A Thank You Note to People I’ll Never See Again
I sit at a table on a cliffside by the Aegean sea, and I order an overpriced club sandwich with my seven newest friends. That’s Santorini, I suppose: overpriced.
Five out of the eight of us ordered the club sandwich. We are the Club club now.
Most of us are native English speakers, and all of us are fluent, though we are a mix of Americans, Canadians, Australians, Brits, and Kiwis.
Did you know “knackered” means tired in the U.K.?
Apparently “togs” is another word for a bathing suit in New Zealand.
Me and the other American have a hard time stumping the others with unknown slang. Maybe that’s Hollywood’s fault. Or TikTok’s.
One-use disposable friends
We move our conversation onto words with highly specific meanings like sonder, and then onto words with no translation into English.
Feeling inspired by our linguistics, we decide to create a word. At first, we aim to create a new word for a glass, like Andrew Clement’s character does for a pen in the novel “Frindle”.
But that’s unlikely to be useful. We should create a word for something that can’t be described concisely yet.
“How about the one-use, disposable friends you meet while traveling, like you guys,” suggests the one-use, disposable friend, Arjun.
Ouch.
It’s harsh, but it’s true.
This is where 'rouple' comes in
I’ve collected many Instagram handles that I never follow up with while traveling. I have photos in my phone at iconic places with people’s whose names I don’t remember anymore. I’m in WhatsApp group chats that went silent after all the photos had been exchanged.
“Exactly, its harsh to say it like that,” my friend(?) says. “That’s why we need a word for it. It’s ok that these relationships are temporary, they are supposed to be.”
Kylie, my fellow American, puts two syllables together and comes up with “rouple.”
Your rouples are the people you meet at a hostel or while traveling, often while traveling alone. Your schedules in one place might overlap a week or just one night, but they are fast friends made out of necessity.
Someone to go on that hike with you. Someone with whom you split the cost of a rental car to explore where you wouldn’t alone. Someone to put sunscreen between your shoulder blades (you were planning to just accept the burn).
Someone to take a bunch of photos of you so you don’t have to ask a stranger.
These are friendships forged by experiences rather than by time, and they last just as long as the adventure does.
I’ve been guilty of unfollowing or never contacting people I’ve met on my travels, and yet, without them my experiences in those places would have been a shadow of what they were.
Shared memories
I traveled to Tenerife for the Mardi Gras Carnival alone, keeping my fingers crossed I would meet a few friends. I showed up at the hostel a few hours before the party and was swept into a group of 20 friends, hostel volunteers, couples, and strangers. Someone sprinkled some glitter on my cheekbones, and they were my group until dawn (or maybe even a little later).
One of the most popular activities in Santorini is a sunset cruise with some swimming, and I knew before I arrived I would do it. I went on a stargazing tour up Teide in Tenerife by myself, and I could have done this cruise alone as well, but I’m so glad I didn’t have to.
There are times when hanging out with strangers is exhausting, and then there are times when it just clicks.
Both of these experiences, and so many other moments, would have been nice without those temporary friends, but they were memorable and joyful because they were shared.
While I may not remember their names a year from now, I will remember the way they brightened the way I experienced Spain and Greece. They might unfollow me on Instagram, but they will be the reason I look fondly on my memories of a trip.
I love traveling with my friends, but it’s different from traveling alone and then meeting friends on the road.
There’s a “f—k it, why not?” attitude amongst the group. It was born of people traveling alone, looking for adventure, so it will breed adventure.
“Hey, what are you doing today? Nothing? Ok, let’s go on a hike.” Let’s try that weird-looking dish or sing that karaoke song or check out that abandoned church.
I enjoy traveling alone, and sometimes I don’t feel like sharing my time and energy with someone. While in Athens, I put my head down, my air pods on, and listened to The Tortured Poets Department while touring ancient ruins.
It was perfect.
But when your trip needs a little extra something, I suggest booking that hostel, camping out in the common room and creating your own group of rouples.
