Quebec, Montreal:
Bad experienceMy^
horrific
ordeal
Greyhound bus:
Adventure timedan
gerI was facing a fate
worse than death
Maggie Richards, 41, from London
4 Chat it’s fateHis luxury
home was
actually
a one-bed
apartment
Photos (not actual bus) alamyI
f things don’t work out
in Quebec, come and
stay with me in
Montreal,’ my new
friend David said.
‘I live in a penthouse, will
help you find work.’
I’d just arrived in
Canada, was on a Greyhound
bus on the way to meet my
friend Estelle.
We’d met in a language
class in Wales and, after
a unexciting stint as an au
pair in France, I’d taken her
up on her offer to visit.
I was 18, on a gap year
before starting an English
degree at the University of
Leeds. And I was eager
for adventure.Nowhere
to stay
David and I had
passed some of
the travelling
time making
small talk. He
was friendly and
in his late 20s.
Taking down his
details, I couldn’t
imagine ever needing to call
him. Even so, staying with
someone in a penthouse did
sound cool...
As soon as I got off the busand
saw
Estelle
standing there with her mum,
I knew something was up.
While Estelle was
all smiles, her
mum didn’t look
happy to see me.
‘I’m really
sorry,’ Estelle
said, ‘You can’t
stay with us.’No
work
I couldn’t
believe it. I’d travelled
half way across the
world only to be told
I wasn’t welcome.
Fortunately, Estelle knewsome people willing to
put me up, but they
were complete strangers.
And, after a week, I
worried I was outstaying
my welcome. Except I hadn’t
managed to find work.
Then I remembered
David. Thankfully, he was
pleased to hear from me
and said he’d meet me off
the bus in Montreal.What choice?
But when I arrived at his
‘penthouse’, I realised he’d
been stringing me along.
His luxury home was
actually a basic, one-bed
apartment in a high rise.
Worse, his cousin
Richard was visiting from
Africa, meaning the sofa
was off limits.
‘You’ll have to share
with me,’ David said.
I wasn’t happy, but
what choice did I have at‘
StrangerStrangerS
it’s fateit’s fate