Last weekend I was lucky enough to celebrate the marriage of two very good friends in Sydney, Australia. The day was gorgeous, the wedding was beautiful and of course the bride looked stunning. One of the best parts was meeting up with friends I hadn’t seen in years. See, I met the bride and her sister seven years ago on a Contiki tour, and since then the tour, the stories and the friendships have left a permanent mark on our lives.
Many people make friends when they explore the world on an organised tour. It’s one of the attractions of doing a tour in the first place. Like minded people with a similar desire to see a new part of the world connect on tours and often become life-long friends. That’s what happened with our 2009 Grand Southern Contiki Tour. Except our tour was unique. Not to sound pompous or judgemental of other tours but this particular tour was so special you could put almost all fifty of us on a bus together again and every person would connect like it was yesterday. The friendships within this group continue to last and so do the stories. Much to the dismay of new people who’ve since entered our lives and must endure listening to endless retellings of the awesome time we had.
There’s an understanding between everyone who was on this Contiki tour that those people who weren’t there just don’t get how amazing it was, and never will. That’s not to say that others don’t understand the friendships that were formed and the relationships that continue to exist. It’s just that there is a truly unique bond between us that none ever dreamed would happen and lets us remain a part of each other’s lives.
At the wedding last weekend I was able to meet up with tour friends I hadn’t seen for approximately four years. As with most travel friendships many of us live in different states and countries, limiting how often we can meet up in person. Whilst I visit Sydney reasonably often I don’t get to Melbourne nearly as much, so at the wedding my Melbourne friends and I were thrilled each other had made the effort to come.
After the initial hellos, it was like we stepped off the bus yesterday. Personalities were exactly the same. Humor, memories and why we connected so well in the first place all came flowing back. We had a great night.
We reflected that had it not been for this one-in-a-million tour seven years ago none of us would have been at the wedding. Our lives have changed so much yet in the most important ways not at all. It was great to hear what everyone was doing with their lives. I met new fiancés, husbands, and babies who now join the sisters, brothers and parents we all gained as part of our extended Contiki friendship family.
Travel friendships can also often be rekindled in the most unusual ways. A few years ago when I was in Sydney visiting my closest Contiki friends, one night at 2am we stepped out of a bar in the city and I literally walked into a woman named Floss who was also with us on the 2009 Contiki tour. I literally stepped right into her, realised who she was and went for a hug instead of an apology. Out of the millions of people I could have walked into, it was Floss. Shockingly last weekend the same thing happened again.
Sunday afternoon after the wedding my friend was walking me to the train station so I could get into the city and as we’re walking down the street I hear my name being called from a car. The car pulls over and out jumps Floss running over to give me a hug. Out of the millions of people in Sydney, what are the odds? Obviously the universe was telling us something, so we met for a great catch-up breakfast the next morning.
I love catching up with these guys anytime, anywhere. It’s awesome to meet in another country, or to visit them for a weekend, or to catch up for a meal. By rekindling travel relationships and welcoming the new people and changes into each other’s lives, we will remain friends forever.
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