We Were Supposed to Go to China But Life Had Other Plans

We were supposed to go to China together in 2025, but life ended up taking us in completely different directions. I moved to the UK for my studies, and the China plan quietly disappeared somewhere along the way without either of us really bringing it up again.

Even so, we somehow stayed close in that very long-term friendship kind of way. We do not talk every day, but every now and then one of us appears with a random message, sends something stupid, asks if the other person is still alive, and then disappears again because life gets busy.

Then in April, my friend came to visit me in the UK from the 4th to the 10th, and we basically spent the week travelling around together with very questionable planning skills.

We went to York, London, Seven Sisters Cliffs, and Bath. Some days started ridiculously early just so we could catch trains. Some days we walked so much that by the evening neither of us wanted to move anymore. At one point I think we were surviving purely on caffeine, snacks, and blind optimism.

But honestly, it was fun in a very simple way.

What I liked the most was probably how easy everything felt. We had not seen each other properly in such a long time, and our lives are completely different now. Different countries, different routines, different problems. But when we met again, nothing felt awkward or forced.

We talked about everything and absolutely nothing at the same time. Sometimes we had deep conversations. Sometimes we spent half an hour discussing something completely ridiculous. Sometimes we were both too tired to speak properly and just existed quietly next to each other.

And somehow that was still comfortable.

I think that is what I appreciate most about long friendships. You stop worrying about performing or trying to make every moment interesting. You can just be tired, confused, quiet, chaotic, dramatic, or completely unserious, and the other person already understands your personality well enough not to question it.

The trip itself was not perfect at all. We got tired, occasionally got lost, spent too much money on food, and definitely underestimated how exhausting travelling around the UK can be.

But looking back, I think those are the parts that made it memorable. It just felt nice spending time with someone where nothing had to be overly planned or explained. After so many years, the friendship still felt familiar in the most natural way.