It's a Small World After All

"It's a small world" is a phrase one hears endlessly on the backpacker trail. People are running into one another in town after town. Is it coincidence? Not really when everyone is carrying the Lonely Planet guidebooks to chart their path. Every now and again, however, there is a *true* coincidence that blows you away...

In early October I turned my passport over to an agency in Cambodia who then arranged my Vietnam visa. I got it back 3 days later with my visa glued in and a stray passport photo of a man in a dusty pink T-shirt bearing the outline of a large Germanic eagle. Strange. It made me giggle and I wondered who this man was. I kept the photo for future smiles and put it in my money belt for safe keeping.

Fast forward December 29th, 2007 at 4:30am Perth International Airport: I was waiting for my bags along with the rest of the passengers on my flight from Bali to Perth. We were a sad lot - eyes half open, grumpy with small beagles sniffing our hand luggage for produce and other food products. I looked around and a man caught my eye. Could it be? Is it the man from the passport photo?

Dirty blond tousled hair, slender build, piercing blue eyes, dusty pink T-shirt complete with outline of a large Germanic eagle...no! I ripped out my money belt and retrieved the photo...yes! It was him!

I collected myself and walked over. I stammered a little so overcome with the coincidence and the early hour. I explained the story and handed him the photo (should have kept it in hindsight). I was bursting with excitement eagerly anticipating his reply. "Cheers."

"Cheers?" That's it? What?!$#? Are you kidding me?

After about 5 minutes of standing there waiting for him to redeem himself, he did...somewhat. "How'd you like Cambodia" he asked. I settled for small talk. He was on his way to a connecting flight to Darwin and would be exploring the East Coast of Australia. He was from the UK and would be returning home in the Spring for his brother's wedding. He was decidedly uninteresting. I wondered why the universe had brought us together. Perhaps it was to provide a little punch of adrenaline at 4:30am so that I could be quick on my feet as I smuggled a small wooden curio through the world's toughest customs line.