Leaving New Friends in Armenia

Leaving new friends is so hard.

The beautiful thing about traveling alone is that it forces you out of your comfort zone, makes it a necessity to meet new people.

The problem lies in the leaving.

My first day in Armenia, while enjoyable, was spent wallowing a little too much in my loneliness. But the second day, I connected with a Czech couple staying in my hostel, and thus began a couple of beautiful days exploring the Armenian countryside and bonding over a shared love of art, music (they’re in a band), travel, and Czech culture. (I studied abroad in Prague; they were amazed that I could still remember some of the language.) With Martina and Patrik, I never felt like a third wheel– as we traipsed through woods and monasteries and deserted back roads, playing word games and creating impromptu picnics, I felt like we’d known each other for years.

But two days is all we had; I had to return to Yerevan so I could catch an early morning marshrutka to Tbilisi, and they were leaving for Batumi and then Trabzon, Turkey the following day. We said our farewells on a deserted road beside an idling minibus, promising to stay in touch and see each other again.

And the most wonderful thing is that we will. They live in a city that I will definitely visit (because there are too many Czech people who will kill me if I don’t… and I love Prague madly) and Facebook makes staying in touch worlds easier. For now, I will listen to their band on their website and travel on, making new friends along the way– I can only hope the new people I meet turn out to be as lovely as these two.