If I'd say this encounter wasn't planned out somehow I'd be lying. I find this happenstance inevitable because there is no possible way it could have gone elsewhere.
Arriving to Amman I soon found out there was Uber in the city and soon enough as I was walking out of the airport, I ordered one. However, it wasn't as smooth as I wished, as the driver cancelled on me because he was too far. The second didn't move from where he was located at for a few minutes making me cancel, order another one which, to my luck, was the same one. With my patience running low I decided to look for an alternative, a taxi, hence I needed cash.
I walked inside the airport again to find in front of me a Starbucks, never in my life have I craved a Starbucks like I did in that moment, surprised I agreed with my cravings (they always win) and lined up for an americano. I was letting time pass by as if I was waiting to pick up someone from the airport, "I'm so distracted," I told myself as I started walking to the ATM while sipping on my hot coffee. In a few minutes time, I had cash on me, I was inside a taxi, and expecting to arrive in forty minutes time to The Cabin Hostel. These forty minutes turned into an hour.
The friendly taxi driver asked me kindly if he could stop in the middle of the highway to pick up his son, confused upon his request I said "okay" and just as he said, his son popped out of the blue and hopped into the front seat. A few kilometers later and the taxi driver start slowing down, then turning right into a gas station while telling me through the rear view mirror, "just one minute." I'm never going to get there, I thought. I told myself to be patient, as in travel, things like this happen all the time. Delays are inevitable, the same way as a new encounter that was slowly unfolding.
Meanwhile, to what seemed to be my longest taxi drive, another little odyssey was occurring in central Amman. Gustavo had stayed one night in a hostel in the city and was hopping to extend his stay for another night. As he asked at the reception his request he was unfortunately told they were fully booked for that night. He was left with no other option than to look for an alternative, pack his bags, and head to what seemed to be another hostel that was walking distance. About three kilometers later he had not yet found this "hostel", his patience was running low, and his bags seemed to get heavier. The Cabin Hostel came up on the map and without further ado on he went. Upon arriving he felt his time was running short and he could maybe find something to do that day with the help of the receptionist.
As I was arriving at the hostel I felt I had lost enough time at the airport and on my way to the hostel. So after checking in, I left my bags in my dorm, and quickly went down again to reception to see if there was possibly anything to do that day. The only two things I knew I had to do in Jordan was visiting Petra and swimming in the Dead Sea. As I was asking the receptionist more information on these two things an unfamiliar voice popped in behind me adding more questions into the conversation. I turned to face the voice and there he was, a complete stranger seeming to want to do the same things I wanted. I stepped aside to let him ask his questions even though they were the same as mine. The receptionist gave us both the information we needed and thanked the receptionist simultaneously. All at once it seemed that we turned to each other to, again, ask the same exact question, "do you want to share an Uber to go to the bus station?" I'm not sure who asked the question to who, or if it was said together, but either way we both headed out.
Not even a second before or a second later but then and there was where we were supposed to be. We were never delayed once that day, we were right on time.
I was never meant to grab that Uber, he was never meant to stay one more night in that hostel. I was meant to crave that americano and he was never to have found that imaginary hostel. Our encounter happened by happenstance. A moment of bumping into one another turned into a week of traveling together. You can say it was all by chance, sheer coincidence, maybe luck, accidentally or just a little bit of all. I believe there is no real answer, our encounter was simply inescapable.
Gustavo was my constant reminder the whole week as to why I love traveling. He craves the unfamiliar, acknowledges kind and sincere strangers, attempts adaption into new cultures, cultivates conversation with new friendships, and adds value to the simple things. He was capable of discovering the adventurer in me and endorse it. He was able to explore my seriousness and silliness bits about me and acclimatize to them effortlessly.
Gustavo is a traveler just like me, we could have been anywhere in the world that day, but it's clear to see there was nowhere we were meant to be but then and there.
No te emociones tanto niño.