The first time I travelled alone

I had built up traveling alone to be this enormous unlock — independence, peace, all of it. The first night in Negombo I sat on the bed with the lights on and called my sister, my best friend and my dad. None of them picked up. I cried for ten minutes, ordered fried rice, and slept fully clothed. The next morning I caught the train to Kandy, met two German backpackers, and did not feel alone again for the rest of the trip.