Jessai Flores
Clarissa is a solo traveler who has been to 47 countries on the backpacker’s budget, or $30/day.
Last summer, I met a guy named Louis at my hostel in Portugal. He had just quit his 9 to 5 government job and was spending his earnings on a grand Eurail trip. Before leaving for Morocco, Louis bestowed upon me a small origami frog, signed by all the other backpackers along his journey.
I came across Louis’s origami frog while moving into my junior year dorm.
Hmm… I wonder what he’s up to!
Upon opening Instagram, I discovered that Louis had become a six-figure finance bro at a corporate firm in Las Vegas. What inspired this change of pace?? Naturally, I had to DM him to catch up.
Many of my relationships have either started online or now exist solely on the web.
Some may call me a “screenager”. I reply to texts within two seconds. My phone is never on Do Not Disturb. I have WhatsApp, WeChat, Snapchat, Instagram, Messenger, Discord, and I will download whatever platform necessary to keep in touch with you.
That’s not to say that I don’t have friends IRL. But whenever something reminds me of “my friend in X country” — Portugal, France, Ghana, the UK, Uzbekistan — I can’t resist bringing them up. I swear these people are real! They just… don’t go here… or really speak English… and I will probably never see them again. But we text sometimes!
I spill my deepest secrets to a friend in Turkey (see? I did it again), whom I’ve only met once. I rant about my hopes and dreams to a lifestyle creator whom I’ve followed on Instagram since middle school. I stay up until 3 a.m. DMing that cute boy I met in a South American hostel about where we plan to meet next.
In all honesty, maintaining online friendships is a lot of work. It’s exhausting to remember to text people back all the time, and my eyes start to hurt if I stare at the three tiny “typing” dots on a screen for too long. My contacts list is full of random numbers with multi-digit extension codes, bearing descriptions like “Porto 2022,” “BKK Girlies” and “Japanese dude from Australia” to prevent me clearing their information from my phone.
This is ironic because I could just look away. During dinner last week, my friend asked, “Why don’t you just delete all these apps?”
On a shallow level, I can’t do that because I’M NOSY! I want to know what people like Louis are up to, and I want to be able to reach him if I ever need travel advice.
On a deeper level, there’s something beautiful about the fact that we are scattered across vast geographical distances, but can find connection at any hour of the day. Yes, my friends may currently live on my phone. But I remind myself that, at some point, they were a real person with whom I spent treasured, meaningful moments.
My online relationships inspire me to continue pursuing greater adventures. I meet people from cool countries like Chile and Oman, so naturally, I want to visit them — and boom! Instant local tour guide. I even met an American scientist who conducts research in Antarctica, and next thing I know, he sends me a job application for McMurdo Station.
However far away, it’s wonderful to have a global network of friends — and who knows, maybe I’ll end up working in Antarctica one day. After all, it’s a small world.