Do I Know You?
June 30, 2014 | by Ken
Well, that was pretty cool.
Taking a break from sifting through Turkey photos (yes, I know how far behind I am on that), Karen and I went to watch a bike race: the local stop of the Tour of America’s Dairyland.
As way-too-fit bikers whizzed by at dizzying speeds, Karen and I walked the perimeter of the course. A fellow spectator made eye contact, smiled, and said hi- then shook her head and said, “Oh wait, I don’t know you.”
Before I could figure out what she meant, she explained: “We’ve never met, but I follow your blog.” Somehow, Sarah stumbled upon Next Stop: World waaaaay back at the beginning of our world tour (perhaps it was the newspaper article?). Today, she officially became the first reader to spot us in a crowd. You know, the kind of thing that happens to Tom Cruise, like, every fifteen seconds.
Isn’t it funny how you can feel a sense of familiarity with someone you’ve never met? Especially through a blog, which is way more personal than, say, seeing Tom Cruise in a movie.
Like if I bumped into Benny the Irish Polyglot, I’d have the urge to launch into a conversation as if we’re old friends, though I merely follow his blog about how to become fluent in a language in 3 months. (He’s written a book and is on tour, so I may get my chance.)
![Erin_Simon_NeverEndingVoyage](https://i0.wp.com/nextstopworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Erin_Simon_NeverEndingVoyage.jpeg?fit=175%2C175&ssl=1)
Or how about Simon and Erin over at Never Ending Voyage? I was rooting for them as they started their sailing lessons in Malaysia- um, wait, I don’t even know them.
And Karen keeps me up to date on her “pal” Jodi’s exploits over at Legal Nomads, too.
![Jodi_legalnomads](https://i0.wp.com/nextstopworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Jodi_legalnomads.jpeg?fit=400%2C500&ssl=1)
Anyway, it was great fun chatting with Sarah about world travel and domestic non-travel (we’re in the midst of house shopping, which could fill another blog).
I’d better get some of those Turkey pix posted- we don’t want to disappoint our loyal fans. Thanks for saying hi, Sarah!