To set the scene, we had taken up residence at the Paprika 2 Hostel in Budapest. Aimee and I had finished up at our job in Warwickshire, England, in February. Since then, we had backpacked through the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey. We were rambunctious, loud, arrogant and completely unhinged at this stage of our travels.

We were hostel queens. We would burst in with drama and flair, offering a constant source of energy and enthusiasm for “getting on the lash!”. Budapest was our final fling before heading back to the UK, broke and in dire need of a job.

We had a penchant for the eccentric. So, when we stumbled upon big buckets in the hostel (probably meant for rubbish?), we discovered a new favourite activity. Get smashed, pop the buckets on our heads, and joust like medieval knights on horseback. Well, in our case, we barrelled drunkenly towards each other headfirst, aiming to knock the other on their ass and claim victory in the hostel’s tiny common room. It seemed fitting that one of the buckets was labelled “shit cunt”.

On one particular evening, shitfaced as usual, Aimee and I drunkenly slammed the buckets onto our heads. Aimee had always emerged victorious thus far, and I must have been particularly determined to seize the title. I flew at Aimee full-force, completely blind (both in vision and sobriety).

Our buckets (and heads inside them) collided, and Aimee was sent flying over the coffee table. I claimed my moment, arms up, hollering and cheering. Aimee lay crumpled on the floor, wincing and laughing. Initially, we weren’t too worried, but as we prepped to leave the hostel with our group of mates and head to the clubs, Aimee was struggling. “I think you broke my rib!” she joked (while dying) as I apologised repeatedly. What was ridiculous was that she still joined us out, despite the inability to exist in almost any position without pain.

It was a few days later, following an overnight hospital stay (another day, another story!), there was no denying it. An Xray revealed two fractured ribs, the direct consequence of our dumbassery and inability to calm the fuck down…

I guess you could say I emerged victorious.