Traveling With Another Person Revealed How Much I Masked as a Teen

This one was… eye-opening.

Traveling alone as a teen, I masked effortlessly:

Quick reflexes in crowds Hypervigilance Silent efficiency No emotional leakage Zero sensory complaints

Traveling as an adult with someone else?

My mask cracked.

Hard.

Suddenly the noise was too loud, the people were too close, the expectations were too heavy.

I realized how much I’d intellectualized my way through fear and discomfort back then.

How much adrenaline compensated for the ADHD exhaustion.

How much of my “independence” was actually survival-mode brilliance.

Being with someone didn’t make me weaker —

it simply revealed how much stronger I’d forced myself to be when I was alone.

But hey! It’s New York City Baby!!!