Jeff was a gregarious story teller that could get anybody talking even the shy ones. Gabby and free spirited. Jeff was a travel know-it-all dispensing an endless stream of advice to unsuspecting travelers who recently arrived. He'd lure them in with where are you going?, then launch breathlessly into five minutes of advice about how to get somewhere and where to stay. As for our time together in Guatemala and Honduras we laughed a great deal, enjoyed mild adventure (the coup d’état had just happened in Honduras) and witnessed two dead men on the roads we traveled. I silently wondered if it was an omen since the sightings were at point blank range and came in the span of days.
He loved the sound of his own voice and I told him so, he smiled like I was in on some secret of his. Once he pointed out after lunch with new friends that I was obsessed with washing my hands before and after I took meals. True to being an American I took it personally and felt compelled to defend it with some blubbering about keeping sanitary, I think I even evoked the swine flu to shield my sudden feeling of exposure. I learned after a few weeks with Jeff that he saw everything. Everything. To me it became one of his most heartening qualities.
Jeff had a peculiar quirk for a shoestring traveler accustomed to doing things the least expensive way, he would compulsively window shop and catalog the prices in his head. Once the data was collected he would take perverse pleasure in confronting a store owner with the price discrepancy and make an issue of it.
When we went our separate ways I did not want to part from his company. He was adventurous, even minded, open to suggestion, mixed quickly with new people and would act without hesitation. He was an avid student of Spanish and spoke it whenever the chance presented itself.
I miss the Australian. In his company I felt stronger. I have a rule that I do not write about the people I get to know and travel with, however, in this case Jeff suggested I write something and I took up his offer. I hope we meet up again.
David
Casco Viejo, Panama
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