No money, new friends, nice life! - Backpacker in Europe

I met people in a London bar and was taken off to a huge party/rave in a warehouse squat.. Then a few weeks later in a Northern Irish village, I sat down to dinner with a Major in the British army! Travelling with time and no money means in Sicily I practised my Italian with strange old ladies in the park and in Almeria , I practise my Spanish singing songs around the fire on the beach.

Sometimes you can meet someone ..maybe at the hostel, or on a plane or bus. You start to chat. Maybe decide to see a few sights together, or travel a while together. It is always so great to make new buddies after being alone for a while. Such a relief to find someone you can get along with, because as a female solo traveller, I would say that making new friends can sometimes be tricky. Making strange new acquaintances and attracting freaks on the other hand, is very easy! Or maybe that's just me!

When you are often walking the streets alone in unfamiliar towns and cities where maybe you cannot speak the language, it is necessary to be a little on one's guard.but of course it is also good to feel positive and open so as to take up the opportunity for new friendships when it arrives! This is a difficult balance; no one wants to befriend the defensive super-bitch, but let's face it, being open and friendly to every weirdo that comes your way is not the safest or most enjoyable approach either! I kind of learnt this the hard way!

I met a great Spanish friend at a hostel in Granada (hostels are of course a good bet for making new friends). Some people you meet and maybe never see again, but luckily I was able to visit my friend in her home city of Barcelona . It is a beautiful city for walking, and it is the Spanish culture to be out and about quite late. So I find myself wandering home late at night from one end of town to the other. Strolling down Las Ramblas and through Placa Catalunya can offer a host of sights, sounds and weirdos at any time, day or night. The endless human statues and performers, the tweeting of caged birds for sale, the groups of tourists and revellers and men selling cans of beer! There is always action, but as Spring is springing, I think there is extra energy in the air.

In one night, in 20 minutes, three different men passed me by, then turned back to follow and walk with me. They were mostly harmless, but Hey, they were not the kind of new friends I like to meet. I mistakenly replied 'Hola' to one who called out, and despite the fact I kept walking he followed me for some time and was not so easy to get rid of! I began to feel more anxious about walking alone, and decided to be less friendly. Another night though, walking home after dinner with friends, a guy decides to walk with me, who is actually not a total weirdo! So we walk. The Passeig de Gracia is is lovely for walking at night, passing by some of Gaudi's wonders, the Casa Battlio and Casa Pedrera, with their dramatic night lighting. So I walk and talk and this time the meeting on the street made me a great new friend! ( Yes this is where the romance begins.but that's another story!).

Life on the road is not always romance and glamour!

.Being alone and more vulnerable to over-friendly weirdos..getting hassled by men because you are a foreign looking woman walking alone.taking on jobs like cleaning toilets and standing in the cold handing out flyers for crappy discos! Being sick or in pain, and staying in a crowded smelly hostel where everyone seems to be in party mode.

But when it's going well, it is such a great life, meeting new people every day - sometimes without leaving the hostel. Taking on work and getting to meet locals and experiencing a new culture and way of life. I am a firm believer that new friends can be made almost anywhere, and that travelling alone makes it all the more likely!