Greetings to all of my “buddies” out there! “real life” buddies, related by blood buddies, new blog buddies, and
Travel Buddies!
But first, I received this in the mail today from a new blog buddy, Morgan!
I won this delightful hooter here, and it came in such a lovely brown paper package tied up with string. Thank you Morgan, and Thank you Stephanie!
Now, on to travel buddies…
When traveling, it is inevitable that we will meet new people. Unless you are going to Antarctica or rural Idaho, you are going to meet some new people, and maybe some new friends! I’ve met frat boys and British footballers in Cancun, crushes in the caribbean (I’m talking age 14 here people, relax), delightful locals in San Francisco, and more.
When I traveled to Portugal in 2006 (with a new-ish close friend I had met only a few months earlier), I met sort of the bonanza of travel buddies over the weekend. We were staying in Lisbon, at a really fun, incredibly nice (especially for the price) hostel named Oasis. After strolling around the city all day, we returned to find all sorts of youths (and the odd middle aged German couple or two) mingling over beers and conversation. Over the course of the next 24 hours, we had met new friends from all over Europe and elsewhere.
The following day, which we had spontaneously decided to spend in Sintra, a 30 minute train ride away, arrived. We sat outside sipping coffee and picking at some (continental) breakfast. Yes, continental breakfast in a hostel. Geez! I told you it’s the best hostel around!
Two of our new friends, who I remember sadly only as “french boy” and “german boy,” decided to accompany my friend and I. In the interest of my parents not gaining gray hairs over this, these two lads were about as threatening as yogi bear. They were lighthearted boys who wanted to see the country just like us, and we decided to make the day trip together.
When we arrived, we strolled around looking at the beautiful architecture
Eating flatbread pizza outside while a spontaneous band started to play for a crowd nearby…
stopped in an ice cream shop (I’d like to tell you how it was, but I’m not really into ice cream and didn’t get any. It smelled good though!)…
Strolled through a magical garden with interspersed flowers that I will NEVER forget…
And attempted to climb the tallest hill, to the tallest tower, at the top of this castle:
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| if you look verrrry closely, the castle is at the very top |
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| french boy, german boy… wait, why are we going downhill? |
Well, we were walking downhill because at about 7/8 the way up this ridiculous mountainside we were climbing (were Shrek and Fiona at the top? I may never know), a car came down from the top and were nice enough to inform us (in Spanish, no less!) that the castle had closed earlier in the afternoon.
So we gazed up at it from a plaza, and lazed in the sun
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| again, look waaaay at the top, and you’ll see the castle! |
During this one day long trip, which I should mention was being translated back and forth between Spanish/ English, French/ Spanish, Franglish/ German, and peppered with our best Portuguese as we tried to learn a few phrases beyond, “oi, tudo bem” and “obrigado,” I truly enjoyed the company of these near strangers.
I think only when traveling do I open myself up to new friends like this. At home, I often resist meeting others, telling myself, “you already have a hard enough time keeping up with the friends you HAVE, don’t make MORE friends!” Traveling is a good reminder for me that life is to short to ignore the person at the table, or hostel, or barstool next to you. As long as you’re careful, and don’t do anything stupid, travel buddies are a special kind of buddy, and I’ve made some I will never forget!
Do you like to meet up with locals and other travelers while on vacation? Have you ever met a friend while on vacation and kept in touch?
Meri
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