So, the future is uncertain. All I know is I will be saving every last penny to fuel trips, be that in the UK, Europe or further afield (cough NY, Vancouver, Iceland). A day off from studying last weekend took me to Edinburgh to visit an Austrian friend I first met in Cancale, Brittany. I was working in the (deserted) hostel bar and got talking to a couple who were on holiday, doing a mini 'tour de France', as it were. After some great conversation, and (a lot of music swapping!), we swapped e-mail addresses and vowed to get in contact if we were ever going to be in the same place at the same time again.
Fast forward 6 months and I found myself in Austria, halfway through a tour of Central/Eastern Europe. I met up with my friends from Cancale, who were studying in Vienna. We drank beer, laughed at the impatience of Viennese bartenders and vowed to get in contact if we were ever going to be in the same place at the same time again.
(A pattern is emerging). Fast forward 14 months and I find myself a little closer to home in Edinburgh. One of my Viennese friends is spending a semester in the UK as part of her ERASMUS year. We chat, we climb Arthur's Seat, we meet some Kiwis, we eat bagels and laugh at the fact that we've only met three times, and each meeting has been in a different country.
Then I realised. This was what I wanted- time to forget about work and discover an unknown place, knowing that around each corner you might stumble upon a man walking through the streets chatting to his puppet monkey (no word of a lie), a cute coffee shop to wile away the hours, or (as is more often the case in Edinburgh), a tacky souvenir shop filled with tourists. This is what travel should be about- accepting the obvious, and taking the time to search for the quirky things that really cement trips away. However I also realised how these meetings would never have happened had we not exchanged contact details in the first place. I know travelling solo can be fun, but for me, people make a place. And this is what I've come to realise not just over the last year, but over the last four at university. :)
So after a great day forgetting about the demands of the present, I enjoyed the moment, reminisced about THAT year and looked forward to being in the right place at the right time once again in the not too distant future...
View from Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh
Well worth it if you can brave the climb!
