The human connection

When you meet someone who is completely intent on listening to what you have to say and truly getting to know you, that’s when you make a human connection. Its instant, it’s overwhelming and it’s powerful. This happens very rarely, but when it does, that person can often change the course of your life.
It’s the explanation I give to those people you meet throughout your life that you can have a flowing conversation with, even though you are from complete strangers from different backgrounds.

One of my most memorable experiences of this human connection was when I went on a student Contiki tour in Europe last year. This tour around 7 European countries in 16 days was a gift from my parents for my 21^st birthday, and probably one of the most influential parts of my life so far. The first day when I got to the hotel in Paris where our group were about to meet, I felt so nervous to the point of being ill. I can be described as a confident and extroverted person, but I had been put in a situation completely out of my comfort zone, with 50 people that I had never met from countries all over the world.

After what I thought was a subtle glance at each person’s face, all I could see was a group of strangers. Once we had finished unpacking our things in our hotel rooms, we were all getting on the bus to go on our first outing around Paris. I went to the back of the bus and sat next to the window, assuming that someone would eventually come and sit next to me. I was right, someone did, and that someone was Kim Elisabeth Holdom from Sydney, Australia.

She was the last person to get on the bus, and I didn’t realise at the time but she would be the most important person to me on that bus. I can’t explain how we started talking, or why our connection was so strong, but this friendship between us happened so fast that I felt I knew her for years. She had a strong Australian accent that for some reason felt comforting to me being so far from home. We spoke about our dreams, our past relationships, our families and our countries. There were endless topics because we had only just begun to learn about each other. Another thing that I enjoyed when I was talking to her was that she asked me as many questions as I asked her, so there was this mutual bond that I hadn’t felt in years with someone I didn’t know that well.

She forced this positivity and passion out of me about everything from how beautiful South Africa was to how supportive and loving my family were. There was no room for gossip, complaining or feeling miserable. We were, after all, travelling around Europe. We shared every moment of that trip together, and I know that it would not have been the same experience without her there. To this day, Kim and I keep in touch through messages, Skype and social media whenever we can. Its friendships like these that can be maintained through the technology we now have, and I will never forget her. x