Thank you, Strangers.

We are all strangers. Before we give each other a smile, before we say ‘hello’, before we walk into each other’s life. To pay our gratitude to someone we know is hard enough, let alone saying thank you to someone whom we have just met for once and parted ever since. 

Who we are today, to a certain extent, is related to some strangers who have crossed our path at some points in our lives. It’s this unfathomable, weird and random intertwining of fate and luck that brings us together and teaches us something that nobody we know can teach us.

I have met many strangers along the way, especially through my travelling here in Europe and in the States. For me, travelling has enriched my life in an unprecedented way, but the strangers who appeared along the journey meant much more. They are like a small cup of espresso, or a pint of Stella that gives my trips a refreshing breath.  And now, those moments remain as a lifetime of scenic fragrance in my memory.   

Hence, to some of the strangers that I have met, I would like to thank you.  

There was a time when I was on a flight back from Berlin and out of shear misfortune; the flight was delayed as it ran out of fuel. This was all due to the massive air traffic queue at Gatwick airport. So, the pilot flew from Gatwick to another airport (Stansted), got refilled, and landed at Gatwick again. After the delay, I missed my bus back to Central London.  

My first thought was that I had to spend the night at the airport. So to pass the time, I started talking to the stranger next to me. Turned out that you are a British businessman who works at London and Berlin. The best part was that you live so close to my place at Central London. So, you fetched me home with your BMW Z3. On the way home, we talked about Berlin history, the Berlin weekend nightlife which goes all the way till 11am the next day and the start-up culture in Berlin.

To the middle-aged, hospitable Norwegian hostel owner at a small town called Hellesylt in Norway.  You knew how much I wanted to visit the Geiranger fjord, but there wasn’t any ferry service around that time. You then drove me with your beige 1965 Chevrolet Suburban, to a spot where I could overlook the fjord.

While I couldn’t thank you enough for your kindness, you only replied me this.

“I was there once. I was young before”.   

Also, to the German guy who told me you were doing you internship at Audi in Chicago, thanks for being my bike partners while I was cycling at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. You told me how much you missed your school teacher girlfriend in Hamburg, and how much I should treasure my dreams and my loved ones, for they are the only things that we will think of in front of a beautiful sunset. That, is indeed true.

To the Spanish guy who couldn’t speak English at all, and represented your district for a martial art competition in Porto. We spent the whole half an hour talking, by just using our gestures. You taught me that languages are not as important as the intentions when we want to communicate with each other.  Ironically, it’s that when we have common language, we complicate our speech; but when we don’t get each other’s words, we become more patient.

And, to this Brazilian lady at the Le Regent Montmarte hostel in Paris, thank you for teaching me that travelling is the only thing that makes us rich, after we have spent all of our money. Oh and the samba dance moves with the red wine. Your gesture was so friendly, so much so that it kept me warm, from the ice-cold weather outside the hostel. 

Thank you to all of you. For without you guys, I wouldn’t know that sometimes, being a stranger is as good as being a friend. We were friends once, and became strangers after that. Probably, leaving it as how it is gives a better definition for the encounters. 

Do not be a stranger that gives people a cold shoulder, but be one that lends a helping hand and brings joy to others. One day you will realise that you might be in one of those thank you cards which are pinned on the boards, at one of the youth hostels, somewhere in this world, with the kind words,

“The best stranger I have ever known”