How to Foreigner Good

As my partner and I were on a quest to find the best international graduate school for him, in effect a decision that would shape the next two years of our lives, we thought what better way to discover Europe than by hitting the open road. This all too American concept sounded like a good idea at the time. What could possibly go wrong rushing through Germany, France, and Italy in 10 days to observe thousands of years of history? Well after losing our wallet with our complete trip budget on the first day, we had nothing but desperate humor and hope to rescue us from the iceberg that struck our sinking ship of a vacation.

After one permissible day of regret, our excursion received the life raft we had been searching for by a unique experience with a man on a boat from Nantes. This man on a boat from Nantes was already a part of our itinerary through the grace of Airbnb. However, we had not expected such hospitality from a once former stranger that we had no common language with, a warmness also matched by the charming city itself.
For the cost of less than a hotel we were transported into a different lifestyle that just happened to be on a house boat down by the river. Patrick who is somewhere in his 70s speaks a few words in English, which is certainly still more than my French. Apparently my intermediate German does not go too far there either, if only to confuse the communication more. Luckily, we did the dance of body language to communicate our needs and get some advice about where to wander in the city.

Nantes has the feeling of a big small town, with all the charms of historic architecture and markets that one would expect from Europe. But even that did not make us feel as invited to the culture as when we helped to host a 50th birthday celebration with one of the house boat friends. It was a truly unique experience to be a part of sharing a special moment with strangers who were open to sharing a bit of their small community with us, even down to the smelliest cheese I have ever eaten (I still reek of it).

My lesson learned from this trip is to always be open to help from and conversation with the locals. Also travel insurance, buy it! It has never been so easy to connect with people on sites such as Airbnb and Couchsurfing, so I would suggest use new technologies for good and really try to set yourself up to interact with the subcultures of the region (even if you get seasick).