Rekindling
The smallness of the world and the way that people come back in to each others' lives in unexpected circumstances is something that has fascinated me before, and is a phenomenon that has been on my mind particularly in the last week.
My interest was rekindled when I got a message from my friend Holly, whom I met last year when travelling.
She was coming from Oz to London in the brave capacity of wanting to live here despite not having a job lined up. It was a semi-coincidence, as I had been out of the country for 5 months yet she arrived in London the same week as I did.
I say its only a sort of coincidence, because, ultimately, she knew that I was from London and people who meet on travels will often call up out of the blue to see if you're at home.
Which for me, is one of the greatest things about making friends abroad. You have no hesitation about contacting them when coming to their city, and you never know when someone will surprise you with the news that they are in yours.
In truth we did not hang out loads when we first met in Santorini, but its nice to be able to see a familiar face when you've moved half way around the world to an enormous city. We filled each other in on our lives and recalled a small world story that concerned the both of us:
On the island I was with Eva and Eva, my Danish double act, and Holly was travelling with Ryan and Christian, who were all from the Gold Coast is Australia. Holly ended up going back to Oz earlier than expected, which was sad, but realistically we were all going to be leaving Santorini in a few days anyway. When I said goodbye to Holly and she asked me to say goodbye to Catherine for her, I know that I had made some sort of impression...
We all left two days after and went in opposite directions; Eva and the boys went towards Istanbul and I went to take on Italy from the bottom up.
I had a great time skinny dipping, meeting more Australians and getting thoroughly robbed in the night, working my way through the country.
My last stop was Venice where I was staying at one of the PLUS hostels. They are a great chain of hostels and also offer Rome, Florence, Berlin and Prague (check out www.plushostels.com as Rome and Venice were excellent fun).
Again I made friends with some good looking Danish girls and we proceeded to the club that is within the campsite (yeah I know right!?) after having dinner. Buckets of Sex On The Beach were consumed quickly- despite the extra vodka we added- and good times were had.
"Oh its only fuckin'
Dion!" he said,
as a smile replaced his
look of menace.
Across from the bar, I saw a very tall person wearing a cut off vest. Now in the past, on a few occasions, I've jumped out at someone thinking that I knew them... only for them to be a stranger. This is something that I should learn from, but never do. Thankfully I had not mistakenly identified Christian as I leapt on his back back and proceeded to bite his ear.
Ryan, who was still with him looked ready to fight until he saw that it was me. "Oh its only fuckin' Dion!" he said, as a smile replaced his look of menace.
We had a good catch up reeling in the surprise that we'd both come full circle in opposite ways. Then I saw Holly at the bar. If I wasn't banking on seeing the guys, I was fully unprepared to see her again. But she had come back, to my pleasant disbelief. It was a great time for all of us and we revelled in the unlikelihood of our current circumstances.
This bank holiday weekend I was in Reading, having an excellent time staying with Sam, Jason, Lisa and JD. We ate a fondue to the Amelie soundtrack and played drinking Monopoly before going out. That weekend I bumped in to people at my favourite bar in Reading, the Purple Turtle, and at the Reading Beer and Cider festival.
I was expecting to randomly bump in to people here as the fest is an event which many people who were at uni in Reading return specifically for each year. Furthermore, I lived in Reading most of my adult life and know people in a few different circles
However on the way home, back in London, I saw a friend from Uni who I've not talked to in maybe 4 years. I didn't even know she lived in the city, so I was much more surprised to see Marie-Clare in Ealing than I was to see the likes of Alice, Charlie, Tibbs, Justin, Vickii or Louise in Reading.
Indeed, MC herself said that she was often startled about the colossal size of London, the huge number of people walking about within it and the fact that you still bump in to people all the time.
I considered that if I had taken a later train, I never would have seen her. Then I thought of how easy it would be to miss crossing paths with someone you hadn't expected to see. And I wondered how many people you must miss out on seeing, just by a few minutes.
Its interesting to think about but its something you'll never know the answer to.
Its happening often, and will occur more as I continue to travel. Its nice because, whether just a quick catch up, or a new beginning for a friendship, seeing people unexpectedly is always a joy.
-Oh wait, I've just considered that one day I'll bump in to someone that I've been pleased not to have seen in a while. And now its bound to happen.
[After showing an interest in readers' small world stories and being sent many great ones, as well as having some more of my own, I will from now on post a short one frequently as an appendix.]
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