Inspired by Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"; of course with a mathematical twist and I am not in Heaven yet (hopefully one day I'll be, haha).
I've met numerous people throughout my journey. Or rather, I cross paths with countless strangers in the 2 weeks, but some had a deeper indent than others. And I did not get any of their contact except for one, some not even a name. That was the difference I realised when it came to interactions during travelling, everyone is a stranger, everyone has a story to tell. It's almost always "Hi, how long have you been here?" which proceeds to stories from where they are from, their country, their experience of travel so far, their view of life, and then perhaps, an exchange of names. I don't know if it's just me, or maybe we just are aware that sometimes short exchanges can be meaningful whether or not they turn into long-term relationships, but names were just not as key, yet every story divulged was equally meaningful and valuable.
So while these people who have crossed my path significantly may not come across this blog post, I would like to pray tribute to them and all the nameless travelers, continue sharing your stories, and perhaps, your if the moment is right, your name.
Kaori
She's the first girl I met when I first arrived in Vienna, and the first stranger who held a conversation longer than 30 minutes with. Very sweet lady, and has an amazing zest for travel, I think she has been travelling throughout her undergrad to different places in Europe and US. She studies Political Science and is waiting to complete her final year thesis and take her place in the working world where she has already been offered a job in a large multinational company.
It was really interesting to hear her travels and she was very willing to share her stories as well - of how her parents gave up trying to stop her from travelling alone, and how life in Japan is really competitive. Definitely made me realise how many people are actually traveling alone and instead of worrying about whether their life is in danger, they are actually appreciating the privilege to see the world and all it has to offer. She's also the only one who I got a contact detail, which reminds me, I should email her :)
Naomi
I really enjoyed my interaction with Naomi (met her in Vienna as well). It was a smack-in-the-face realisation for myself, and she probably didn't know how much she helped in my learning. When I first saw her, I stereotype her for a party person, who is all about pleasure in life, just from how she looked, and how she carried herself. I was wrong, so so wrong that I am absolutely ashamed for being so judgmental but at the same time so thankful I was given this smack of a lesson.
She is a social worker with the aborigine community in Australia helping to deal with issues plaguing the community such as alcoholism. She shared stories about her experience as a social worker and how it pains her that there's just so many short term solutions, but nothing is sustainable yet. She also taught me that travelling does not have an immediate magical effect romanticized by so many stories on the net; that she took quite some time to be the traveler she is. Having travelled for 2 and a half months, she only settled in the routine after a month and notice how different she is after the two months. And she worked super hard for the years preceding her travel months to save up for her well-deserved break. But she also understand that she is not travelling forever, she wants to go back to her job, however challenging it is, to make a sustainable difference, and I really salute her ambition.
German Sergeant
I shared a coach with this boy on my 7-hour journey from Austria to Italy. Initially he had a friend on board and they were both talking, so I didn't interrupt. His friend left halfway during the journey, and I decided to break the silence by asking him about his job. He was wearing the army uniform so I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going home after training. He shared his views about Vienna and Salzburg, about how nice the outskirts of Austria is rather than the city of Vienna. And I was really thankful I spoke to him because when the announcement came in Italian & Austrian about the railway problem, he translated that to me and told me what to do. If I never initiated the conversation I would probably have been totally lost. I never got his name, but I knew his girlfriend's name was Kristie(?) and that he was meeting her after being away for training ( so Dear John la omg, haha).
Elena & Lizzie
They are a pair of mother (Lizzie) & daughter (Elena). I first met Lizzie on my first night in Venice, and she told me that she's going to meet her daughter who is working in Germany. This lady was amazing, traveling on her own for the past few weeks, and then going to travel more after her daughter goes back to work in German. They made really nice company of my stay in Venice when we come back to the hostel at night at they shared stories about the Acqua Alta in San Marco, and reminded me to bring extra slippers. I also learnt to say Goodnight in Mexican (yes, they were from Mexico) "Buenos Noche", to which I taught them "Selamat Malam". Elena told me about Germany and recommended places to visit, I so want to go to Germany. Although we parted ways in Venice, I had a short bump into them during their last night in Florence where we stayed at the same hostel. Super funny how we bumped into each other in the hallway and I was like "these people look familiar". We had breakfast together the following morning, before they rushed off for their morning train.
Amy
I guess she would make the shortest interaction I had, two hours during lunch in Florence, just before my train to Rome. She resides in the US and has just quitted her job to move back to her hometown and take care of her sister who has cancer. Since she won't have time like the time she has now, she decided to just travel for a couple of months. I really enjoyed our conversation because she told me stories about how her parents didn't let her travel alone, so she got an acquaintance to travel with but they parted ways because he just wanted to party while she wanted to experience more of the culture. And also stories about Los Angeles where she used to work, and about her parcel stuck in Paris because of tinned haggis. It was her birthday on the day as well, such a coincidence, so I wished her Happy Birthday and parted ways, realising how silly I was to not have gotten her contact.
Subini
She was my dorm mate in Rome, also residing in US, Texas. Very helpful and adventurous lady who has been travelling quite a while, and she stays more than 2 days in different cities so she was sharing stories about exploring the outskirts of the different cities; something I didn't manage to do. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have known to go to St Peter's Basilica as early as possible and enjoy myself. She was also the only person I met whom I had dinner with and it was wonderful to have conversations with her about US, India and everything in-between
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So, meeting this people were not life-changing in large amount of ways yet I cannot deny how these interactions have left memories ingrained in my life, for that, I am very grateful.
This is the last of the series of post I have for my travels, hopefully in my days to come, I'll find more travel stories to share.
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