In 1990, at the age of 21, Derek Barclay was working towards becoming a construction engineer. He had saved money from a summer job building a prison to purchase an Interrail pass. “I then left my bag at my mom’s place and declared, ‘I’m headed to Europe.’ She was taken aback,” Derek recalls to CNN Travel. His initial plan was to travel from Casablanca to Istanbul, but fate had other plans. Along the journey, he crossed paths with Nina, changing his course.
Derek first noticed Nina on a bustling station platform in Budapest, where she was seated with Loa, laughing and smiling. He was immediately captivated by her and envisioned what she might be like. Despite this, Derek found himself on a different train, where he befriended Steve and Paul. After a night of shared beers and unexpected detours, the trio found themselves in Belgrade amidst a chaotic situation involving a railway strike.
When they discovered an almost empty compartment occupied by two individuals, Derek, Steve, and Paul decided to join them, disregarding the apparent attempt to deter them from entering. It was only when Derek sat across from Nina in the train’s carriage that he recognized her as the woman from the Budapest platform.
Their conversation flowed effortlessly, delving into topics like their mutual love for nature, Derek’s Greenpeace involvement, and their respective countries, Sweden and Scotland. They maintained a warm connection, engaging in meaningful discussions about life and the future.
As time passed on the stationary train, the camaraderie among the Interrailers onboard continued to grow, creating a vibrant atmosphere. Nina was surprised to find Derek’s snack selection limited to cans of Heinz Baked Beans, a gift from his mother that proved impractical without a microwave. She generously shared her gourmet food supplies, fostering a bond over good food and laughter.
The train remained stranded in Belgrade for two days, leaving passengers uncertain about the next move. Despite the option to disembark, everyone feared being left behind if the train suddenly departed. Eventually, the train set off to cheers from the passengers, with Nina and Derek feeling as though they had shared a lifetime’s worth of stories during their unexpected encounter.
“They were very meaningful conversations,” Nina reflects. “We truly connected and shared stories, discovering our common interests.” Derek was particularly fascinated by Nina’s job as a sound engineer, and she was intrigued to learn that they shared a hometown connection with bands like Simple Minds and The Blue Nile.
After a smooth journey through the Serbian countryside, the train began to slow down as it approached the Greek border. Suddenly, the passengers were instructed to disembark, revealing that the train chaos was far from over. “It was quite frightening because it was dark, and we had no information,” Nina recollects. “We were abruptly ushered off the train and directed towards a bus station.”
At the station, passengers had to compete for space on a replacement bus, unsure of the reason for the sudden change. “By then, the five of us had formed a bond and supported each other,” Derek recalls.
Eventually arriving in Athens, Nina and Loa were en route to the Greek island of Aegina to meet some Swedish friends. With a ferry to catch, they bid a quick farewell to Derek, Paul, and Steve. Nina felt a tinge of sadness at the thought of parting ways with Derek, their conversations coming to an end.
Derek, too, found himself unexpectedly saddened. “During Interrail trips, you meet new people briefly several times a week,” he notes. While he had grown accustomed to people entering and exiting his journey, saying goodbye to Nina felt different.
However, with no set plans in Greece, Derek, Steve, and Paul decided to venture to Aegina as well, secretly hoping to reunite with Nina and Loa.
Two days later, as Nina and her friends relaxed on a beach in Aegina, they were surprised to see the three familiar faces approaching. Nina couldn’t believe it, and Loa was equally astonished. “We thought, ‘Out of all the islands in Greece, how did you find us?'” Nina recalls.
It became evident that Derek, Steve, and Paul’s arrival in Aegina was not a mere coincidence. “We sensed they enjoyed our company,” Nina remarks. As they all explored the island together, the easy rapport between Nina and Derek resumed effortlessly.
Their camaraderie on the train had been a casual getting-to-know-each-other phase, but in Greece, Nina began to feel something more. Freed from the confines of the train, they savored sun-soaked days in beautiful Aegina, swimming, dining, and sharing moments at a local bar.
One night, Derek and Nina went for a midnight swim, sharing their first kiss under the moonlit sky. Yet, their time in Greece was fleeting, and their story continues…
“We returned home, with me heading to Sweden and Derek to Scotland,” Nina explains. “I had not taken his contact details, not even his address or phone number.” Sending Letters
Leaving Greece, Nina was content with the “nice few days” she had spent with Derek, assuming their connection would not progress any further. “However, one of my friends sensed some chemistry between us,” Nina reveals. “She asked Derek for his address on my behalf.”
Upon their return to Sweden, Nina’s friend inquired if she regretted not obtaining Derek’s information. “Maybe it was a missed opportunity,” Nina responded, expressing slight regret.
In the days following her return to Sweden, Nina worked on a scrapbook documenting her Interrailing journey, including ticket stubs and cherished memories. She realized that many of these memories revolved around Derek. When her friend disclosed that she had obtained Derek’s address, Nina decided to send a postcard to Scotland. “Just a simple message to let him know I’m back and wishing him a safe journey home,” Nina explains. “I thought, ‘If he is interested, he will respond.’ I calculated that a postcard takes four days to arrive, and a reply should take another four days. If I hadn’t heard from him in two weeks, then I would move on.”
After sending the postcard, Nina tried not to count the days. Miraculously, eight days later, a letter from Glasgow arrived in Nina’s mailbox. Derek expressed his gratitude for the postcard and shared a humorous anecdote about swimming with a Swedish girl at midnight, dispelling his friends’ doubts.
“From that moment, we started exchanging letters,” Nina recalls. Derek shared stories about his job and friends in Glasgow, while Nina recounted experiences from the radio station. They exchanged music recommendations and reminisced about their shared moments in Greece.
Their correspondence continued for years. The letters were not explicitly romantic, but they delved into deep conversations, spanning various topics.
In the summer of 1991, Nina visited Derek in Scotland. They reunited at Glasgow Central train station, where Nina arrived with a distinctive perm, sporting overalls over shorts and carrying a rucksack. Although the nature of the visit remained ambiguous, both Nina and Derek were delighted to see each other. Derek then took Nina on a tour of Scotland, exploring the Highlands in a silver Mini Metro and visiting scenic locations such as Loch Lomond, Glen Coe, Robert the Bruce statue, and Aviemore.
Following a few days of adventure, Derek had to attend his brother’s wedding. Without prior notice, he introduced Nina to his family and requested a dress for her to wear at the wedding. Nina gladly accepted the invitation, becoming Derek’s date for the special occasion.
“That was how I met his family,” Nina reflects on the moment she found herself standing at his brother’s door, ready for the wedding.
Awkwardly, Derek found himself on his future sister-in-law’s doorstep. Initially, she was less than impressed by the idea of a last-minute guest, but after a quick glance between Nina and Derek, she relented. She rummaged through her closet and lent Nina a suitable outfit for the upcoming wedding.
So it was that Derek and Nina attended Derek’s brother’s wedding together in May 1991, with Nina scrambling to borrow clothes from the bride the night before. “Nina came to the wedding and met the whole family,” Derek recalls. “My mother introduced everyone as if she were my girlfriend.”
“I kept insisting, ‘No, not a girlfriend, just a friend,'” Nina remembers.
Although Derek and Nina had not officially confirmed their relationship status, both desired it to be true. Derek’s mother, however, seemed to have made the decision for them, and Nina eventually stopped correcting her.
A few months later, Derek traveled to Sweden to visit Nina, and the two ventured to Tärnaby in the Lapland mountains, where Nina’s brother owned a log cabin. Meeting Nina’s six brothers was intimidating, yet Derek felt welcomed by the family. It was a joy to see Sweden through Nina’s eyes.
Following their experiences in Scotland and Sweden, Derek and Nina officially became a long-distance couple. They managed to visit each other when finances allowed and maintained regular correspondence through letters. This arrangement lasted for three years until they began pondering ways to close the distance between them.
After careful contemplation and weighing the pros and cons of living in Sweden versus the UK, Derek and Nina decided that Nina would move to London, where Derek had recently relocated for work. Nina, still working as a sound engineer, believed London offered exciting opportunities in her field.
When Derek proposed, Nina enthusiastically agreed. With her wedding dress tucked under her arm and a cherished boombox in tow, she headed to the airport. Nina and Derek were wed in Renfrew, near Glasgow, in 1994. Derek’s sister, who served in the local council, officiated the ceremony, and Nina adopted Derek’s surname, becoming Nina Barclay.
Reflecting on their wedding day, Nina reminisced about the blend of Swedish and Scottish culture present, thanks to her large family who provided the food. Derek, slightly hungover throughout the day, fondly remembered the event despite the circumstances.
Their honeymoon consisted of just one day in Oban, a picturesque coastal town in western Scotland.
Nina and Derek raised their glasses to their future while enjoying fish and chips, and later settled in a small apartment in London’s South Norwood neighborhood. The early years of their marriage were financially challenging, but they cherished their time together after years of long-distance dating. Establishing their own traditions, they enjoyed Saturday nights with Radio 4 and snacks from Croydon Market.
After a few years, their financial situation improved, and when Nina became pregnant, they decided to move closer to family in Glasgow. They spent four years in Scotland, welcoming daughter Alice, before Nina accepted a job offer in Sweden. The family then moved to Stockholm, where son Rubin was born, followed by Hugo a few years later.
Fast forward to today, Derek and Nina reside in Sweden, with a brief stint in China. Their children have been raised with a global perspective, encouraged to travel and experience different cultures. On their 25th wedding anniversary, they retraced their early travels in Europe. For their 30th anniversary, they embarked on a luxurious train journey from Victoria Falls to Cape Town.
Derek surprised Nina with a belated engagement ring, a gesture to make up for the lack of a formal proposal years ago. Nina still treasures mementos from their past, including a scrapbook from their early travels and a collection of letters found years later in storage.
Their love story continues, filled with adventures and cherished memories.
Nina stumbled across the letters — curled and yellowed with time. “She took it to the local council and said, ‘Look, this must be something from the wartime,’” says Nina. This was despite the fact the stamps indicated the letters were from the 1990s. “But she was just so excited, spotted them, thought she found something from the war, and handed them over to the county council,” says Nina. “It was sweet.”
The council workers quickly discounted this wartime romance theory and instead focused on the last name on the envelopes. They guessed the letters might have something to do with Derek’s sister, who had the same last name and still worked at the council.
When she was approached by her colleagues, Derek’s sister confirmed these were 1990s love letters between Derek and Nina, and reunited the missives with their writers.
Nina and Derek laugh a lot telling this story — especially the idea their ‘90s letters were mistaken for historically-important wartime relics. But they’re also really grateful to have been reunited with these special mementos of the early years of their romance. “They’re fun to look at occasionally, but we need to hide them before we die, so no one else gets to read them,” says Derek, laughing.
Today, Derek and Nina describe themselves as “best friends as much as spouses.” They “always look out for each other,” says Derek. And they’re always grateful that their railway adventures brought them together. “We could have walked into the next carriage. We could have been somewhere else on the train and never met,” says Derek. “It was fate.”
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