I had never heard about doppelgangers until I saw the Doctor Who episodes featuring them. In folklore, a doppelganger – which means ‘double walker’ in German – is a paranormal, often sinister, double of a person.
Something happened during my travels that made me momentarily consider the idea that I could actually have one of these spooky doubles.
It all began in Montreal.
I had been staying at a hostel for just over a week and one evening a new girl moved into my dormitory and looked at me familiarly.
“Ah, it’s you again,” she said.
Having never seen this person before, I looked at her confusedly and explained she must have me mixed up with somebody else.
“But weren’t you in my dormitory last night?
“Erm…no,” I replied, completely mind-boggled.
“That’s strange, there was a girl who looked exactly like you.”
I did not think anything of this and just thought there must be somebody around who looked similar to me.
Then things started to get strange…
It was the events of the following days that sent a shiver down my spine.
That weird feeling began when I was checking out of the hostel.
The guy behind the desk looked at me like he had seen a ghost.
“Didn’t you already check out yesterday,” he said.
“Erm, not that I can recall…”
“Do you happen to have a twin,” he then said.
“Ha ha, you’re the second person to get be mixed up with another person. That’s really freaky,” I replied.
I then got on a bus to Toronto and it was a couple of days later that there was a third strike of weirdness.
After having lunch at a sushi restaurant, I got chatting to the waitress.
“You were in here yesterday, right?” she said.
Again? Seriously? I thought.
“No, this is the first time I’ve been here,” I told her.
“You look like the woman that was here yesterday and she was English like you as well,” she said.
Now, what are the chances of three people genuinely confusing me for somebody else, who always seemed to be one step ahead of me; or rather one day ahead of me?
I foolishly decided to google ‘doppelgangers’ and subsequently managed to completely freak myself out with all of the scary folklore tales of evil doubles that are said to be bad omens.
I also read about cases of famous figures, such as Abraham Lincoln, who claimed to have actually had visions of their own doppelgangers.
For around ten minutes, I was certain something spooky was going on.
Then I told myself to get a grip and distracted myself with some salacious gossip magazines that were hanging around.
Have you got any strange travel tales to tell?
OMG That is spooky. There is a story there for sure. People often think I am someone else so I have never thought much about it. But 3 times in a row like that is interesting. I am sure the other person is just as nice as you. We do all have a twin somewhere.
It was the three times in a row thing that scared me a bit and the fact they were always exactly one day ahead of me. I’ve watched too much sci-fi haha.
I’ve never had a weird doppleganger experience like that. It must have been a pretty surreal experience.
Alouise recently posted..Why TBEX 2012 Was A Billion Times Better For Me Than TBEX 2011*
Hi Alouise, it was very strange. I’m usually a bit of a sceptic over stuff like this, but this was beyond weird.
Haha that is actually so weird! How freaky. I always wonder if I have a double at there and if so I would love to meet them!
Adela@ FourJandals recently posted..Photo Essay from around Costa Brava
It was so weird! I would be too scared to bump into them, just in case they were my evil twin or something ha ha
“Then I told myself to get a grip and distracted myself with some salacious gossip magazines that were hanging around.”
LOL. That is spooky. Or not, haha. Hope you get to meet her soon.
Fernando Quintero recently posted..Kate Winslet [5·Oct·1975]
Ha ha, I don’t want to meet her, that would send me over the edge
That’s so weird and hilarious! Great travel story!
Joy recently posted..Making the decision to live abroad
Shame you never actually bumped into her – would have been cool to see her in person – you probably would have been like whaaa that b ain’t nothin like me!