Good bye,
Adios,
Ciao,
So long.
These are the word to say good bye.
So long, farewell. This short expression hinted a level of sadness.
In our short and long lives, there was many sad good bye moments with who or what. It’s emotional thing. However I feel meaning of ‘bye’ is changing. At least I realized it.
Especially us backpackers, sometimes we met friends who could be friends for a life time. It’s intense. We hang out, and say good bye with sigh but it’s more like ‘bye – until we met again, and I know we will’. I believe Au revior means like this. Bye, until we meet again. So yes. we are saying Au revior.
I had few sad moments with friends on the road. A little bit of heart breaking, to be honest. You could say ‘Ughh.. you are over reacting‘ but if you felt it, you will know. You can be friends with someone for a life in just few days.
After a while of those kind of experiences, I realize, we are saying ‘bye until we see each other again – and I know we will’ instead of sad so long, farewell. Because of the fate. Franly, if you think really logically, there’s a huge change you might never see each other again. Once you are being logical, there are so many factors to consider. But, you don’t do that because? We know we are all perpetual travelers. Once you taste the ethentic air in your nose, you get addictive. Bit by a travel bug, get a itchy feet, having a wanderlust… you name it, we are all those. So there’s this fate, that we will be there somewhere sometime, no matter where and when.
Of course, all new social media is backing us up on this. Years ago, even though we said ‘bye until we see each other again’, the only we we can communicate was email or actual mail. After few years later, everyone is using all sorts of social media and now social media is the best friends to us travelers whether we are on the road or not.
Along with this now we have new meaning of ‘Friend’. Friend is not only someone you play everyday anymore. The reason why we were so sad to say good bye to friends we met on the road was unconsciously we thought we are not going to be friends anymore because we can’t see each other again. But now? We can talk constantly, as soon as we need. Even though we are not physically hang out but we are, everyday- mentally. As bloggers, we all know what’s that like, right?
With the develop of social media and the impact on backpacking, we have a whole new world of farewell and friend. Before we hug and say good bye, we always say ‘are you on Facebook?’ and we ‘Friend’ them. Easy peasy. Meet face to face is not the only option to maintain a friendship anymore. Even face to face is possible through Skype! How great is this. I bet some of you, or many of us are sharing our lives with each other online more than your local friends.
Yes, new meaning of Friend and hurray for Social media. No wonder the movie ‘Social Network’ got so many trophies from Golden Globes.
Hey, friends! I miss you all! 🙂 <3
You are so right! And I love that you are right 🙂 It’s been several months since I returned from my year in China and SEA travel. And when I left I was so sad to say goodbye to the friends I had made. I felt that I would never see and talk to them again.
And while I do miss being able to slap them on the back when they tell me something hilarious or give them a hug, I love that they’re an email or a FB comment away 🙂
We have interns over the summer at where I work, and as they’re leaving that’s exactly what we say to each other, ‘Byee… you’re on Facebook, right? I’l find you.’
It definitely makes it easier to keep in touch with those friends that are not particularly close enough to email, but close enough because you’ve spent some time together (in close quarters, in our case).
Yea thank goodness for Facebook, the world seems to small and ‘reachable’ now. Everyone can be friends even those that haven’t met before. 🙂 Can I ‘friend’ you too? 😀
Hello friend/sister! You have made my life better by being in it.
Even if it’s a long distance relationship…
Yes, you’re right! I’ve become really close friends with people I’ve met while traveling. Sometimes we’d only be together for a few days, but we’re better friends than most people I’ve known my entire life!
And Facebook is great for keeping in touch! It definitley makes ‘goodbyes’ less sad since its easy for you to keep in touch!
Great point! I’d add, social media is a great way to say “hello” and meet other travelers. I’m glad I “met” you this year– you’ve become a great friend. Hope to hang out in NYC or Seoul one day soon 🙂
That’s why I love social networks!
I hate saying “goodbye”, I just can’t accept the idea that I won’t see a person anymore…
Every time I think that I’m too addicted to Facebook and I should close my account, then I think about how many contacts I would loose and I can’t do it!
Plus, since I am always traveling around the world, this allows me to keep in touch with my people back home…
Another thing I like is that we can find people we have a lot in common with through social networks. People we wouldn’t meet otherwise. Look at me and you! 🙂
It’s good to be your Facebook friend 🙂 xoxo
I’ve met some really awesome people while traveling & still catch up with the occasionally through twitter or facebook. I agree, it is hard to say good-bye to people you’ve become close to even if it was just for a few days. Social media really is great for meeting new people & keeping in touch. I even met my boyfriend thru twitter!
I just submitted this post for Suzy Guese’s weekly stumbling segment. Buena suerte chica! It’s a great read 🙂
its funny how we end up saying goodbye and friend somebody on facebook. i love following up my friend on facebook, their photos and updates
Facebook is the only thing that makes saying goodbye okay. I have kept in touch with a lot of people I’ve met though and even met up with them later on.
I love this! It’s so true! Social media has made it so much easier to stay in touch and reconnect with people. When living abroad for several years, Facebook made it so much easier to keep in touch with friends back home and with friends I met while traveling.
So true. Good to see how people living in their own life and how they travel again. Years later, often we get together in some place. Possible, after all we all are travelers. 🙂