First off, a grammar lesson.  Bi-annual, like semi-annual, means twice a year.  Biennial means every two years.  Don’t worry, I had to look it up.  With that in mind, here we go.

I first met Mahssa at a Couchsurfing meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, in early 2009.  I had just graduated university, and was halfway through my 6 weeks in the country, traveling by camper van with my friend Nicole.  We were staying a with a couple of friends Nicole had met through Couchsurfing in Vancouver, and they suggested we all go to a meeting that night.  It turned out that Mahssa was renting a car to tour around the South Island with another Couchsurfer, Danni, leaving the same day as us.  The next day, in an incident involving Tim Tams and hot chocolate, we all knew we were going to be friends for a while.

Mahssa and I in Christchurch

A few days later, Nicole and I stole Danni for the remainder of our trip (as his timing worked out closer to ours), and we bid Mahssa farewell.

Two years later, I received a Facebook message from Mahssa saying she was coming to Vancouver to visit for a couple of weeks!  I think the thought that we really had only spent a few days together two years ago entered her head the same time it did mine; unfortunately, in her case, she was being questioned by the border guards at the Vancouver airport.  Whether it was her Swedish passport or winning personality that prevailed, we’ll never know, but she made it through!

Trying to show a better aspect of Canadian culture- unfortunately, Mahssa wasn’t the biggest fan of caesars.

The visit didn’t start out all that well, as she arrived at the worst possible time- in between periods of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which the Canucks lost.  Mahssa walked into a pretty forlorn scene consisting of about 10 people gazing absently at a screen that wouldn’t give them the score they desperately craved.  And then downtown began to burn, as people decided to take out their anger (or stupidity) by rioting.  The bridges to downtown were closed, and we could literally see smoke rising.  Looking back, it was quite an intense introduction to Vancouver!

We shook off the night before and devastating loss for an awesome two weeks, exploring Vancouver Island and Vancouver, cementing our bond far beyond the three days in New Zealand.

Exploring Victoria

Two years later, and it was Nicole and I’s turn to visit.  We hopped on a flight to Stockholm, with an awesome stopover in Iceland, to rekindle our biennial friendship.  I ended up staying with Mahssa for about a month, with a diversion to Denmark, where we all met up with Danni, for a New Zealand reunion like no other!

New Zealand Reunion!

Two years later, and it was time to see each other again.  This time, we met on neutral ground, in India.  Mahssa and her boyfriend Per, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Stockholm, were living and working in Bangalore during the time Marieke and I were visiting, and had invited us to stay.  When we messaged them to see if we could stay with them at the end of our trip, they accepted, but warned they would just be coming back from the Andaman Islands the day we arrived.  We quickly realized we were also flying back from the Andaman’s that day, and so we had nearly a week on the same island as them.

Hammock hanging

As they were staying a bit farther from us (read: nicer), we met up every night, and sometimes for lunch.  We had a few issues with rickshaws taking us back and forth, but hey, a 5km walk down a dark road at night is good exercise, right?  My favourite night involved our elaborate plans for having dinner at an expensive restaurant all the way at the ferry port, just because they were licensed (link to marieke’s story), only to show up to an empty restaurant with overpriced and a very empty bar- apparently the liquor license was for last month.  Right, of course.

Marieke, me, Mahssa and Per

It’s always awesome to see Mahssa (and now Per), even if it’s only every two years.  As a travel friend, we know we have our own lives at home, but can pick up right where we left off.  All we have to do is get on a plane once every two years.