A constant student

Boise, Idaho is a place I never really thought about much. I drove through it on my way to Michigan when I was moving there a few years back. We didn't stop in many towns unless we were getting gas or sleeping for the night. Boise was a gas stop , if I remember correctly.

Using my current whim of travel, I got a ride share from Portland to Boise. I really enjoy it, I see where people are going, and I throw in a few bucks so I can accompany them on their way. This particular ride share driver was one of the most intriguing that I've met. He filled my head with all this stories from when he was in his youth in the sixties and seventies. His drug, alcohol, women and music fueled shenanigans, mixed with the occasional poem or piece of music entertained myself and the other passenger for a solid 6 hours while we were driving in his seventies Volvo. When we we're getting closer to Idaho, he let me know he was going to drop me in the location I was going to be sleeping that night. (This is something that's common among ride share drivers, they are usually extremely helpful and overly positive). I ended up staying in the north end for the better part of a week, which I was told by many I would enjoy, because "the North End is the hippie end".

A few months back I realized I needed to stop expecting things. This form of travel warrants everything from mistakes, to mishaps, to complete wonderful moments of Zen. Boise rewarded my changed attitude of what I "should be given".

My host and his friends were constantly comfortable with talking to me about my travels. Besides the recurrent worries about me traveling solo as a female, I received a lot of intrigue from a man in his sixties who was enthralled with not only my stories, but my personality.

I get a lot of questions about traveling on my own; what's scary, what's the worst thing that's happened, what's  my favorite place... but he went deeper. He asked more than just surface questions about what I was doing and who supported me. I left the conversation, my heart filled with delight. It's a completely indescribable moment, being able to connect with complete strangers, and leave with the feeling that I have improved their day. One of the last things he said to me was how grateful he was that I shared all this information with him. "You have this energy that just pulls people in", then he wished me well on my travels.

Thank you Boise, for opening my mind and my heart to an endless amount of important lessons. You'll see me again in the future.