Halfway through the trip, I was asked, “What’s been the best part so far?”
If you had asked me to guess ahead of time, I would’ve expected my favorite part to be some attraction I’d visited, a specific area of the country, an important insight I’d had, or a new activity I’d tried.
My answer surprised me: “Visiting people.”
It probably doesn’t sound that shocking, but I’m pretty independent, introverted, and self-centered, so any answer involving other people wouldn’t be the first to occur to me.
I’ve gotten together with friends, family, old coworkers, old family friends, and even my parents’ friends along the way. Some of these people I hadn’t seen in years. Plus, I got to meet friends of friends. If I had known ahead of time how much I’d value these visits, I would have planned a very different trip!
Anyway, I highly recommend getting together with a good friend you haven’t seen in a while. It’s worth it.