Talking with Strangers

     When the idea of traveling alone started to inch its way closer to reality, I realized that I would need to address a few fears. I would be in places where I knew no one. Every person would be a stranger, every place unknown. I would most likely need to rely on others for help along the way, so I decided to start practicing the art of conversing with people I do not know.

     So, I took busses and walked down busy streets and selected people who I felt others might avoid – those sitting alone, perhaps a bit unkempt, perhaps someone that I, too, was judging without good reason. I mustered up my courage, started with a question, and felt a sense of joy from each experience. Some were short encounters, some longer, but I always learned something about the person I had chosen, or about myself, and I learned first-hand not to judge anyone by my first impression.

     As I started into my travels, I discovered that when you open yourself up, others will often be open to you. There was the young man wearing a hoodie who beamed as he told me about how much he admired his mother for the amazing work she did for her students. The woman at a Connecticut airport who needed help finding her gate invited me to her home in Minneapolis. After a long conversation, a woman sitting next to me on a different flight gave me her contact information just in case I ever wanted a traveling buddy. A park security guard in Ecuador wanted to improve his English. He took notes as I answered questions on topics such as the definition of the English word “joint”. A scruffy man on the shuttle at JFK took a photo of someone across the aisle, and my question about it took me right into the middle of a quiet undercover investigation of the possible theft of an airport wheelchair.

     What started out as practice for facing a fear became an ongoing fun challenge that lightened my heart, softened my judgment, and made me realize that most people in this world are interesting, kind, and caring. I have never been disappointed, and I continue this practice whenever I venture out, even locally and during the pandemic. I set a goal for myself at the beginning of 2021 to talk with 1,000 strangers, and while I am a bit behind in that goal right now, the weather is inviting, restaurants are opening up, people have been hibernating and are ready to venture out. And, there is a road trip in my future … full of opportunities to talk with strangers.