Annecy, France – Été 2019 (Summer)

We never know how important places are going to end up being to us. Or which ones we’ll remember, most fondly, for years to come. For me, Annecy, France is one of them. A weekend trip from Lyon, turned into a full week of some of my best memories. Bunkering down at a hostel, strangers who became friends. Exploring together, laughing, drinking, sharing secrets, swimming in the lake at night; a beautiful lake that’s walking distance at the edge of town and is crystal clear.

I was on no timeframe. I was traveling around France, from town to town, searching for a place to move to. If I wanted to go, I went, if I wanted to stay a little longer…I did.

I remember rebooking a room in Annecy France hostel probably 5 days in a row because I kept saying you know, I want to stay in this place another day.

Each day, I’d meet someone different at my hostel. Or in my room (I must’ve been moved four times throughout my stay due to not expecting to book, yet another, night again and again). I was just so in love with the town. Most often, I’d meet people in the kitchen though. And one evening, I could hear giggling as I came down to get dinner. As I walked through the doorway, I saw a tall guy hovering over a girls shoulder as he commentated her cooking, and she looked smitten.

Turns out, the two in the kitchen had met on a train. Her from London, him from San Francisco. And they realized they were getting off at the same spot…and further realized they booked the same hostel stay. Two people, from two separate parts of the world, traveling in the same direction. Kismet. Or should I say “Serendipity.”

People who travel alone are often looking for answers, adventure, connection. Sometimes we find one another.