You know it’s summer when the Travelettes Instagram challenge is in full swing. Except that a few butterflies in your belly also wouldn’t hurt while munching away on the tenth ice cream, dancing your heart out at an indie festival or if you’re indeed traveling and looking for some adventure.
There is something special about falling head over travelettes heels in love on the road, followed by the bittersweet understanding that being out of the ordinary is both what brought the two of you together and what will tear you apart. Pardon all dat drama… and the curtain rises for some exquisite (and usually flighty) holiday heartbeats brought to you by my travel diaries.
1. On a train
It was a chilly summer morning in Berlin and I was on my way to the station to catch a ridiculously expensive train to Brussels for a packed week of conferences, writing and lots of beer. The train was leaving at 6.53am and by 6.45am I was still chatting to an elderly lady about the book she was reading while waiting for the bus which never came. After the sudden realisation that I’d probably not only miss my train but also, thanks to an empty bank account probably never even make it to Brussels, I hailed a cab (which for some reason was a near impossible thing to do) and arrived in the departure halls at 6.52am without knowing what platform the train would leave from. Years of experience and legs used to sudden outbursts of adrenaline (or indeed, lateness) brought me to the platform when the train attendant was doing the quintessentially German piping which indicated the doors would shut in about 0.3 seconds. Holy crap.
I blurred out a vibrant mix of all swear words (a regular, occasionally amusing pattern in desperate situations where logic and clear thinking seem absurd) I could think of and threw myself onto the train carpet (another weirdly German thing), all sweaty and with a suitcase heavier than my own body. The doors shut mercilessly, the train departed and after a high-five with the train doors I opened my eyes and looked into fifty bewildered pairs of eyes. They belonged to suit-wearing and terribly organised people who probably never nearly missed a train in their life. So the journey was meant to last for about five hours and after I slowly regained my normal pulse rate, I stood up and made the walk of shame through this carriage in search for an empty seat. I found one next to a guy that was fast asleep. Great, so he hadn’t seen anything. Where’s my make-up? I sat down, quietly let out another encyclopedia of swear words and accidentally (of course) woke him up. The following three hours were filled with hilarious jokes much to the annoyance of said stuck-up fellow travelers, fresh anecdotes from Berlin (he came from Australia and had an absolute blast) and the type of wisdom that you gain from traveling and talking to strangers. It was love (!) at first sight and he had fluffy curls which hugely sped up the process. Unfortunately he was headed to Amsterdam, I was on my way to the city of beers and waffles, so there was no way we would see each other again any time soon. #heartbroken
2. In a hostel (obvs)
Yes it’s a cliché and yes, it works every time. My brother and I were on a month-long road trip through the US and Canada and usually slept on Greyhound buses (don’t tell the parents!) wherever possible. Surprisingly we sometimes felt the need for a hot shower and decent WiFi and decided to relocate to a hostel. So we’re set in a backpacker’s hostel in the most beautiful place in the world (Vancouver, Canada) and after a long day of hiking and exploring I stumbled across this whirlwind of a blonde Aussie (again, I seem to have a thing for them). The fact that we were heavily sleep deprived, drunk in love with Vancouver and super excited to share some common interests (photography and traveling) made a waterfall of endorphins and sparkly eyes a no-brainer.
3. With someone you’ve met years ago…
… but it’s only now that you’re really hitting it off. You know when you’re meeting someone for the first time in a larger group and you’re having a great time on the road, add each other on Facebook of course and promise to stay in touch? And then all communication is dead for a year or two and suddenly you visit their hometown (Toronto), meet for a beer or two and feel like you just met the person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Yessa, here we go. It makes me (and everyone around me) laugh how I’m all in after about two seconds – I was already working out how I would surely move to Toronto straight after my degree (of course Caroline, of course). The fact that I was leaving on the next day made it all the more dramatic (a bonus) and irresistible.
Needless to say that none of these episodes turned into anything even slightly permanent but they were oh so fun. So… ladies? What are your favourite love stories from the road? Put them in the box below, I cannot wait to hear them!
All photos taken by Caroline Schmitt
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