I celebrated my 80th birthday with friends I traveled with in my 20s. Lifelong friendships have profoundly enriched my life.
Philip Townsend, 80, is from the Gold Coast of Australia and has a lifelong group of friends.
He recently reconnected with those friends for his birthday.
They reminisced about their friendships, and he says their connections have enriched his life.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Philip Townsend, an 80-year-old from the Gold Coast, Australia. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When I was in my 20s, I made a group of friends while living overseas. They proved to be lifelong mates, and the memories we share mean so much to me.
I grew up in Tasmania, Australia, and at 21, I boarded a ship called the P&O Oriana alone, headed for Canada. That was the start of an amazing adventure.
On the ship, I met a guy named Kevin. He was two years older than me and really amiable. He was a gentle giant, and I found him easy to talk to. We'd go down to the lounge area and have drinks until 3 a.m.
Martin, who also became one of my best friends, was traveling on the ship, too. He was a rogue and spent most of the journey playing cards with the crew.
As the ship pulled into Vancouver, snow covered the mountains, and I was so excited to be there. Martin and I were drinking together on deck chairs, and we ended up getting off the ship together.
We ended up living together
We found a temporary place to stay in a hotel near the wharf, then ended up getting an apartment in a five-story high-rise in the west end. We didn't particularly like the place, but it was a roof over our heads.
One night, we went to a houseboat party, and I met a guy who said he was moving out of a property on Prospect Drive in North Vancouver. It proved to be one of those serendipitous moments in life. I proposed the idea to Martin, and he said, "Let's do it." Kevin ended up moving in with us, too.
It was a double-story weatherboard house on a nine-acre property with a little creek running through it. You'd go over the bridge and then up to the pool house. There was a swimming pool with diving boards and a tennis court. That's where we had all the parties. It was a great setup.
Soon after, I got a job with a car dealership, and one night, this guy walked in. He had an Australian accent and sideburns and was a colorful character. His name was David. He said he'd arrived a few months earlier, so I invited him to a party in North Vancouver, and he fell in love with the place. He moved in immediately.
That's how Martin, Kevin, David, and I met and started living together. It was the happiest time of my life. I was young, free, and felt bulletproof.
Our group started traveling together, and the adventures continued
In 1970, after three years in Canada, we headed to South America on the adventure of a lifetime. Kevin didn't go, but Martin, David, me, and another Canadian we knew spent almost a year traveling together in a van.
After South America, we all went back to Canada for a while and then moved on to Europe. Dave and I bought an Austin A60 and called it "The Black Beast," and we road-tripped around Europe with Kevin and another Australian.
At Oktoberfest, another traveler invited us to Calpe (now Calp) — a small fishing village on Spain's Mediterranean coast. It was a magical time of parties and picnics, day trips to nearby towns, and wine-tasting excursions to local vineyards. While there, I met my future wife.
On the day we were leaving Calpe, one of our American buddies took a photo of Kevin, myself, and David. More than five decades later, we recreated that photo on my 80th birthday.
After the European adventure, Kevin and David headed back to Australia, while I went to London and eventually followed the young woman I'd met in Calpe to what is now called Zimbabwe, where she was from.
As life continued we saw each other less, but we remained close
After we were married and had children, I didn't see my mates from Canada for some years. Once you have a family, things change. We all settled in different parts of Australia, which also makes it hard.
The first major get-together of the Prospect Drive group was in 2004. I flew to Canada, and we skied, enjoyed après skis, and chewed the fat. In 2018, Martin was unwell, and David, Kevin and I flew to Busselton in Western Australia for a week to lift his spirits.
Then, for my 80th birthday in January 2025, Kevin, David, and Martin all flew to the Gold Coast to celebrate with me. I felt really humbled to have them there. There was a lot of reminiscing, and it was always the same old yarns, but we never seemed to get sick of it because it was a revival of a time that meant a lot to us.
Having lifelong friendships has absolutely enriched my life. There's a deep connection to the past and so many shared memories. Those mates are more than just friends — they're family.
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