Courtney
We’d all been envious of Courtney’s travels. Mysteriously liberated of all the trappings of modern economics, she’d settled into a life of picking up small jobs to keep herself afloat as she went wherever she wanted, both in life and the world. She wasn’t a loner, but she was alone. Lately she’d been taking on greater challenges, and the bigger the adventure, the more her socials grew. This time she was intent to hitchhike from Southampton on England’s southern coast, to the tip of South Africa. All she really had with her was her ubiquitous yellow backpack, her trusted hiking boots, her passport, and enough money to last her for the first couple of weeks. At first things went well. Hitching rides between intersections, writing cardboard signs with desired destinations, and meeting fellow adventurers along the way. By the time she’d reached the South of France, she’d met up with Timo, a Dutch explorer who had the same desire to adventure his way to the Cape. The two had immediately seen themselves in each other. And the socials grew. To those of us who followed, it was never clear what their relationship was. Which is why we liked and subscribed for more. They laughed and sought the sunrises we could only dream of. They joined camel trains in Morocco and hopped steam trains in Senegal. We all thirsted after their lives.
But that Tuesday there was no post. And again on Wednesday. Both accounts fell silent, and after a week our concern had swiftly turned to a unique kind of digital indifference. None of us really knew them, and for most of us they were just another hole in the stream. Over time their accounts would lay as dormant as our memories of them. Almost a year later, retracing their journey in an attempt to discover where the trail had gone cold, her brother found the backpack on forgotten trail in Angola. But no Courtney. Her last message, saved as a draft but never sent, simply read ‘Behind the mask of smiles, shadows dance.’
Note: This is inspired by the current adventure being documented daily here: https://www.instagram.com/hitchhikertimo/
