Stage 10: Strangers
Strangers
The Episode
Strangers are an inevitable part of our trip. Their presence is like oxygen: invisible but breathes life into our trips.
These random interactions
Being pointed in the right direction ( or often wrong) by someone sitting next to you on the bus.
Sharing a dessert with someone you met on a tour
Having a small laugh with the barista in a cafe
Make a quick conversation with a cab driver who tells you where the best meal is in the city
Are what tend to define our trips.
They make our meals taste richer and the events we go attend more exciting.
Momentary mentors, quick fools, guardians, and white knights, they all show up in our journeys when we take the time to notice them.
When we connect with strangers- people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and traditions- we start to see the common ground between us.
The differences start to shrink because the stories we exchange sound vaguely familiar.
And it alway seems to be something small that makes a difference. It’s the random moments of kindness.
Throwing away a banana peel.
A quick joke.
A book recommendation.
The unexpected generosity that sticks to us like an ant crawling into a vat of honey, it's not getting out of our systems.
They happen more than we can count, more than the worrisome moments, more than the moments of doubt and regret.
Kindness is soft but it is sturdy.
It is the easiest thing to give and the hardest thing to forget.
It crosses all cultures and is recognizable by all people.
No translation is needed when someone is kind to you.
We need these random acts of kindness from people we know nothing about and owe nothing to.
It reminds us of the larger nexus we are a part of- the intricate globe we walk on- and shows us how to tend to it. When we pass kindness on to one person, we take care of the larger whole.
Please be kind in your intimate relationships- the big ones that define your life. Parents, siblings, children, friends, partners, teachers, coworkers. Those are all necessary relationships to nurture and maintain.
But the ephemeral ones, the ones we put no pressure on and walk away from as easily as walking into, those are the ones that make our lives sparkle. The more people we connect with- just for a minute- keep our faith in humanity afloat.
We need kindness from strangers to recognize our own humanity. A reminder that we can grow out of our animalistic impulses.
Kindness is a stepping stone to transcendence.
And it doesn’t take much.
A smile.
A joke.
A story.
Something to help us see past our own noses for a moment and take in what we are a part of.
When we willingly throw ourselves into the chaos of travel, connecting with strangers gives us some assurance that it will be alright.
We discuss
The importance of talking to strangers
Why strangers are helpful
Why strangers are not scary
The history of couchsurfing
What is couchsurfing
Why couchsurfing is safe
How to couchsurf safely
Why couchsurfing is fun
How to couchsurf
How to be a good guest when couchsurfing
How couchsurfing makes your travels
Random acts of kindness
Why random acts of kindness are important
Why it is important to be kind
Why strangers make our travels
Featured Guests
Anita Florez
Anita Florez was set on being miserable. She lost her passport, which made her and her boyfriend miss their flight home.
She openly wept in the Mexico City airport.
Her and her boyfriend were resourceful and found cheaper tickets home, but not until the next day.
Stranded, Anita reached out on Facebook to see if anyone had a couch to crash on and a savior wrote back...
Anita Florez is a NYC comic and storyteller and can be seen performing all of the city ( when we are allowed to be within six-feet of each other).
Juan Pablo
Juan Pablo has always been a philosophical soul. But in 2001 when the economic world crashed in his home of Argentina, Juan Pablo saw the impermanence of everything. How overnight everything you ever saved for, worked for, were hoping to live off of could be gone in a flash. He realized the only thing that was permanent was his body and his memories.
So he stuck out his thumb and started hitchhiking. First around Latin America and then abroad. Juan Pablo has spent the rest of his life and energy hitching it around the world and has based his existence off of the kindness of strangers.
The roadside pickups, the sleeping on roofs and strangers homes, sharing meals and stories with those he had just met.
The kindness he saw from the world outweighed the scarier stories, and he hasn’t stopped yet.
Casey Fenton- Creator of Couchsurfing
Casey Fenton was a big mind in a little town.
His travels and time in Burning Man showed him something. That traveling with locals was the optimal way to experience a city and make deeper connections and that we could operate on trust- no money needed to be exchanged when we all collaborated. He knew it could be done.
He knew the world could be better, kinder, and he wanted to figure out a way to make that happen for others. So late at night, while his coworkers would go out and party, he started making Couchsurfing.
It is spread like butter on toast. Today, couchsurfing at 14 million users in over 200,000 cities generating infinite connections, sharing stories, and making new friends.
Casey knows that there is no other way to travel than by the homes and hearts of strangers.
References:
Strangers Abroad is a travel podcast hosted by solo female traveler and storyteller, Adrien Behn. Strangers Abroad is ‘ This American Life’ for travel. Each show we bring you a theme and multiple perspectives on that theme. Each theme is a stage we experience when we travel and dissect it from every angle to make our listeners travel richer.