With that I embarked on my adventure. This blog is not about the places I visited nor about the things one should do or don’t. This is also not about the recommendations or travel info. It is about the people I met on my way, the select few who left lasting impressions and became a part of the everlasting memory.
I was in Wroclaw (pronounced as vrahts-wahf) and my roommate happened to be a Danish guy named William. Hailing from Copenhagen, a young man with blond hair and a smile which for some odd reason reminded me off tintin. We hit off instantly and saw the sights and had couple of drinks. What’s interesting in that? well he is travelling and has an instagram account!! Yes i know the cliche stuff right? Actually no..he makes it a point to post the most “ugly” picture of a place. It is a sort of parody to show that we often get swayed by what we perceive to be beautiful, yet there is a space for the existence of imperfections and one should embrace it. He reassured me of the fact that there are still people around who look beyond the usual definition of beauty.
The next day, i saw Julia, a short haired girl with blue eyes, dressed in a cycling/training kit at a touristy place, reading a book. The book was something I was curious about and the conversation started. Well she was Polish and tried her best to polish my Polish 🙂 and was sweet enough to make pierogi for me!! She loves to walk, so we decided to take one, in which i realised how deep a person she is. She told me about the El camino pilgrimage walk which stretches for 500 miles (which she had recently completed). I never knew about it and that was something new. Another thing that motivated me was her passion for travel. She narrated stories where she had ran out of money and slept on park benches or couches in the homes of random persons..kudos to her passion!! She taught me to be fearless and take the leap of faith, eventually the things will fall into place.
Next stop from Wroclaw was Bratislava. There was Nesrin, fair complexion, black haired girl with brown eyes, who looked lost in her thoughts carrying a bag with University of Wroclaw written on it. She, like me turned out to be an exchange student from Istanbul. Istanbul opened up doors for conversation and it was so good to have a profound political conversation with a person belonging to a complete different culture!! Yes, we also talked about religion while having some local cuisines. Talking religion, with a muslim girl and discussing gender roles and equality had its own flavour. She couldn’t understand how religion can be used as a political propaganda. Which again reinstated the fact that how regression our society is.
Cut to Berlin where i met Aayush, a guy who reminded me of Abhay Deol with his short hair and that intense look. He turned out to be a techie working in a start up at Pune. His passion for travel again was rooted to the core but that is not what made it special. He just came to Europe, randomly for holidays without any about the places to visit! He came with like an open book, letting life take him and going with the flow!! Listen learnt, that a guy working on AI projects can be fun to hang out with 🙂
It was really late when I reached Vienna, I almost had to run to catch the last U3 line. That lead me to Valentina, a cute Italian with specs and long open hair working at the hostel. Well there was some issues with the room and she handled them maturely and a conversation struck. She had broad knowledge about paintings and various painter including the underrated ones like Botticelli and Tintoretto. It was 4 am and i had to hit the bed as i was sleep deprived and 9 hours bus journey. When I was about to leave, she was kind enough to give me a free breakfast coupon..it reminded me of the time when a stewardess gave me free coffee on a spicejet flight!! I sort of made it up to her bu buying her chocolates. Kindness has no boundaries and it is always reciprocated and appreciated.
In Vienna, I also met Peter, a teacher and pastor from Kansas. He looked every bit like a pastor with his whitish beard and specs, incidentally he also just completed the El Camino pilgrimage walk. What fascinated me was that at a young age of 65 he is travelling alone, without any plans. What was more impressive was that in a group of youngster, he always seemed to be the youngest, the one pulling off the pranks!!
I also happened to met an Irish called Jerry with reddish hair and Stubble. I was shocked when he called out to me by saying “kya haal bhaiji?” After recovering from that greeting, I came to know that he had spend 6 months in India, covering multiple places. He preferred to call himself “gora” 🙂 . The “funny” fact was, when he was in Bikaner, he ran out of money and luckily for him there was a shooting going on. So he ended up acting as an extra in the movie “Firangi” starring the comedian Kapil Sharma. He narrated many tales which were refreshing to listen to
Then comes Budapest, I saw Mariana (a girl who reminded me of Emma Watson portraying Hermione Granger) taking pictures of the parliament building. So what? (read it in lata ma’am’s voice :p) well she was using one of those cameras that still used film rolls and it looked about 40 years old. That became the starting point of conversation and she told me that the camera belonged to her grandfather and it was one of the last memories she had off him. I too was close to my grand father so i could relate to it quite well. We concurred on the premise that there is something pleasing in clicking pictures with a film roll cameras and then developing them. For starters you have to be conservative with our resources as you have limited number of space in a roll and you just can’t delete and create space and most important is that you don’t know how good or bad the end product it, unless you get it printed. At the end of the day hard work really pays off and the greater the pain the more the happiness on achieving the desired results.
Lastly i would end it with Sarah, my Australian, my love <3. No i won’t risk describing her, as you too will fall in love, which I don’t want #possessive !! She came to Budapest as tourist, stayed in that hostel, found that there was a job vacancy and took it on. It has been a year!! She is one of those free spirited girls who never allows life to dictate terms!! She was the one who has impacted me the most by her simplicity and uncomplicated approach towards life. I will never forget the “love lock” and the “harry potter” movie. Romance can kindle anywhere, from the least expected quartersHope to see her soon.
I want to end it by saying that travel alone not with friends. It will bring you closer to yourself as it will lead to self actualisation and you will find far better enriching company on the way that will leave an everlasting impression on your mind and soul..!!
The Enigmatic Pen 
Kudos
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