That was enough for me. I didn't need to smell his body odor anymore and listen to his know-it-all attitude about traveling. Nor did I appreciate him answering my questions before I was finished asking them. Nor did I like when he asked me to slow down my walking pace because he didn't want to sweat too much. The slower you walk, the more you're in the sun, the redder you get, the hotter you feel and the worse you feel later. He stank either way.
I obliged him cause it didn't bother me that much, but in the end, it was all just too much to bear. At this stage, it was still early and I was still relatively tolerant. There weren't too many tourists in Jakarta, at least in our area and I ended up seeing him later for an early evening beer and catching some dinner together after that. And I got to listen to him smack his lips before he ate and I tried to limit the conversation as to not let his accent annoy me. I evaded the post-dinner beer in favor of a tube of cookies.
The next day we took a tuk tuk to the train station together. Our hotels were next door and it was 6:30 in the morning - senseless to not share the ride. We were the only foreigners on the nine hour train journey to Yogyakarta. Fortunately, we were a couple rows apart and didn't need to engage in too much conversation. There were other distractions - locals asking questions and scenery to admire.
At our destination, we left the train station to look for accommodation. Fuck, I thought, am I going to get stuck with this guy? We looked at a couple places together. He was quick to eliminate the first place with a hasty dismissal. I need a window, I cannot stay here. I just wanted to see a couple more places. The next place looked great, but with no wifi I decided to use it as an excuse NOT to choose it because he WAS interested.
The place nearby wasn't as nice, but it had wifi and it was away from him. After plenty of indecision, I took it and it turned into the best decision of my life. Well, at least for that day. It was a smaller room, but the people were really friendly and I didn't have to blow up at the guy. Simply not being in his presence the tensions slowly disappeared. I was afraid it was just a matter of time before it would all come out and I'd be a major asshole. Despite being practically next door to each other, it was easy to evade him just by going for a walk and getting lost in the maze of alleys surrounding the area.
What I think bothered me the most was perhaps that I foresaw my future. I don't want to be the 50-something somewhat lonely single guy traveling the world still pretending he's young and attractive occasionally seeking random conversation with strangers to ward off the loneliness.Same like me, same like me he said when I told him I was single and needed my own space at times. Cringe. I'm not the same! But am I? Am I getting too accustomed to this lifestyle where at some point there will be no turning back?
I can't force myself to like a job, love a woman and settle down. I just don't know how everyone else does it. Nothing has ever appealed that much I guess. At least I'm no longer expecting to find the answer through traveling. But I do hope to learn some new things along the way aside from just seeing places. And if I do discover what makes me tick - good luck with that - maybe I won't be that aging American in the future annoying some other tourist with my own idiosyncrasies. One can hope!
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