On Friendship & Friends Leaving

Benefits needed: A mood booster.

Concept/Takeaway: If you're on a short trip, you want to stay happy and energized! If you're on a long, multi-month trip, you need a co-pilot to help you out when times get tough. That's why we're here. 

The Story: I really want to write you a happy blog today. Seriously, I did! But the story that keeps running back in my head is a somber one. So, I’ll make you a deal. We’ll keep it short and sweet and the ending will make the story worth it. 

I’d been backpacking for about 6-months, cycling through friends and groups and finding new ones each place I went, as solo travelers do. It was good fun. A little heart-breaking always saying goodbye, but nothing I couldn’t handle. 

But then, something terribly wonderful happened. I fell absolutely in love. Not sexually or anything crazy like that. But friendshiply. These two boys. One from Saudi and one from England. They were videographers and content creators and everything I loved about myself and aspired to be, manifested right there before me. Of course we got along. We spent …a week? Two? (I’m honestly not sure, but it felt like a lifetime) creating insane memories around India. From getting harassed at a wedding, and subsequently kicked out of a wedding, to experiencing The Taj in all of its magnificent glory, to subsequently fleeing from a hostel as the cops arrived for flying a drone around the Taj (and getting caught). Jeez, we had some scandalous times, I guess? I had been grabbed and touched by so many people at the wedding, trying to get their hands on me and take photos with me, and then again at a light ceremony. They had had to save me, in a way. Pulling me away from the masses, putting themselves between me and strangers, protecting me. Normally I’m good alone, but for some reason, there were two somewhat serious instances where I needed help during this time, and they were there. That kind of thing bonds you. I don’t know if it’s the same for the guardian, but for the one in danger, being taken out of that danger seriously makes you fall in love with the person who helped you. And I had two of them. 

And with those tough times, were outstanding times! Eating delicious food, experiencing India’s holiest city, walking around sacred crematories with families gathering and wailing as their loved ones were sent to heaven, going to light ceremonies, boat trips, creating videos and photographs and memories. All of it. I seriously felt like I found some people I could hang out with for a while. 

But sure as night, we had to say goodbye. They had their plans, and I had my own. All great things must come to an end, but some hurt worse than others, I guess. 

They left, and I did something I had never done. In six-months of continuous travel, something seriously out of character: 

I got a private room. 

A private room? Yep, I’d been sharing dorms for 6-months straight, I LOVED it. So many friends, so much fun, a non-stop, hilarious adventure every time you set your bag down. But that night, I got my own room. All I wanted was to be alone. 

I remember going up to the rooftop, trying to take a video, and just weeping. A guy came up and tried to make friends with me. I kept crying. He asked what was wrong and I just apologized for the commotion and went downstairs. I went to my private room, and I cried some more.

It all just kind of hit me. It wasn’t just that they were leaving… Everyone left. I got that. It’s part of the game and it sucks but without it you wouldn’t have the insane memories from the next group. But it was everything. It was them leaving that iced my cake, in a way. It got me thinking about all of the life-changing humans I shared such insane, unheard-of times with that I would probably never see again. Maybe I’d see them on instagram, but maybe not. A lot of travelers aren’t on the gram. And, I don’t know.

It’s weird. Like, if you go on a trip with a friend, you go home and tell your other friends about your great meals and that cool hike and that funny guy you met. It’s easy to think of a week of events and recant them. Then, a year later, you’ll be sitting at a bar with that friend and laugh about how the bartender poured your drink and how it reminded you about that guy's commentary a year prior on bartenders pouring drinks. Or, you get it, whatever. You’ll talk about those memories because you shared them. Well, it’s different when you’re alone. And it is different when you’re alone for months on end. Sharing these moments with glorious strangers and knowing you’ll never laugh about them together at a bar and you’ll never tell your mom that funny story. I mean, by the time you get home you’ve have 8 months of funny stories. While I may tell one or two of the occasions right, and I know my mom doesn’t want to sit through 8-months of excruciatingly detailed stories and learn how it changed me and what I learned and why I’m different now. I wouldn’t possibly know where to begin and she wouldn’t be able to stay attentive, even if she tried.

I was changing and evolving so much every single day, and I knew that once I got home, I’d be new. But no one else knows that. You can try to explain why you’re different and how your internal monologues are not what they once were, but no one gets it. Inevitably, you somewhat go back to your old self. You don’t like it, so you fight it internally, and it’s a wreck. It’s seriously, seriously a wreck. Eventually you quit traveling and tormenting yourself or get the hang of adapting based on your geographical location and the people you’re around. I’m still working on the latter. 

Either way, I was in the alone phase. The seriously alone phase. Realizing I was in India, having to adapt to a new group, or die. Well, not die, but be alone and experience everything without a friendly face. I was going to have to start a friendship, tell my life story, hear theirs and hope something stuck. Exhausting. Normally I’m energized by this possibility, but today it made me feel absolutely and hopelessly defeated. Oy. 

(I wrote a deeper version of this, as my first blog, here.) (Enjoy it if you want to cry about your long lost lovers.) (Lovers - as in anyone. Again, non sexual.)

I wished something, anything, anyone, could make me feel better. But the thought of explaining how I felt to anyone seemed way worse than the potential of joy that it could possibly bring. So, what did I do? I went into my private room, curled up under the covers, cried a little more, opened my laptop and put on Indian Netflix. My first time watching TV in at least 6 months. We were living in some real uncharted territory here! Emotionally, and Netflix/private-roomly! Lol. What a sad girl thing to do. But the home-esque comfort of Netflix in bed was enough to get me through the night. 

After a few days of moping around and avoiding conversation, I moved to a new village, made some dope friends, and had some more insane adventures. Of course I did. But, I stayed a little sad… A little less-good than before. It’s taken me years to kind of deal with this. I still get waves, but eventually I made some peace. 

This lingering pain still crosses my mind now and then. It used to be at the forefront of my mind all of the time. How could it not be? 

But, all I want, ever, is to be happy and to have everyone around me equally as eager to live. Imagine how cool life could be if we could all just always be happy? You know, like one of those nights with your friends where somehow you’ve all caught the exact same vibe and everything is hysterical and nothing could bring you down? Like you’re flying down the highway with your head out the window, air rushing through your hair with a bottle of champagne in hand, kind of feeling? And everyone else is riding the exact same high? Ha, I love that idea. And I love even more when it plays out in real life. 

Well, I wanted that feeling. And when times get tough, I at least wanted to remember that feeling, and have them be a little less-tough. A little more happy. 

So, I made sure when I created Co-Pilot’s Daily Travel Supplement that it was, in part, a mood booster. Many of our yummy ingredients are so healthy that they naturally just boost your mood. It’s insane. Of course this had to be a benefit for our beloved travel supplement, and of course it naturally was. Sometimes life is wonderfully fortuitous and just works when it should. I fully believe that. 

A mood booster vitamin supplement is perfect for short-term travel. It ensures you stay happy and chipper even when you get a few hours too short of sleep. Ensure you’re smiling through the pain of that 12 hour hike, or that 12 hour hangover. What could be bad about a little more happiness and feeling good when you’re in a great, uncharted place? 

A mood booster vitamin supplement becomes IMPORTANT for long-term travel. When you’re so down that you can’t even fathom the idea of getting out of bed, never mind attempting to curate a friendship. Some little glimmer of hope that wherever this sadness leads you, the way out will be filled with light and worth the struggle to find it. A whisper, saying that you should get out of bed (after a good cry, of course) and keep going. Because more amazement is right around the corner if only you keep your head up long enough to see it. That’s when this is seriously needed.  

So, that’s why we keep taking our Co-Pilot everyday. Because a Co-Pilot helps get you through those rough times and shows you that glimmer. That’s our namesake, and the whole basis of our company and our reason for existence, truly. 

We’re there for you, and so are our ingredients. 

Our Ashwagandha works as a stress comfort mood booster. It naturally improves your mood, as well as provide tons of other amazing benefits, such as de-stressing, regulating blood sugar, and helping repair your body physically. Literally helping you to get back up. 

Our Rhodiola Rosea helps improve your mood and fight negative effects of stress by positively influencing your brain's ability to create happy chemicals like serotonin and norepinephrine. 

B vitamins, like our B3, 5, 6, 9 and 12 also help produce these same chemicals. Further, low levels of these vitamins have been linked to depression, so making sure our bodies are fully packed with all of the right nutrients helps make sure we have no deficiencies that could lead to damaging mental health issues.

D3, our happy, sunny vitamin helps regulate mood and ward off unwanted sadness. And how could we forget our beloved Bioperine?! This awesome alkaloid makes your body absorb these nutrients fully and quickly, ensuring you get the maximum benefits possible to keep you your happiest self. It’s actually derived from black pepper. 

A little help with your mood can go a long way. I know I seriously could have used this on that rooftop in India, and I’m glad I’ll have it for the next tear-filled, rooftop “goodbye.” That’s the happy ending. That we never have to be so devastatingly low again. And seriously, that’s the happiest ending to this tale I could have imagined.

Note: This vitamin / supplement is not made for treating the mood disorder - condition. If you have mood disorder - condition or anxiety disorder - mental disorder, please talk to your doctor and get the correct recommendation for you.