I am sitting next to a quiet old fellow. From what I have gathered he doesn’t care for technology or the little annoying speaker above his head, spewing Czech words about seatbelts and safety. His eyes are glued to the window, ignoring the screen that is setting a soft glow on his face. I feel like he is seeing past the countryside and green belts of trees and hills, into a far away place, maybe the past or maybe the future.
He is actually sitting in my seat. My window seat. The one I paid for.
I walked up the isle and found myself looking at space number 55, the number on my ticket, occupied by this wrinkled soul with a cane. I think I stammered, mmmm, well, hmmmm, and then thought better of making real words. We may not speak the same language, but we still connected for a second when he caught my eye, and that was enough for me to see his sweet spirit. I like my bus buddy. :) Even if he gets the view.
Those of you who know me and the story of how I ended up living in Prague, know that sometimes I jump head first into things without a real plan, or background knowledge, or common sense….but this trip is last minute—even for me. Five days ago I was suspended between all my options, Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Munich, Berlin, or the South Bohemia of Czech Republic. Also, in exactly 7 days from now, I am leaving altogether for the states! So talk about spur of the moment, week of packing, unpacking, packing again, tickets, passports, craziness…
He is actually sitting in my seat. My window seat. The one I paid for.
I walked up the isle and found myself looking at space number 55, the number on my ticket, occupied by this wrinkled soul with a cane. I think I stammered, mmmm, well, hmmmm, and then thought better of making real words. We may not speak the same language, but we still connected for a second when he caught my eye, and that was enough for me to see his sweet spirit. I like my bus buddy. :) Even if he gets the view.
Those of you who know me and the story of how I ended up living in Prague, know that sometimes I jump head first into things without a real plan, or background knowledge, or common sense….but this trip is last minute—even for me. Five days ago I was suspended between all my options, Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Munich, Berlin, or the South Bohemia of Czech Republic. Also, in exactly 7 days from now, I am leaving altogether for the states! So talk about spur of the moment, week of packing, unpacking, packing again, tickets, passports, craziness…
Anyways. I’m sitting on this bus smiling, excited, and so happy that this little gig pulled through. Because you know how these things go! Something is bound to go wrong, in the last minute of the game, right when your feeling confident.
Like last night.
When the place I was going to stay at, the guy who was going to meet me, and a guaranteed couch to surf on was suddenly not an option anymore. You see, he sent an email explaining he is going through a break up, not in a good condition anymore…(damn break-ups get in the way of people hosting you..) For those of you gasping for air right now and thinking “she was going to do WHAT?!?”, relax ;) There is this site called CouchSurfing, a well-established, mostly safe community of people who want to surf and host surfers as they travel the world. There are certainly some funny characters on there, but I’ve seen stranger things on FB to be honest. Anyways. This guy had over three hundred positive references, so I felt pretty good.
So after writing back a heartfelt “it’s okay, we all go through break ups, time will heal, and there is always something to be learned from good&bad experiences” to my ex-future host, the search was on! Kinda felt like a must-find-hostel-or-die! situation. I mean, we’ve all had those, right? ;) After searching the web for less than 3 minutes and not finding an opening, I was already in that panicked state of mind, sipping on visions of myself strolling though the dark, skinny alleys, big backpack, foreign city, no place to sleep, creepy men in shadowed corners…
I know I know. Novice traveler here. Fully aware. Over reactive brain.
Thankfully, there is a very cute guy back in the states who’s on my team, found a hostel and calmly got things figured out within minutes. It’s always a beautiful thing to have people thinking clearly when your aren’t. Even if they are a continent away. #blushing
Like last night.
When the place I was going to stay at, the guy who was going to meet me, and a guaranteed couch to surf on was suddenly not an option anymore. You see, he sent an email explaining he is going through a break up, not in a good condition anymore…(damn break-ups get in the way of people hosting you..) For those of you gasping for air right now and thinking “she was going to do WHAT?!?”, relax ;) There is this site called CouchSurfing, a well-established, mostly safe community of people who want to surf and host surfers as they travel the world. There are certainly some funny characters on there, but I’ve seen stranger things on FB to be honest. Anyways. This guy had over three hundred positive references, so I felt pretty good.
So after writing back a heartfelt “it’s okay, we all go through break ups, time will heal, and there is always something to be learned from good&bad experiences” to my ex-future host, the search was on! Kinda felt like a must-find-hostel-or-die! situation. I mean, we’ve all had those, right? ;) After searching the web for less than 3 minutes and not finding an opening, I was already in that panicked state of mind, sipping on visions of myself strolling though the dark, skinny alleys, big backpack, foreign city, no place to sleep, creepy men in shadowed corners…
I know I know. Novice traveler here. Fully aware. Over reactive brain.
Thankfully, there is a very cute guy back in the states who’s on my team, found a hostel and calmly got things figured out within minutes. It’s always a beautiful thing to have people thinking clearly when your aren’t. Even if they are a continent away. #blushing
So far, my favorite part of travel has been the in-between moments. The train rides, the stops for coffee and stretching, the quiet minutes of just sitting and letting it all pass, fade, and change around you. Its not as substantial as a towering European cathedral, nor as concrete as hours of walking around a new city…but it’s my favorite. The anticipation of whats to come, the easiness of being in this moment…
I cannot wait to follow this post up with a new one on Vienna. I hear it’s a magical city. And shoot, I’m staying in one of those legit hostels—the kind with 15 other men and woman in the same room—so I know there will be stories to share!
Till’ then,
From the road between city’s,
K
I cannot wait to follow this post up with a new one on Vienna. I hear it’s a magical city. And shoot, I’m staying in one of those legit hostels—the kind with 15 other men and woman in the same room—so I know there will be stories to share!
Till’ then,
From the road between city’s,
K