When 2 Californian Female Solo Travellers Collide in Pakistan

I met another solo female traveller / L.A. native yesterday and it was FUN! She’s a young woman who came to Pakistan on her own and did it “her way” … not going only to the most popular area (“The North”) but also spending WEEKS in one of the least explored areas of Pakistan, the Kalash Valley. Their tribe and homeland has just been added to the UNESCO Tentative List and she came to photograph it all.

We had fun realising we both — not rudely — focus on making foreign friends when travelling and do not gravitate to AND NEVER SEEK OUT hanging out with other Americans. 

We are both happy to travel in ways that isolate us from other humans but also realise that takes a toll on our mental health.

I opened my laptop and Insta to share remote places in Balochistan I loved most in Pakistan. She did the same for the beautiful Kalash people who welcomed her so warmly.

On her last night, at a friend’s place, the bootlegger was called and (as the only 2 foreigners) we had a fun, boozy party in Islamabad that had us all LOL’ing all night. The whole group was comprised of travel company owners or passionate travellers, along with a professional female athlete who lives in East Asia … so the story swapping was amazing.

Then the MOST AMERICAN thing happened. Because of our ingrained pharmaceutical culture we hopped on the topic of, “OMG did you buy this or that when you were here?” OR “Uff it’s crazy this is over-the-counter in the U.S. but here it requires a prescription.” 

So we had a good old-fashioned PILL SWAP hahaha

It’s easy to buy Xanax here and 20 pills costs no more than Rs500 / US$1.80! I had that to swap. She had other things that DID require a Rx here. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The scene of us divvying up meds was one I won’t soon forget. Nor the amazing impromptu party that was genuine and down to earth — with everyone making jokes, poking fun, and trying to make the group roar with laughter.

I spend a lot of time alone. But the past 2 weeks, staying with friends, makes me question my lifestyle a bit. This has been good for me….