Strangers I Have Met

I was in a coffee shop in Budapest and a little boy behind me was telling his mother what he wanted to eat in English.   I turned and said” Wow, your English is very good.” His mother laughed and said “Yes, we are from Texas.” She went on to tell me that her husband is self-employed and can work anywhere. So they decided to live all around the world.  She said they stay in each country for about 3-4 months then move on. Their first 5 years of marriage they lived on a sail boat and traveled around the world, they had two children during that time. Now they have three boys ages 4, 3 and 1.5.  She was on her way to take the boys to see “The Emperor’s New Clothes” in Hungarian!  Off she went in a double stroller with one child on her back. They have a home base in Texas. I suddenly felt small.

It reminded me of an incident in 2003 when I moved to Guatemala. My son Douglas drove from Columbia, Missouri to Guatemala with his Dad in our Volvo Station wagon and I thought that was a a big deal.  As the new Embassy nurse I was invited to the “Meet and Greet” event where everyone tells where they are from and something interesting about themselves. I was ready with the story of him driving to our post. But then the couple before me told how they sailed to Guatemala with 3 small children and it sort of took the wind out of my story.  After meeting this young mother of 3 I again felt like what I was doing was minimal compared to her adventure.

I met a couple from Oregon at the Krakow train station about my age who did exactly what I did. Woke up one day, quit their jobs, sold all their belongs, down sized into a small place and are traveling the world.  They taught English in China for 6 months and have been traveling ever since. We talked about how easy and inexpensive it is, if you know how to manage your trip.

One afternoon in Budapest I tried to take a short cut home and of course got lost. As I wandered around I noted a strikingly handsome young man in his late 20’s on the corner looking at his phone and then up and down the street. I approached him and said in English “Are you lost?” And he replied in English “No, why are you?”  And I said “Yes, and I was hoping that you were too, it is more fun to be lost with someone!” and he looked at me with the deepest blue eyes and chuckled and said “Yes, you are so right!”

So we walked together for several blocks. He was from Belgium and his English was very good.  We talked about what we were doing, our jobs, where we were traveling, why we were traveling etc. We turned a corner and I saw the large water fountain which was my landmark and I said “Oh, there is the fountain I was looking for, I am not lost.” and he looked at me again with those engaging blue eyes, and with a wry smile said “Lady, I don’t think you are ever lost.”  We don’t meet people by accident, they are meant to cross our paths for a reason.

Not all those who wander are lost.  From J.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings 

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.   Lao Tzu

This really touched me.