People are a lot kinder than you think

Going on a two-and-a-half-month solo road trip requires (as you can imagine) a mass amount of planning. But no matter what you do, there are things that happen unexpectedly you can never plan for.

I arrived late to my campsite in Western Colorado at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Located in the middle of nowhere with no service (just how I like it). I fell asleep and woke to what I thought would be a beautiful morning. I left to go on a hike having completely forgotten to pound stakes into the side of my tent to hold it down. Later that day I arrived at my tent with rocks and stakes anchoring it down. After having a moment of shock, the people camping next to me walked over to tell me they went on a “mission,” to save my tent because it was being carried along the road by the wind. I thanked them for saving me from having a night sleeping on the ground and went on my way.

The second incident happened whilst crossing the endless desolate desert leading into Las Vegas. My car had been making sounds and running strange. At this point I believe, was only being saved by my sheer will to get there. Arriving in Las Vegas I went to a mechanics shop that was recommended. The mechanic went through the string of things wrong with it with the. damage totaling $2,000. After seeing my face and finding out I wasn’t from the area he surprised me by applying every discount possible. It ended up being $300 less and I left with his last words echoing in my mind, “Your car’s never seen the desert, of course, everything’s going to implode.” He was right.

The third incident was in California in a hostel. I dropped my eggs on the floor having no breakfast to eat I was about to depart to the grocery store when a lady laid down a plate of pancakes in front of me making them for her, her son, and I.

Lastly, what takes the cake to something that wasn’t planned is when I had my bear encounter in Olympic National Park located in Washington. After hiking five miles out of the forest I went to the front desk to report the encounter. The lady saw I was visibly shaken and offered me a free pass to the hot springs in hopes I would relax, it worked.

So, what do all these incidents have in common?

There was always somebody there, a stranger in every place I went who decided to commit a kind act. Throughout all my bad strokes of luck, I was shown that there are kind people everywhere, looking out for one another. This trip proved to me that the world isn’t as scary as I once thought and that there are people there to help when you need someone most.