by Helen Thomas
When I went to download a new background for my phone and I was alerted that my storage was full, I knew it was time to delete some photos. It happened every now and then, usually during the uni semester when I took photos of lectures or when my mum sent me a photo and it automatically downloaded. So, I chose a day, sat down, and decided to search for unneeded images.
I started with the oldest photos. Most would stay, since I had kept these photos before, but they were fun to look at as I scrolled. There were images of my cat from over the years, chaos from primary and high school friend groups, and many pieces of fan art.
I paused as I reached the end of 2023, the year I graduated, and spotted photos of an airport. I had been very lucky. In the past, my high school had done a Europe Tour for creative art students, but it had been put on hold for a few years due to COVID. The students would perform for schools and the general public in England before travelling to other countries as a regular tour group. At the beginning of 2023, my high school reopened the tour and I managed to secure a spot. It was a busy year of fundraising for the tour, along with attempting to study and pass my final exams, but the day after we graduated we were off to the airport.
I stared at the travel photos. The sunset, clouds, and cities below were taken on the sleepless nights and days of our plane ride and during a stopover in Doha on our way to England.
Scrolling further down, I saw the first hostel we stayed at while preparing for our performances. We stayed in Haworth (I’m glad I took a photo of the welcome sign since I always forget its name), and we were only a short walk away from their shopping street, which had the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had, and a candy store that helped everyone get over their jet lag. Best of all, the hostel had two extremely friendly black cats.
I deleted some duplicates and kept going. I faintly remembered that there was a second hostel we stayed at before heading to London, and that it wasn’t as nice, but I’ll never be going back there anyway.
The next few photos were from our first tour of London. Honestly, all of London is now a blur, but the photos prove I was there. It would be nice to revisit, if only to explore the city in my own time and visit places that weren’t just for tourists.
I sat back in my chair and stared at my phone. Could I revisit London? Or even revisit all of the places we had gone? My memories are blurry and the photos don’t do it justice, but if I could go back…
I grabbed my laptop and noted down ‘London.’ It isn’t too high on my revisit list, but I may as well add it. I stood and quickly rummaged through one of my drawers, triumphant when I pulled out a bunch of paper with days and tourist stops on it. I knew I had kept our itinerary for a reason. As I sat down and continued scrolling through my photos, I also followed the itinerary.
The next photo of note was the Eiffel Tower. I remembered Paris quite clearly despite only spending two days there. On our second day, we had a horrible twenty-four hours. I remember street sellers surrounding us, our teacher having his passport stolen, a restaurant serving us some of the worst food I had seen, and dealing with a fire alarm in the middle of the night. Because of this, I remember promising myself that I would never go back to Paris, but now I was reconsidering. If I went back, I wouldn’t have to deal with street sellers since I had no desire to climb the Eiffel Tower a second time. I knew how to avoid pickpockets, unlike my teacher, since my essential items were in a protected bag under three layers of clothing. And this time, I’d get to choose the restaurant for its quality, not its ability to feed fifty people on a tight budget. I’d finally get to enjoy delicious food, rather than cold French onion soup and undercooked, seemingly boiled, chicken thighs.
I paused as I saw the videos of snow falling during our train ride into Switzerland. That seals it. I want to go back. Switzerland was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, and I feel like there was so much more I could have seen since we only stayed in Interlaken. I also recall doing my washing inside while everyone else was having a snow fight. My heart sank as I remembered how broken I’d felt that night, missing what most of the group said was their favourite event. I wonder if they could come with me when I go back. I obviously wouldn’t invite all fifty students and teachers, but maybe the small group of friends I travelled with. I paused my photo scrolling again to open up WhatsApp. The chats were still there. We had one for photos people had taken during the tour, one for orders from teachers, and one that my group had made. I opened it up to check who had been in it. Some people I didn’t remember too well, they were friends of friends. But there were only eight of us, so it could be possible to wrangle everyone on another adventure. I should put together a list of places and prices before contacting them.
But first, I had to keep making space in my photos. Austria and Munich only had nineteen photos, and almost all of them were of a LEGO store. To be fair, we only spent a day or two in each location. They are definitely places we need to return to.
In comparison, Venice had so many photos. This may have something to do with the fact that I had wanted to visit Venice for years. I did manage to delete some duplicate photos, but I mostly marvelled at the sights I had captured. The only thing I regret about Venice, was my struggle with walking. I had a damaged foot by this point in the trip, so I couldn’t easily wander around the streets with my friends (I remember them being slightly disappointed since I had to keep resting, but I could make it up to them this time). I then promptly deleted the evidence of my injured foot.
Just like London, Florence was a blur, with only a few photos proving I had travelled there. The only memory I had was of a leather market that did not have a good vibe, and a million magnets of Michelangelo’s David featuring his dick and ass. I had debated buying them as a gag gift for my grandma. I might give the city a second chance on my return trip.
Rome was our final destination. I remember the guided tour being fairly bittersweet, visiting all our final tourist stops, like the outside of the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. We had also managed to visit Vatican City and Pompeii during our stay in Rome, but by the 14th of December, we were back on a plane.
The plane ride home was very eventful. We got close to Brisbane, but a big storm was brewing so we circled for a while before detouring to Sydney. Since no hotel was crazy enough to take fifty students, we had to sleep in the airport, or more accurately, stay awake in the airport. Despite being miserable on the cold floor and running on no sleep, it was a nice way to sign off the trip. Everyone kept each other’s hopes up and comforted those who just wanted to be home already. Some people even started doing yoga. The highlight was all of us swarming McDonald’s the second it opened at 5am. It was the best that McDonald’s had ever tasted, though I did feel sorry for the fear in the lone cashier’s eyes when he saw all of us approach.
By the time we were finally in the Brisbane airport, I will admit, I cried when I saw my parents. As much as I loved the tour, being back home was amazing. But three years have passed and I haven’t left Brisbane. I want another adventure.
The Europe Trip was just over $8000 and my parents had paid for half of it, but I had been working part-time since then, so it should account for any price rises. I was finishing uni soon, either by the end of this year, or midway through the next, so I could arrange the trip in advance, go during our summer and experience the beauty of a European winter again. I could even add more places to the trip if I decide to skip some from the original itinerary. I’d always wanted to visit Greece due to my obsession with Greek mythology. It shouldn’t be too far out of the way.
I began researching, completely abandoning my original goal. Sorting photos can wait. I noted down places I wanted to revisit, new places to go, and potential entry and travel costs. I grimaced at the large number. It was significantly more than my 2023 school Europe Trip, but I kept reminding myself that I had been saving up. I didn’t have a specific goal for my savings, but I was happy to spend it on another trip. I wasn’t sure if any of my friends would feel the same, but all I could do was ask. As I looked at my possible itinerary, my excitement continued to grow. I opened up WhatsApp and started typing.
Hey guys, it certainly has been a while. I was thinking of maybe going on another trip around Europe next year, and was wondering if any of you would like to join me?
I hit send. I wanted to relive the trip. This time I wouldn’t get injured. This time I would be in control of where I go, what I do, and what I eat. Having adult money and responsibilities can finally pay off when I can see the world again and do more than be carted from one tourist stop to another. I can see all of my friends again.
My phone dinged.
I don’t think I’d be able to join you. I’m going to be very busy next year.
A second ding.
How expensive will this be? I need to save for a car.
I turn off my phone.
Author bio:
Hi, I’m Helen (they/them)! I’m following my passions as a third-year creative writing student at QUT. I love reading and writing fantasy, romance, and science fiction, as well as any kind of queer stories. I also love playing video games and watching games I cannot get (thank you, Switch 2) on YouTube, along with discussions of films and psychology.