I love hostels. I love the instant connections they instil in their inhabitants. Everyone is in the same boat. We’re all sharing the same rooms with the same snorers, loafers and messy bastards. We’re all struggling travellers, excited and amazed by the smallest of things we experience on our adventures. Many are alone, seeking friendship at every corner, someone to talk to and share with.
Sometimes you find in hostels acquaintances, people to chat to and entertain for a moment, just a moment before they fade off into the night. Other times you meet those that you wish to surround yourself with for longer, filling your day with their company. I’ve met a few people like this on my trip. People that share a common outlook on the world and attitude to life.
Finding people like this is fairly rare but great. Of the hundreds upon hundreds of people I have met, shaken hands with, shared a beer and stories and laughs just a few make it into my hit list. They stand like mile markers in my adventure, my memories of them shining like beacons in rolling seas.
While I have become hardened against goodbyes, they are still are difficult, but the effect is reduced I have found when done over the hangover of a great night out. One such a great night was in the wonderful Quebec. And so, once again farewell my friends. May we find one another again in this wide world and raise a glass to our past, present and future.
