Footnotes from the Dancefloor #3

Welcome to the series where I share memorable moments from late nights on the dancefloor that I don’t want to forget.

The other weekend I was invited to an underground rave, and I felt so cool.

It felt like all my years of partying had led me to hang out with the people willing to break the law to dance and bond over music.

It was nothing like the last time I went underground where I was choking on dust and blowing out black snot, so I’m grateful. I’m also grateful for the two people I met at the end of the night that really stuck with me.

There was the Russian who lived in Spain and told me in broken English about his life as a graffiti artist. We bonded over the shame of learning the language of where we’re living and how Parisians don’t smoke enough weed1.

It’s nice to be understood by a complete stranger you meet on a couch in a dark corner.

It makes you feel like there’s endless opportunities for connections in a world that seemingly is falling apart with hatred and violence.

The one thing we didn’t connect on was how he said it’s easy to learn multiple languages after you learn your second. And for a Russian, sure. Any non-English speaking person, I can see that. But starting from the easiest language has not set me up to be a polyglot.

There was a beautiful French woman. She jumped in on my conversation with the Russian, so we were speaking in English.

Side note: She tried to speak to me in French but quickly switched back when she saw my deer-in-the-headlights look. Any conversation past 4 AM needs to be in English.

What stuck with me was her comment on my accent. She said I didn’t have one. At first, I thought she meant that I didn’t have a Texan accent, but then she clarified and said that I didn’t have an American accent like her American friends.

This is a MAJOR victory because I’m trying so hard to fit in a foreign country and it’s nice to be acknowledged that my English has deteriorated to that of someone who speaks it as a second language, but with flair.

It gives me hope that with time, I’ll have a decent French accent while speaking French. For now, I’ll try to embrace the fact that I sound like an American trying to speak French.

Because the Frenchman had to go to work in six hours and I had a festival waiting for me.

As I’m wishing the strangers an enjoyable evening, the woman gave me the nicest compliment/observation that I’d heard in a long time.

It was something like,

You’re going to have a beautiful experience tomorrow, but really, you’ll have that in life. There’s something about you that makes it seem like you’re open to what life has to offer.

She’s right.

I wasn’t always like this though.

I learned with time to stop accepting what I didn’t want for myself and started believing that things would work out for me2. I built trust in myself and learned to trust strangers who gave me experiences I never would’ve had on my own. And it’s made such a difference in how I feel about life that I don’t see myself going back to my old ways of being.

So anyways, those were the moments that stuck with me and maybe I’ll see them again? I hope so.

Paths have a way of crossing like that.

Til next time,

Did you know I wrote a book of the habits I cultivated to become someone who’s open to life’s possibilities and make their travel dream a reality? It’s more than just the habits. It’s also all the resources and advice I wish I’d had when I started traveling so I wouldn’t have wasted so much money or avoided opportunities because I wasn’t confident enough on my own.

I wrote it so people who want to solo travel but don’t know where to start, could avoid my mistakes. And in case you’re wondering, the people who have read it LOVE it, and they’re telling all their friends about it.

You can download the ebook or buy a print version plus there’s a free preview.

P.S.

I made a YouTube video documenting this weekend at the rave and cheese festival :)

- Bree <3