Travel Stories

I got to the hostel at nine. The Smiths were playing and there was a double bed pushed against the back wall with Make love not war stencilled in place of a headboard, pictures from VH1 changing silently above. On the right, opposite the entrance to the kitchen, young Canadians were swapping travel stories. "We've been through every country in western Europe except Britain, Ireland, Andorra and Liechtenstein." "Yeah, we started off slowly but we're trying to spend no more than three days in each place now." "We did the opposite, but we started in Scandinavia and everything's so expensive there." "Expensive? Did I tell you how much it cost to see a soccer game in Madrid?"