Space? What Space?

I spent the month of July traveling around Tanzania, living out of a backpack and sleeping in a two-person tent (more like a one-person tent, but we didn't have that many). As difficult as it was to be traveling by myself out of the country with a group of people I had never met before, it was actually the sleeping arrangements that pushed me out of my comfort zone more than anything else. Every night, I would share the little space I had with a different girl. Not knowing anyone, I thought that this would make me extremely uncomfortable. However, when the African heat made it impossible to sleep, I found myself having heart-to-heart conversations with a variety of different tent partners. Since we had to give up our personal space for shelter, we lowered our guards and became very close. I doubt I would have connected with these girls on the same level if we hadn't shared such close quarters.