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> What a stranger can offer a person in a moment of crisis is solicitude unalloyed by the past or the future of the relationship, unconditional in the true sense of the word.

This is such an interesting idea.

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> Warum reisen wir? Auch dies, damit wir Menschen begegnen, die nicht meinen, daß sie uns kennen ein für allemal; damit wir noch einmal erfahren, was uns in diesem Leben möglich sei.

-- Max Frisch

> Why do we travel? Among other things to meet people who don't presume to know us once and for all, so we might experience once again what is possible for us in this life.

i don't think this is true for the majority of tourism, and it's not even true for many who live as expats elsewhere. but it is certainly true for me, both as a traveler and an expat.

This was perhaps my favorite line as well. Maybe a bit of a goofy example, but I think this is why I have enjoyed my weird discord community so much for years now. I don't really know these people, and for that reason I can be and express myself in a way that's not bound to the social identity I've already built up among my "real friends." I've told those people things I haven't told anyone else, and I've developed parts of my personality there that I sometimes bring with me back to my "real life." It's an interesting thing.

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