135. Old Friends In New Places
- Dylan Smith
- Mar 15, 2023
- 2 min read
Day 135
Location 26: Tirana, Albania
Mar. 15, 2023
Midway through ordering my hostel's complimentary breakfast I was interrupted by a familiar face: a guy named Lea I'd met a few weeks earlier in Skopje, Macedonia. We said hello, acknowledged the coincidence, and I returned to my breakfast order.
"I'll have the french toa—" I was once again interrupted by a familiar face. Four months ago and 687 miles away, I'd met Noah at my Budapest hostel. We couldn't believe we were (1) both still traveling all this time later and (2) not only in Tirana at the same time, but also staying in the same hostel.
I don't know the odds of us three running into each other again, but it's at least as rare as a double rainbow or a functioning McFlurry machine or a guy in a Punisher shirt who's not racist.
The two long-lost friendly faces gave me a sense of safety in a city so far from home. It was as if I'd been reunited with my "familjare" (the Albanian word for family). I imagine it's the same kind of warm fuzzy feeling citizens of Gotham get when the Bat-Signal illuminates the sky. Speaking of which...
