The train sped through varying countryside scenes of Ireland. There were empty fields with abandoned decaying cars, cows, green fields, stone walls, bushes and trees, houses and fences. The sky was bright and light grey, with no sun in sight. My job doesn’t start until Tuesday, so this train was headed to Galway, I had booked a hostel for two nights and left with minimal expectations for what the weekend might hold. Basically I thought I would take a holiday from my working holiday since work hasn’t started yet.
Wandering around this quaint city/town I fell in love pretty quickly with my surroundings. There was a Christmas Market, ferris wheel, adorable shops lining the main street, a river rushing through the side of town and a farmers market on the weekends. Further down the road, there was a stunning walk along the coast with colorful houses in the distance. I walked to the water, knelt down to feel the cold North Atlantic water on my skin. The crisp air created condensation from my breath on my glasses and I loved every moment of independently exploring.
Saturday night in Galway was filled with goofy pub hopping, traditional Irish music and lots of Guinness. Luckily I made a few Canadian friends, and our night started with hot wine on a ferris wheel at sunset. It gradually morphed into drinking games with beer
and eventually, we were out on the town. The ambiance of the evening was lively, with an energy of people that was difficult to entirely comprehend.
The Cliffs of Moher are absolutely spectacular. The sensation was surreal to walk by exquisite green cliffs. I was quite uneasy about walking near the edge as I had heard stories of unassuming visitors slipping and falling to their demise. The safety precautions at this walk were wild, as outside of the official park the signs exclaimed extreme danger. The path lining the cliffs had an electric fence on one side and the cliff on the other, in some places only spanning a few meters 
between either edge. But walking along the ridge of these dramatic geologic features in the crisp sea air was worth the risk, with constant sensations of my vitality.
Back at the hostel, we made a cheap ‘family’ meal with Nathalie, Darien, and Emily – some wonderful people I only met less than 24 hours prior. We then met a few students who live at the hostel. Yes that’s right, they sign a lease to live there, most with 3 other roommates. It was interesting immersing again into student mentality, with various social dynamics. They likely experience very transient human connection with weary travelers, though simultaneously surrounded with 100 other students in the same situation as them. It was clear that some took pleasure in saying things intended to create an interesting evening with people they would likely never see again.
Politics has come up at various points during my other travels, but
the discussion would often be brief, and the arguments were generally just different shades of grey rather than black and white. This was the first time in my travels that I met a vocal supporter of the current President of the US. This also sounded like the first time he was met with curiosity and compassion after making that claim. Rather than raising a voice or discrediting his opinion I took care to have a civil discussion aimed at learning the intention behind that statement. People have reasons for both what they believe and who they support. To dismiss someone’s lived experience because you might don’t agree with them discredits their humanity as well. Where I think the line is drawn for intolerance is when your beliefs threaten the humanity of another person, when there is a clear injustice. But part of being apart of this human race is about learning from the lived experience of others and accepting people for where they are at.
48 hours after I arrived in Galway I was back on the train, rich with memories of spectacular scenery and newly-made friends. This trip reaffirmed my faith that things tend to work out the way they’re supposed to and not stress too much about the little things in life. Though that’s easy for me to type and say as I come from a comfortable upbringing with a supportive family. But that’s what I have come to learn and understand from my experiences with people in places.
