sex life with someone else? I mean he is a decent looking guy, not my type, but I could see it. He has reasonable game. 

Do guys really talk that way about girls to random people? I mean it wasn't rude, but it seemed oddly personal. But then again, I don't know the girl and it's not very different from what I'm doing here. I guess really it's this. Talking about someone is one thing, but for me, I feel like sex is a very intimate thing to talk about in a casual setting. Either way, the conversation moved on pretty quickly so it wasn't that bad. He spent more time talking about his current business plan. Like I may have implied, he was more interested in his success than a girl. I guess most successful people are like that. 

At the end of all this, guy gave me his card and told me not to be a stranger. Unsure if being picked up or just wanted to keep in touch with someone who's known him for a few years. 

Either way, will probably email him. Will keep updated on this fellow. 

10 January 2017

I met a few someones today. It's crazy because I thought one of them was someone I met yesterday. To be fair, I took a nap around lunch time so it threw off my internal clock.

Someone I met today was at a small specialty shop. Kayte and I were looking around admiring their outdoors themed ware. While I was trying on different sunglasses, the owner overhead me talking about putting glacier water into a tiny bottle to take home. This ended up sparking a conversation.

"Glacier water?"
"Yeah! I'm going on vacation to Iceland and I want to bring a glacier back so I kind of want a small bottle to put it in."
"Why Iceland?"
"I've always thought it was interesting. It's beautiful sure, but it has a really fascinating history."
"You know they're the first people to elect women?"
"I didn't know that. They've always done a good job of self governance. I'm reading the The History of Iceland right now, and even when Iceland was considered a tax land of Norway and was connected to Denmark, they've always been very autonomous." 
"It's too bad we couldn't do that here, or that Hillary [Clinton] couldn't use that as an example."

We shared a laugh and got to talking. The fellow I met was the first guy to bring the Roxy brand here, and is fairly involved in the surfing community because of his relatives. He wore the sun well on his own skin. This man shared with me that he really believes in investing in local businesses, but it's really very expensive. However, he does actively try to share smaller brands with better quality products. He didn't like the way bigger brands did it because it squeezed smaller businesses out which he thought was "too bad."

"I hope you go to Iceland and learn a lot. That's really the point of traveling you know?"
"I hope so. I'm very excited to talk to new people and learn about their mythology and it's going to be so much fun."
"So what's your omiyage? What are you going to bring to them?" 

He was showing us some of the product while Kayte humblebragged that I'm a painter. To be fair, there was a really cute miniature watercolor set that we had been looking at with a cute painting and notebook nearby. I ended up showing him a painting I recently made, and he shared that I should paint while of there. My ever supportive best friend agreed. Of course. (She's really one of the best people I know).

"Oh, why don't you paint here and share it with them!"
"You know, that's not a bad idea."

It's always so interesting to see what people take away from traveling. People experience it differently, and do it for different reasons.

Someone else I met today gets a small blurb because he's traveling and studying psychology all over the world. He had been in Bangkok and Beijing most recently. In our small interaction, he shared he was an introvert and was studying psychology to better understand people around him. When I asked him about what he wanted to focus on, and he said he didn't really know... In fact, that was the only thing he was sure about was that he was trying to find people's motivations and what makes them tick in their decision making... As well as how consistent they are in that decision-making. Also interesting was how he referred to his funding for travel, "Research slush fund." Who calls their grants that? Definitely connotes something different from the term "grant" or "scholarship."

The one thing I was sure about with both of these people enjoyed traveling and both of them enjoyed meeting people for slightly different reasons. The man I had met at the shop shared a parting lamentation:

You call a paradise
Kiss it goodbye