Where to this week? This week, I challenge you to find a traveler. This is an alternative, if you cannot make it out of town: a vicarious adventure that will leave you with warm fuzzy feelings…and possibly some new friends!
I am not asking you to hunt for the Hawaiian shirt wearing; camera-gripping couple that is determined to finish their bird watching tour. Instead, just keep an eye out for someone who is new to your home turf, and help them to feel welcome.
 |
| Example of Tourists - The Scary Kind (photo:blog.costumesupercenter.com) |
This idea came from my post-Starbucks walk this morning when I encountered a father and daughter on The University of Texas at Austin campus frantically trying to locate a lecture hall. With three campus maps between the two of them you would think they could have been the campus tour guides. Lesson 1: having a map doesn’t mean they have any idea where Welch Hall is. Thanks to the caffeine in my bold roast, I was running a little ahead of schedule, and asked them if I could help.
They jumped on my offer, and as I walked them to their meeting, we talked about Austin, Texas and all of the cool things that they could do while on their trip here.
I got excited all over again about the neat place I call home, and it made me want to explore new activities in Austin. Not to mention I got that fluffy feeling in my chest, the my-mom-would-be-proud-I-did-that feeling.
The family was visiting Austin on a college-hunt trip that they had started in Minnesota. Their road-trip adventures sounded interesting – maybe even cool enough to be a travel spot next week!
So get out there, and find a new foreign friend. Offer to take a picture of them and their sweetheart so they can avoid the awkward extended-arm self-taken picture. Or simply help them find their next destination. Tell them about your favorite hike, or coffee shop, or restaurant and you will be reminded how much fun your home is, while passing the tips along to your fellow travelers!
Hopefully someone will pass the favor on to you on your next adventure!
Let me know who you meet and where they are from, these could be travel spots featured in the future!
No comments:
Post a Comment