bye Brad
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This post is about saying goodbye to Brad in Vienna. I spend a few quiet days with my dad, and I sit on the balcony a lot.
And, just like that, Brad was gone. It was only a short ride to the airport, a short walk to the security check, and then a short goodbye. I felt that neither of us liked big goodbyes.
the thousand
“Good luck”, said Brad.
Good luck to you, too, I replied.
I told her to give the cats a hug from me, then we hugged, and then she walked over to the security check. She was wearing a fashionable, dark green backpack, and she looked small under it.
Brad was been the person who had walked the most with me. Others had been with me for a day or two. The Teacher had taken me through the desert for a few days.
My brother Ruben had done 542,3km with me, 268,9km in China in 2008 and 273,4km in Uzbekistan in 2017.
But Brad had walked with me for more than 1000km, 861km in Turkey in 2019, and then 345,2km from Budapest to Vienna just now.
quiet days
It was odd to think that I would be on my own again. I liked walking alone, but there was something nice in having Brad around. Her veganism, her environmentalist convictions, the way she insisted on having instant noodles with tofu when we were out camping, her singing and dancing, and her wild curiosity.
I spent the next few days with my dad. He was at work during the day, but in the evenings we would have dinner together, sit on the balcony, and talk about things. I sat on the balcony a lot.
Sometimes, when it was cold and rainy, I would have hot cocoa, and I would watch the rain from the balcony and I would feel happy that I wasn’t out there, pulling the Caboose, getting my feet wet, walking on The Longest Way.
And then I thought of the rain songs with my friend Brad, and I felt a bit sad.
pictures
saying goodbye to Brad in Vienna:
bye Brad
tea on the balcony
watching the rain from the balcony
dinner with my dad
I sit on my dad’s balcony in Vienna.
The Third Man in the movie theater
hot cocoa on the balcony
Leg
Good luck