Donald: Hi, Lucy! I haven’t seen you for a while! How are you doing?

Lucy: Oh hi, Donald! Good to see you! I’ve been away travelling the whole year.

Donald: Oh! So you’ve actually taken a gap year, have you?

Lucy: Yes! I decided to see the world before I started school again. I wanted some freedom and excitement.

Donald: Wow! I was also thinking about it, but in the end, I decided against it. Besides, I got accepted by a really good university.

Lucy: Oh! Congratulations! I wasn’t so lucky. So, rather than going to a college which was not my first choice, I decided it was a great chance for me to travel.

Donald: Sure! So how was it? Where did you go?

Lucy: Well, I’ve been to Kenya, India and Australia! And it was great!

Donald: No kidding! That’s half the world! Sounds like something from a Discovery channel program. How did you manage it? Wasn’t it terribly expensive?

Lucy: It would have been. If I had just traveled.

Donald: What did you do then?

Lucy: I worked. As a volunteer for different organizations. Mostly those that deal with sea pollution. I’ve collected so much plastic garbage last year, it features in practically every dream that I have now. The moment I lie down and close my eyes  — I’m back there, with my rubber gloves and mask on and tons of stinky garbage to collect.

Donald: Gosh! That sounds horrible! It must have been really hard work.

Lucy: Well, it was, and … it wasn’t. I did have some days off. And I did make good friends. And I’ll tell you, with a good joke and a hearty laugh with your friends, most disgusting piles of garbage can be bearable. Besides, I’ve seen such beautiful places! Especially when they were clean after our good work.

Donald: That’s amazing! I’m so impressed! I don’t think I would ever be able to do anything like that. I mean, I totally support the idea  — cleaning our planet of all that garbage and protecting wildlife and everything, but it is one thing to just support it in theory and do everyday things like recycling, and quite a different story when you actually go to all these places and do it.

Lucy: Speaking of wildlife! That was probably the most heartbreaking aspect of what I did. Sometimes we found little turtles and fish and sea birds in all that garbage, tangled in nets and unable to free themselves. Oftentimes we managed to save them, but not always.

Donald: Oh, that must have been hard!

Lucy: Yeah… Hey, Donald, I really need to hurry now, but I didn’t have a chance to ask you about your year at the university. Let’s meet for a coffee one of these days.

Donald: Sure! I’ll also bring my little brother Andy if you don’t mind. He’s so much into sea animals. He would be thrilled to hear your stories about saving them! How about tomorrow around 5 at the Never Late for Latte Coffee House?

Lucy: Perfect! I’ll see you there!

Donald: Bye!