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I was staying in a hostel* in Naples when a departing guest asked to confirm a second reservation for a few days later. There wasn't one, and the hostel was full, but a quick phone call got her a booking elsewhere.
She was quite upset; the boyfriend she'd booked the trip with (her traveling alone allowed some conclusions to be drawn) had cancelled both reservations and hadn't told her. It may have been accidental or malicious, but she was mortified that she could have arrived, unknowing, to a full hostel, and potentially lacking another place to go at the last minute.
That's when I piped up. Yes, disaster could have happened, but it didn't. Instead of dwelling on a crisis averted, it seemed to me she'd dodged a bullet. She looked at me with the glare of a native New Yorker and said "aren't you a positive person".
I don't see myself as such but my anxieties dwell on future hypothetical disasters, not past ones. And, as I said to her, traveling keeps me flexible and any day that ends well is to be appreciated. Enforced flexibility is one of my favorite parts of my lifestyle.
* I very rarely stay in hostels anymore but after two months of solitude, even punctuated by drinks with friends old and new, it's nice to be social for a few days. And 6 Small Rooms is, quite possibly, the best hostel ever.
She was quite upset; the boyfriend she'd booked the trip with (her traveling alone allowed some conclusions to be drawn) had cancelled both reservations and hadn't told her. It may have been accidental or malicious, but she was mortified that she could have arrived, unknowing, to a full hostel, and potentially lacking another place to go at the last minute.
That's when I piped up. Yes, disaster could have happened, but it didn't. Instead of dwelling on a crisis averted, it seemed to me she'd dodged a bullet. She looked at me with the glare of a native New Yorker and said "aren't you a positive person".
I don't see myself as such but my anxieties dwell on future hypothetical disasters, not past ones. And, as I said to her, traveling keeps me flexible and any day that ends well is to be appreciated. Enforced flexibility is one of my favorite parts of my lifestyle.
* I very rarely stay in hostels anymore but after two months of solitude, even punctuated by drinks with friends old and new, it's nice to be social for a few days. And 6 Small Rooms is, quite possibly, the best hostel ever.
