The Random Act of Kindness Award - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

whereshegoes · 10-14-2005, 11:37 AM

What is the nicest thing a stranger did for you while you were travelling?

**TheJake** · 10-14-2005, 12:27 PM

my doorman at my apartment in brasil brought me 2oz of maryjane

beat that.

**bluepea** · 10-14-2005, 03:16 PM

Well, that would be a nice gesture Jake ^. A lot of people did kind things for us, including the woman on the train who directed me in the right direction and even walked me around (I tried to speak to her in German, but her English was significantly better). I think the nicest thing was in Poland where a hostel organization met people in local train stations and got them rooms at hostels and transportation from the train station. While they were doing it for their own benefit, it really helped us.

**bluepea** · 10-14-2005, 03:20 PM

Oh wait!! How could I forget?? The best: our first two nights in Ireland we stayed in a b&b to have a quiet cozy place to sleep while recovering from jet lag. Our problems with our ATM cards started there. When it came time to pay, we couldn't cough up the cash as our cards wouldn't work in the ATM's. It was a small privately run b&b that I put a security deposit down through my card, but apparently it was only for show as she didn't run cards. The owner ended up driving us into town to her bank and having her personal banker help us (in the end that still didn't work). We tried everything to no avail, but this woman wasn't worried about her money - she was worried about us young travelers with no money and no access to it. She even offered to loan us some cash to help us out - we refused as we felt bad enough. She bid us farewell and told us when we got in contact with our money to just mail it to her, which we did. She was a wonderful Irishwoman!!! So, if you ever find yourself in Dundalk Ireland, check out Una's Little Haven (littlehavenonline.com)

**Rozza** · 10-15-2005, 12:47 PM

In norway this summer, it was day 4 i think. We made camp the previous night just next to their house (with their permission), in the morning they invited us for coffee, so we accepted, then paddled across to a ferry terminal to get fresh water and have breakfast (i we had frosties and powdered milk), we then paddled back towards the islands, where we met jukka, who was going to paddle with us for a few days and be assesed by kierron for his 4* kayaking. Anyway we paddled back to the islands and met with the fella who had offered us coffee, he thought that we had left so had packed up (jukka was from finland and could translate much better for us), but he invited us up anyway, where they put on this glorious, Magnificent, Spectacular, Charitable, Run-outta-adjectives-able, spread of food, bread, jam, butter, fish, fish paste, ham, cheeses, fresh pancakes, sugar, coffee, orange juice.... hmmmmm

the group (minus kierron)

**zylah** · 10-16-2005, 04:09 AM

mine would have to be the girl i sat next to on the plane to glasgow who offered me and wyz a lift into town if the last bus had already left (we got in at 23:40).
we didn't need it, but the offer was really appreciated. (esp as she didn't know us from 2 bars of soap)
also the guy who i sat next to on the bus who told me where my hostel was and a little history of the town.

**expatben** · 10-16-2005, 05:19 AM

Having been around I have experienced moments of kindness-here are some

OK well I am not reccomending this BUT here it is. I was in Wroclaw for 1 night only hoping to stay with a friend the problem was...he wasn't there. Now in all fairness I did show up unannounced. So, I was in sitting in the stairwell uncomfortable. His neighbour a student about my age and his girlfriend takes me in, lets me crash on their couch and feed me with nothing in return. I had never seen these people before nor will I see them again. Normally I would never go into a strangers place but I am glad I did.

Another random act came in Belgium. Me and a friend had been roughing it as we could not find a place to sleep. We arrive in Ghent and hungry we go to the first place we can find- a place called the Buffulo Cafe. We ask for a menue but sadly they don't serve food so we order drinks. I go to wash my hands and when I come back I find-for free 2 pieces of bread a chese slice and pack of mustard each for me and my friend for free. But the kindness doesn't end there-walking down the street we see these people again, they motion us to a bar and buy us a drink!

At a concert in England with the same friend we get a ride home from 2 great people. They were supposed to drive us to the airport so we could sleep there and get home the next day but they liked us so much they took us all the way back.

In China I was broke and lost a guy got me a cab, told him where I needed to go and PAID for it! Total random stranger diddn't even know his name.

**ScarlotteDorian** · 10-16-2005, 04:00 PM

i can think of a couple...

when i was driving from new orleans to dallas, tx with only 12 dollars to my name. i obviously ran out of gas and found myself at a gas station in the middle of no where at 3am. i kept stopping people that went into the gas station and telling them my situation and asking for a few bucks to get me to dallas only 2 hours away. no one helped. i think i just looked like a crack head with my shaved head, peircings, beat up old car, no sleep and no real food for 3 days (i had a can of soda a day because it was all i could afford if i was going to get to dallas to work a shift i had magically picked up there) self. luckily a woman who had brushed me off before going into a shop, saw that i was just sitting there looking totally distraught, gave me the change from her transaction. it was only 4 or 5 bucks but it got my damn fuel efficient chevy metro into dallas on fumes just an hour before i had to work. i was damn lucky. a month later i ran into a person in downtown dallas that 'said' they were having the same problem. **pass it on** i dropped $10 on them and counted karma quite a neat thing indeed.

another time, anthon and i were hiking in the badlands in north dakota. we had pretty much ran out of water with no water sources in site to purify any more. we were hoofing it in hot summer weather trying to get to the ranger's station for H2O. we happened to run into a family on the trail that had found anthon's lucky hat on the trail. we got into a small conversation with them and they offered us water. when we finally hit the road and still had a couple miles to the ranger station, this family pulled up in their truck and gave us a lift to the station and then back to our car. it's beautiful when the kindest of others can touch your life.

**worldwidemike** · 10-17-2005, 07:04 AM

There have been numerous people who have helped me out during my travels. One of the first ever was very special. I had just graduated from high school and was backpacking across Europe. After 3 days in England with the friend I was going to travel with, we split up in France. I spent the night in a hostel in Calais, then the next morning decided to simply walk along the coast road and see how far I got.

It was evening when I made it to Ambleteuse. There were no hostels, and I didn't want to shell out for a hotel. So, I went up to a church, knocked on the door, explained in my broken French that I was a poor traveler and needed a place to stay. Naive me, I thought they'd let me sleep in the church or something. The man who answered the door listened and pointed me to another door. I repeated my story there, and lo and behold, I was taken in at a home that houses volunteers who care for mentally retarded people. They fed me dinner, and I got to talking to one of the vols -- a Scottish dude, who suggested we go in to the village and hit a bar. We did...had a few drinks, slept in the room of a volunteer who had just left a few days ago, and then in the morning, they fed me breakfast, too! All for free!

What an intro to backpacking!

Then, a few days later, I was trying to hitchhike to Dunkirk. An Algerian girl was at the freeway entrance ahead of me, so I waved to her, then walked about 50 yards past her (so she'd get the first ride) and hung out my sign saying "Dunkirk." Traffic was sparse and we were having no luck. The Algerian girl walked up to me and asked if I wanted to just walk, since no rides were apparent. We did, talking as we hiked along the roadway. Eventually, we got a ride, and she took me to her brother's house (who she was going to visit). They fed me, we hung out, went bowling, watched a concert, then sacked out. The next morning she hitched back to her town and I went on my way...

Lots of random acts of kindness, but those two are special since they were so early in my life of travel...

worldwidemike

foofiter · 10-17-2005, 08:03 AM

I'll take a stab at this.

One was the train station in Brussels in May. My friend and I were trying to find the train from Brussels to Berlin with little luck. We were looking at the schedule poster and a random guy walks up in perfect english asks us where we were heading. I told him and turns out we were at the exact spot! He then proceeded to tell me that he has been to every country in the world except 7. We had time so I offered him a beer and we shared stories from the road for about an hour. It doesn't sound like much but it meant a lot to us running around the trains station flustered with heavy packs and unable to find our night train.

The other random act was performed by myself. I was in Paris last summer and we went to the only place open to eat at 2am--McDonald's. They had 2 hamburgers for 2 euros special which I had with a beer. I pay for the food and glance down at a homeless guy sitting close to the order window. He looked quite skinny and distraught. I ordered tow more burgers and dropped the bag as I walked by. He thanked my multiple times in French and had the biggest smile. One of my best Europe memories.

Foo

**TheJake** · 10-17-2005, 05:40 PM

oh another instance I just remembered.

It was my 20th birthday and I was in Santa Monica riding my bicycle around at 1am with a friend. We had gone their to get out of phoenix for a couple nights. Anyway we stopped at McDonalds (the last time i ate there actually) and he waited outside with the bikes.

I get into a conversation with this dude behind me and long story short he slaps a bunch of weed in my hand, while we are in line for food, totally unexpectedly. I ask how much, he responds with Happy Birthday man.

very cool times....

**bluepea** · 10-17-2005, 09:01 PM

Jake - you're good things happening to you seem to have a theme.

I have another one - my favorite. When I was 17 I was taking the train from Wash. DC to Chicago (to transfer) by myself. My parents had to send me back early cuz of a job. I was a bit nervous but ended up sharing a seat next to the sweetest middle aged Asian man. We chatted for awhile, talking about our lives and histories. The next morning, (overnight train) he made sure I had breakfast and everything. When we got to union station, he bought me a frappuccino then he followed me and waited with me at my terminal until he absolutely had to leave, but he made sure that I was 100% okay and in the right spot first.

On the giving note - when we were in Barcelona, we decided to hit a KFC and for some ungodly reason, Jake orders a bucket of chicken, with him being the only one eating it. Obviously there's a lot leftover, but I was the doggie bag nazi - we were backpacking dammit, and no food would go to waste. We took it with but Jake admitted that it was nasty and he didn't want it (and we didn't have a fridge) so he ended up "donating" it to some homeless people near the square. If anything, we would have taken it to go just for that.

**urOZm8** · 10-18-2005, 03:19 AM

Whilst travelling I realised how many good nature people there are in the world. Some nice things that were done for me include:

-Moroccan women sharing their fruit with me on the bus.

-Another traveller in San Sebastion (Spain) let me crash on his pension floor when I was having trouble find accomodation (this was at the time of San Fermine). I just met him in the street and was talking to him for only a few minutes before he offered!

-I arrived in Budapest at about midnight and had to catch a bus to my hotel. I got on the right bus but didn't have a clue which stop to get off at. It came to the end of the route and of course I hadn't got off

(oops quite embarrasing) The driver didn't speak any English (nor did I Hungarian) and I had written the hotel name down on a piece of paper - he then drove me right there! I hope he didn't get into trouble for being late on another route.

ev

**Maineartist** · 04-21-2006, 10:34 PM

I was painting in Rome,Italy in the same spot for almost a week. I just left my painting behind a grove of trees and went back each day and started working on it. One day this Italian person approached me who was my age and he found out I was American, and he really liked that I was American, and invited me to his house down the street for dinner. His father was very nice and showed me his mother's paintings hanging all over the house of Roman ruins and he gave me regional olive oil and lentil soup. They let me keep my painting there that night and I went back to the hostel I stayed at across the city. The next day I returned and his mom made me coffee and said I could use her computer.
The italian person I met wanted me to call him again to hang out, but there was a lot of fun at the Yellow Hostel where I was staying so I decided not to. I prepaid for my last five nights at the Yellow Hostel but it turned out I didn't pay for my last night so I called this person from a payphone at about nine in the evening the night before my flight and asked him if I could stay at his house. He asked his parents and they said "ok.", and I went over. They fed me, gave me tools to take my canvas off the stretchers and his mom took it and rolled it in paper to protect it and taped the stretcher bars to it and made a strap out of twine. The next day he woke me up gave me coffee and toast and drove me to the trainstation.
On my second trip to ROme four months later I contacted them. During that time I was working/training in a hostel and it was turning into a terrible experience. My friend said if I got fired I could stay with him for four nights. I quit my job and stayed with him and his mom found me a widow to live with, helped me to teach english, gave me oil paint and actually we stretched a canvas at her house!

**florencia9699** · 04-21-2006, 11:07 PM

^^^ what an experience!!! these kind of things make all the difference in a trip i think, and although once you look back they are great memories I often wonder... when do u know if it's safe or not?? I mean, normally one wouldnt/shouldnt accept going to a complete stranger's house, but then you would have missed this great experience. I dunno, i hope once i'm over there I'm not too chicken, but also smart enough that i dont meet someone like this -->

**Maineartist** · 04-25-2006, 09:38 AM

I thought of another nice thing..at the same spot in Trastevere. While I was painting and looking at the scene down the road I noticed a woman in a white shirt slowly walking on one side of the street up the hill. When she got to the top of the hill she came over to where I was and looked at my painting. She was from England and said she was here for a few days. I said that I am from the u.S. and I came over here to paint , but I took a job at a hostel to stay here. We talked for a few minutes and she said...
"I want to give you some money, will you take it?" She had her wallet open and I said
"Yes".
She pulled a twenty euro bill out of her money bag and handed it to me.That was all and I went back to painting and she continued walking.

**Joker** · 04-25-2006, 11:18 PM

A few of us snuck into a hot springs park in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. We didn't realize that you had to pay to get in, as we just found a trail that led into it.

When we got inside and walked around, we realized we were the only gringoes in the entire place, and the sky opened up. We were welcomed into a little "hacienda" by an elderly lady and her husband by "Bievenidos a Hacienda 15!!" They didn't speak any English, and using my best proper Spanish, they communicated to us that we were more than welcome to wait out the rain under their little hacienda (i guess the best way to describe this is saying it was a tiny little building with no walls and a little charcoal grill), and leave our stuff there under the watchful eye of Abuela.

Anyway, we went swimming when the weather let up, and went back to the hacienda to dry off for a few. Abuela welcomed us back with homemade cornbread and coffee her husband grows in their back yard. All the food they had they shared with us. She told us that her daughter teaches English and would be along shortly. When her daughter got there, she translated for us, and Abuela told us that we were her "American kids." They welcomed complete strangers in, and took good care of us.

As for Karma, I used every opportunity I had to get back in the positive

Legend has it a Joker gave some poor Canadian girl (Newfie from the accent methinks) $5 so she could pay her exit tax in el aeropuerto. Apparently Canadian money is even more worthless in Costa Rica!! :D

**expatben** · 06-25-2006, 03:38 PM

OK, not sure if this was kindness per se but I think it is so here goes:

I'm in Spain with my roomate and we are at a bar playing chess. Its late and we are really the only ones left there. The owner still has a couple plates of his tapas left. Now, day old tapas is not too good and its late so he winds up giving me and my hungry roomate the whole lot! May not have been kindness to him but it certainly was with me!

justme · 06-25-2006, 08:13 PM

Well my story isn’t international, it’s on the other side of the country, but hey Canada is a big country so it counts.
The summer after I finished grade nine my parents and I did a road trip across Canada. When in Ontario we decided to cross the Great Lakes, so we had booked ourselves onto a ferry crossing Lake Eire. Long story short we missed the boat, and the next one wouldn’t sail till the next morning. We searched all over the town for almost four hours looking for a place to stay. There was nothing under two hundred dollars a night (kinda much). What we were going to be forced to do was sleep in the car, three people, lots of luggage (none of us knew how to pack properly then), and one car = uncomfortable! We were discussing our options (all one of them) in a small, very crowded restaurant, very late at night when our server overheard us and immediately before any of us understood what had happened announced that we would go to her house, and spend the night in “proper beds. Oh and have a shower if you want”. She gave us her address and directions, her house key and said that her shift would be over in a few hours and she would be home a little after that. Then she shooed us out of the restaurant, pointing us down the proper street leading to her house. The guest rooms were on the main floor where she told us and we stayed there that night, getting up very early the next morning to catch our ferry. We had planed to leave her the same amount of money that a motel would have charged, but she left a note on a small table outside the rooms we stayed in saying that she would be insulted if we left money. The note also said that a few years before she had been in the same predicament as us and someone had let her stay in their home, and that she hoped that we would do the same someday.
I haven’t found anyone yet who needed a place to stay, although I have offered it to a few people.

I just say thank goodness for kind people. They are amazing.

**florencia9699** · 06-25-2006, 08:45 PM

Wow that was trully awesome!! But to give your house key to complete strangers?? wow... that is some really good karma...