As I left my isolated workaway in Switzerland to do two weeks of hostel living whilst city hopping, I was anxious to meet other travellers and make some friends, and hoped that this would happen. I now realise that the hard bit isn’t making new friends, it’s saying goodbye to them when your travels inevitably take you in different directions.
I had fun in Munich with the girls I met at the hostel, but my first real experience of hostel friends was in Prague. Here I met many lovely people, including some especially wonderful ones - Greg (Canadian), Susie (Canadian), Drew (Australian) and Will (Australian). I ate every meal with at least one of them, I even cooked breakfast for Susie and Will (if you can call boiled eggs or beans on toast cooking). Susie and Greg (and two others, I must’ve really sold it) made the 10:30am walking tour with me after being out until 5am the night before, and we all survived until the end of the 3 hours despite becoming increasingly hungover. I enjoyed their company so much, and was very glad that when I said goodbye to each of them it wasn’t for very long. We all left at different times and for different places, but we all happened (and some convinced to change plans) to be staying at the same hostel again in Bratislava. Another round of dinner, night out and a walking tour - same people, different city. In Bratislava we lost our first person, Susie, and I was surprised at how sad the goodbye felt. I saw the rest in Budapest, and even extended my stay there an extra night to spend more time with them.
Making hostel friends for the short time you’re in one place is of course lovely, and it’s fun to do stuff with people, even if it’s just for that one activity. But it was even more lovely to spend time in several cities with the same people. Even if it meant that saying goodbye was a little bit harder to do. I can’t believe I only knew these people for 10 days, but I’m sure I’ll remember them for much, much longer. I wish all of them the best on their travels, and really hope to see them all again one day!
