Problem
When you are alone in a foreign place, who will help you? Who will you ask? Will they help?
Answers
I always try to make friends everywhere I go. When you arrive in a foreign country you can feel alone in a crowd. If you are in trouble who can you approach for help?
I am an extravert as well as a travel writer so I naturally want to talk to people. If you are an introvert you can still talk to people. Most introverts are very happy to chat one to one - it's just crowds which they don't like.
Here are some of the people I befriend:
1 I chat to taxi drivers.
(You can't speak to bus drivers in Singapore. Signs forbid it. They don't speak much English.)
2 I chat to shopkeepers and restaurant staff.
3 I chat to reception staff at hotels.
4 I chat to people I sit next to on the bus, if they smile and exchange eye contact.
5 I chat to people in office blocks. (I used to avoid them in case they wanted my passport, but now usually they know they are not allowed to tske your ID. They simply copy the number and type it up or take a photo of the passport and you.)
Mostly, talking to peple just makes me feel at ease. I can wave to somebody I know, get a smile, feel I belong. Just occasionally, the contact is really useful. My husband is an introvert. I was struck by the story he told me.
Help in Plymouth, England
My husband took the train to Plymouth on the south coast of England to collect our car, an Austin Princess. The windows had been smashed in when we parked outside the zoo in Madrid. We had to return to the UK in a hire car. Then our insurance paid for our car to be shipped back to the UK - but only to the original embarkation point. So my husband had to spend the time and money on getting the train from London to Plymouth. He could not drive down in my car, or we would have had two cars to bring back. He could have driven me down, but we would have had to take our son as well and our son was at school and besides I don't like driving.
AA
While my husband was waiting for the car to arrive on the ferry, my husband chatted to the staff member of the Automobile Association. We were already members of the AA, so not candidates for a sale, just a chat.
Conversation
I can reconstruct the conversation, how it might have gone. Lovely sunny day, isn't it? What time is the ferry? Is it usually on time? How are you doing today? How often are you here? How long have you worked for the AA? Are you trained in repairs or sales or both? Do you work seven days a week? How do you like Plymouth? Do you know the best place to stop to eat on the motorway on the way back to London?
Ferry
When the ferry arrived, our car was last. It had to be towed off. In addition to the original breakage of windows, now repaired, somebody, we presumed at Santander port, probably not on the ferry which would have had CCTV, had cut the fabric roof, found nothing inside the car, and drained the petrol!
Help
My husband immediately went to the AA man. Help was forthcoming. A ooan of some petrol to get the car to the nearest garage (Americans say gas station. To the Brits, gas is in the air.) So my husband could fill up with petrol and drive home. (Plus of course, knowledge of where to find the nearest garage.)
Friendship
How does having a friend help you?
You don't feel alone and abandoned.
You don't delay - you immediately know womsbody you are not afraid to approach. You are not afrid of rejection.
They don't see you as a nuisance but as a friend.
Double delight - a friend in the first place, plus help when you need it.
My Message To You
My husband did it. I do it. You can do it. As the road safety slogan says: The life you save could be your own.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
When you are alone in a foreign place, who will help you? Who will you ask? Will they help?
Answers
I always try to make friends everywhere I go. When you arrive in a foreign country you can feel alone in a crowd. If you are in trouble who can you approach for help?
I am an extravert as well as a travel writer so I naturally want to talk to people. If you are an introvert you can still talk to people. Most introverts are very happy to chat one to one - it's just crowds which they don't like.
Here are some of the people I befriend:
1 I chat to taxi drivers.
(You can't speak to bus drivers in Singapore. Signs forbid it. They don't speak much English.)
2 I chat to shopkeepers and restaurant staff.
3 I chat to reception staff at hotels.
4 I chat to people I sit next to on the bus, if they smile and exchange eye contact.
5 I chat to people in office blocks. (I used to avoid them in case they wanted my passport, but now usually they know they are not allowed to tske your ID. They simply copy the number and type it up or take a photo of the passport and you.)
Mostly, talking to peple just makes me feel at ease. I can wave to somebody I know, get a smile, feel I belong. Just occasionally, the contact is really useful. My husband is an introvert. I was struck by the story he told me.
Help in Plymouth, England
My husband took the train to Plymouth on the south coast of England to collect our car, an Austin Princess. The windows had been smashed in when we parked outside the zoo in Madrid. We had to return to the UK in a hire car. Then our insurance paid for our car to be shipped back to the UK - but only to the original embarkation point. So my husband had to spend the time and money on getting the train from London to Plymouth. He could not drive down in my car, or we would have had two cars to bring back. He could have driven me down, but we would have had to take our son as well and our son was at school and besides I don't like driving.
AA
While my husband was waiting for the car to arrive on the ferry, my husband chatted to the staff member of the Automobile Association. We were already members of the AA, so not candidates for a sale, just a chat.
Conversation
I can reconstruct the conversation, how it might have gone. Lovely sunny day, isn't it? What time is the ferry? Is it usually on time? How are you doing today? How often are you here? How long have you worked for the AA? Are you trained in repairs or sales or both? Do you work seven days a week? How do you like Plymouth? Do you know the best place to stop to eat on the motorway on the way back to London?
Ferry
When the ferry arrived, our car was last. It had to be towed off. In addition to the original breakage of windows, now repaired, somebody, we presumed at Santander port, probably not on the ferry which would have had CCTV, had cut the fabric roof, found nothing inside the car, and drained the petrol!
Help
My husband immediately went to the AA man. Help was forthcoming. A ooan of some petrol to get the car to the nearest garage (Americans say gas station. To the Brits, gas is in the air.) So my husband could fill up with petrol and drive home. (Plus of course, knowledge of where to find the nearest garage.)
Friendship
How does having a friend help you?
You don't feel alone and abandoned.
You don't delay - you immediately know womsbody you are not afraid to approach. You are not afrid of rejection.
They don't see you as a nuisance but as a friend.
Double delight - a friend in the first place, plus help when you need it.
My Message To You
My husband did it. I do it. You can do it. As the road safety slogan says: The life you save could be your own.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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