Just a short post today. I’ve had a rotten time lately with a roommate not paying his rent, a super busy schedule at work, and some painful physical therapy to heal my sprained ankle. It was a rainy weekend and I spent it cleaning. Suffice it to say it’s not been the best of weeks.

But then. But then, dearest fellow travelers! I hosted some couch surfers tonight, and they are lovely. I’d said I could host them about a month ago, but once today actually arrived, I felt exhausted at the thought of being a sociable tour guide. Most Mondays, I write a blog post and watch a lot of TV online. I couldn’t fathom doing anything more tonight. But they got here, and we got to talking, and I made some dinner while we chatted, and we made plans to do the same tomorrow. We looked at the funny-shaped map on my wall and pointed out where we each want to travel next. We talked about our shared interest in publishing, and they told me how in France, you can major in publishing at university, like any other profession. (Neato.)

They spent all day traveling and wanted to call it an early night, so I didn’t even have to put on my party shoes and show them the town. I was able to have the relaxing evening I’d hoped for and still have good conversation and new experiences. They can’t pay the rent my ex-roommate owes or take back the insults I received from clients last week, but I immediately felt at ease with them and happier about the world in general after our dinner. There are too many good people out there to stay stuck on the bad ones, and travel is the perfect way to be reminded of this, as you’ll undoubtedly encounter many more good than bad. In fact, travel is mostly about people, and a good thing too, because all in all, people make the whole endeavor worthwhile.