Like many young Australians in their 20s, my mate Rob and I wanted to do some serious travelling before we settled into career mode. We had just finished uni and spent all our holidays working and saving our pennies to finance the trip of a lifetime.
We had big plans. First we would backpack through Asia, then fly onto London where we intended to base ourselves and explore Europe at our leisure. The excitement was palpable as we farewelled our families and boarded the aircraft.
Asia was a hoot. Beaches, cheap accommodation and full-on partying – enough to make two charged-up backpackers think they were in heaven. At first Rob and I travelled pretty well together. We’d been friends since high school and had even held a combined 21st birthday party. We were, however, very different people. I tend to be easy-going and flexible, willing to change my plans if needed but Rob is not like that. If you make a plan with Rob it’s set in concrete.
These differences became more noticeable as we travelled. Living in close proximity with each other put a strain on our relationship. I found Rob’s budget mentality a bore. He counted every penny and would insist on finding the cheapest accommodation to save a couple of bucks, even when we were dead tired from non-stop travelling. His penny-pinching ways and reluctance to withdraw large sums of money (because it might be spent) meant that he always borrowed from me and I was pretty sure he never fully paid me back. I could see that my laid-back attitude and willingness to travel to an unscheduled destination whenever the opportunity arose was annoying him.
By the time we arrived in London and headed to Dublin there was friction in the air. I had done a calculation of what I thought Rob owed me and insisted he withdraw a lot of money from the bank to pay me back. I also had decided to stay in more upmarket accommodation for a change – I was sick of grunge. Surprisingly Rob agreed to stay as well so he had quite a bit of money on him that night we went out.
We had caught sight of a buzzy night spot where numerous pretty Dublin girls were queued up at the door. The joint was jumping and the Guinness flowed and flowed. The Irish girls, with their lilting accents and sparkling eyes seemed more than ready to entertain a couple of travel-fit Aussie backpackers. What a great night – or so we thought.
As I stumbled around the dance floor, the coloured lights and the music was all getting a bit much for me. Just as I realised it was time to go home, I caught sight of a wallet on the dance floor. I bent down and grabbed it, noticing it was bulky with cash. Before I could inspect it carefully, a ravishingly attractive girl who I had been chatting up for the whole evening leaned towards me and relieved me of my find. There was a big smile on her face as we shared a moment of recognition and I felt mesmerised as she brushed her hand against mine when she took the wallet away. She waved it at me, saying, “Thanks! I just dropped that on the dance floor. You’re a hero.” I glowed from the compliment and thought nothing more.
When I returned to my seat, expecting her to follow me I noticed that she had grabbed her bag, her friends and left the club. Minutes later a scene erupted at our table. Rob had arrived, looking distinctively un-fun, savage even. Something was very wrong. He was genuinely distressed.
“Have you seen my wallet?” yelled Rob as he sidled up to me.
There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I asked, “Was it bright red, looked pretty well-worn?”
“That’s it,” said Rob, looking incredibly relieved. “Did you find it? Hand it over, buddy,” he said as he slapped me on the back.
A vision of Irish girls bundling up their stuff and high-tailing it out of the club with Rob’s wallet stashed away crossed my mind. I had to make a decision – confess to my stupidity or lie.
“Nope, never saw it,” I lied. “In fact, I don’t remember seeing too much of it for this entire trip.”
Rob gave me a murderous look as he groaned, “Have you got any idea how much money was in that wallet? Almost $2000 worth! I feel sick.”
The loss of Rob’s wallet had a profound effect on our trip. He had to shorten his stay overseas but that wasn’t the only thing. There was another layer of tension in our relationship. It was never spoken about but I felt Rob suspected I knew more about the wallet than I said. How right he was and I did feel guilty. Things were not the same between us and eventually we went our separate ways. The friendship never recovered.
As I look back, now I am sorry I lost Rob as a friend; we had a lot of laughs before that night. I realise that I should have made him accountable for his tight-fisted behaviour much earlier in the trip. If I had done that, he would not have been carrying so much cash on that night. Letting the tensions build cost us both money and friendship, and friends are far more valuable than money.
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