I’ll be on the road for 15 months. Every couple of weeks I’ll start over in a new city and have to make new friends.

I have no idea how this will work, how I’ll manage, and how hard or easy this might become.

So far, getting in touch with people is not hard. I had great hosts who put me in touch with people, or just met people in museums or exhibitions or in bars, I ‘just’ need to be open and smiling and go to them, have a little chat and conversation.

There are also the various apps you can download on your smartphone that get you in touch. I have also met some other fellow RTW travelers and exchanged some experiences.

But I am way outside of my comfort zone, being a more quiet type, someone who is fine observing what’s going on, not the centre of the party, making friends with every bartender or by-stander.

So far, this has worked really well, I haven’t been alone. In Buenos Aires especially, I rather had difficulties juggling a couple of conflicting proposals and meets.

I can sit in a café and read a book or newspaper and observe my surroundings, or take my laptop to a café, work on my pictures or on my blog, do some bookings for the trip or simply write in my emails. And I feel fine with that, even when I’m not really being with someone, a little chat with the guy bringing my coffee can just make my day.

Still, there are times when I am feeling alone. Evenings are especially prone to that. I need some kick in my butt to go out. Even back home in Brussels I wasn’t the person who would spend the weekend partying. If at all, I’d go to Fontainas and have a drink and then stroll home at a time when the others just start…

On this trip I had some great evenings with friends and people I had just met, over a glass of beer or a coffee. However, night life in Brazil and Argentina starts so late, that by the time any bar or club actually opens, I am in bed. Buenos Aires is especially crazy in that respect, with bars being empty at 1 a.m. because everybody just starts coming in at 3.

I miss my after-work beer bars where you can start the evening, have happy hour and then eat something, to go back to the bars later. My San Francisco gang knows this pattern oh so well….

So sometimes I am just too tired, after a day of walking or sightseeing, or being at the gym, swimming…. and I end up in bed early, regretting that I miss out on the fun.

And sometimes I am ready to go out, and looking forward to a beer or movie with someone. However, I still have to figure out the code when meeting up with someone is actually a fixed thing and not just a vague declaration of maybe.

I had a couple of evenings where I felt I was stood up, taking the ‘we’ll go see a movie/have a beer/go out’ declaration literal and keeping that day/evening free for that. Just to receive a message some time in the evening that this is not happening. If at all, sometimes I just didn’t hear back.

Then I’m there on my own, maybe looking for a bar myself and having a beer – but that usually works for maybe an hour or so, until I simply get tired of the silence and my beer, and decide to go home.

So sometimes I’m pissed then, or sad, or just feel I wasted my time… I wonder how to deal with that. Or do I simply have to take into account that 25% of plans will fall through? I’m also curious to see how this will evolve over time, and in other countries and cultures.

But I can’t always carry my book with me, just in case… or double book and then stand someone else up… or just do my own thing each and every night and not make plans… I will have to see.

This is ok, I am traveling alone, and I knew this would be the most difficult part. No one owes me anything or has to make my evening nice.

And I also know that I cannot go out each and every night, even though there would be so much to see, and try, and places to eat, and theatre and concerts… But I only have that much energy, so evenings at home are totally fine, and needed to recuperate and relax. I guess I still need to find that balance.

No, I’m not complaining, just observing, and this is the state of play, at the start of this trip.