I received an email yesterday morning from a woman I don’t know. She said she was at Cardamom House near Athoor Village, Dindigul, South India and had just picked up a book I left there in 2011. The book was Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand (excellent as I recall), and I apparently left a note with my email address inside of the front cover along with an invitation to visit Nova Scotia. I remember Cardamom House…an oasis in the middle of nowhere with excellent food and staff who catered to my every whim. It was my first visit to India, and I was travelling with a driver…staying at places hand-picked by a travel agent who wanted to present the best that his country had to offer. I don’t travel that way anymore, opting instead to find my own way through the most chaotic country on earth, so the memories this evoked were sublime.
Back to the email. Jane said she didn’t foresee being in Nova Scotia anytime soon, but she invited to me look her up in the event that I was ever in the UK. As it happens, I finalized two bookings in the UK about a week ago – one in Cheltenham in the Cotswolds and the second in Swansea, Wales. Guess where Jane lives. A 30-minute drive from Cheltenham. And guess where Ruth lives…Ruth whom I met three years ago in Bangkok. Ruth lives in Swansea. I didn’t remember that until it was pointed out to me by Lucinda, a friend of Ruth’s whom I met exactly two years ago in India.
The universe in general and this planet in particular are astonishing places. Had this email arrived ten days or two weeks ago, it would have been a pleasant diversion. But it arrived yesterday., after I had finalized the Airbnb reservation. Nearly eight years after I penned that offer of Nova Scotian hospitality. So instead of looking ahead to complete solitude over the summer of 2019, I now have two solid connections in these unknown places. Because I do intend to contact Jane when I get to England. I just can’t ignore this obvious signal that there is something there for me to explore. It may be uplifting, it may be downright depressing, but undoubtedly, it will teach me something. And I’m looking forward to seeing Ruth, Kate and Lou again to take up where we left off in Asia.
The countdown to March 27th is on! On that day, I will be officially homeless. All of my earthly belongings will be in storage, and I will have borrowed an address to satisfy societal norms. I do hope you’ll come with me…