In his book, The Best Travel Writing 2010: True Stories From Around the World, editor-writer Michael McGee had an interesting observation. He wrote, “When travelling, coincidences seem to pile up.” Deepka Chopra has written that coincidences are like guideposts: “Coincidences are not accidents but signals from the universe.” However, Dr. Bernard Beitman, founder of The Coincidence Project, defines it as “two events coming together with apparently no casual explanation.”
It set me thinking about the ones that I’ve come across in my travels, or simply in life.
One of the more surprising coincidences happened years ago at Disneyland Paris in France. While having breakfast at our on-site hotel, a server came over to us after recognizing we were Canadians (she said the “eh” in our speech gave us away). She was from Denmark, and one of her best friends lived in Canada. She wondered if we knew her. My immediate thought was whether she realized how vast Canada was, but then she went on to say her friend lived in Thunder Bay, and she gave her friend’s name. Well, suddenly Canada didn’t seem so big after all. Not only did her best friend live in the same city that we lived in, but lived just down the street from us and was a close friend of my oldest daughter! (The server had become close friends with her friend when both had attended the summer Concordia Language Schools in North Dakota.)
Another coincidence that also stands out was back in 1996 when I was in Tallinn, Estonia, and walking around the 13th century medieval cobblestone Town Hall Square. Bordering the square are shops, restaurants, and outdoor cafes. And just as I was wishing I could meet up with someone in this crowded square that I could sit and have a beer with, there sitting alone was a Canadian-Estonian friend from Toronto, the late Laas Leivat. He had often visited Thunder Bay in his role with Estonian organizations in Canada. We chuckled at the coincidence of meeting up in Tallinn as we downed a few beers. (Leivat was later Estonia’s Consul General in Toronto.)
Then there was the time in Barcelona, Spain, while attending the summer 1992 Paralympics (my daughter Tami Saj was representing Canada in swimming). While she was busy at the Paralympic Village, we took time to spend an afternoon at the famous Sagrada Familia, a gothic church now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While exploring the church, we chatted with a woman from Montreal, who asked if we knew her friend, Kathryn Rutherford in Thunder Bay. Well, yes! And we told her that Kathryn was also currently in Barcelona, representing Canada in the Paralympics, a swim teammate with our daughter Tami. We relayed the ‘hello’ message to Kathryn. Synchronicity!
Looking back though, one of my all-time favourite travel coincidences involved a hair-raising speed drive with a stranger between Gatwick and Heathrow airports in London, England. We had been on a 10-day trip to England, our last night being in Aylesbury on the outskirts of London, and flying home the next day with Air Canada. About an hour before flight time, we arrived at Gatwick Airport, a bit tight but still OK (this was pre-September 11, 2001). Then, horror of horrors—we had gone to the wrong airport! We should have been at Heathrow, a 40-50 minute drive away. Overhearing our dilemma about the wrong airport, a woman suddenly yelled out from the crowd, “I’ll drive them to Heathrow!” We hurried to her car (which she couldn’t find at first in the parking lot), set off at high speed and made it to Heathrow with about 10 minutes to spare until flight time. Thankfully, a kind Air Canada person called our flight gate to hold the flight for us as we ran through the airport. And who was our mysterious ‘angel’ driver? What’s the coincidence? Well, the stranger turned out to be the British aunt of a Thunder Bay manager I knew quite well and served on some committees with.
About six years ago—closer to home but spanning two continents—an interesting coincidence happened thanks to the co-owner of Northern Wilds and my friend, the late Shawn Perich. He called me to say that he saw on Amazon that a book—The Brother, written by Estonian author Rein Raud—had been translated into English. Shawn thought I’d be interested in it, given my Estonian heritage. I noted the author’s name, but didn’t place an order at the time. The coincidence? Well, a year or two later while digging deep into family research on my father’s side, there appeared a huge surprise—that Estonian author and I shared the same Estonian great-grandparents. We were cousins and have now connected. Thank you, Shawn!
So, are they random coincidences, guideposts, flukes, myths, or coincidences with connecting deeper meanings from the universe? The jury is still out on the answer.
