With the Greeks
GREECE | Monday, 27 February 2012 | Views [587]
I took the train from Athens to
Larissa and sat next to an old woman who every now and then made a comment to me
to which I politely responded. An hour before we arrived she took out an apple,
peeled it, and handed half of it to me. She then showed me pictures of her sons
and their families and asked me about where I was going and my family and such.
She was a complete stranger. I do not know her name and I would not be able to
pick her face out of a room full of strangers. But I cherish that moment
because she showed me kindness without any reason to. That is what our modern
technological world has lost. Fleeting moments of unimportant chatter. Though
seemingly insignificant, they change you. Old Greece is still brimming with
these. A conversation on a bus ride, an invitation into a home from someone who
knows nothing about you, yet wants to learn more, to exchange stories with a
complete stranger. That is
what traveling is about. Whatever your reason for travelling – whether it be to
go see ancient ruins in Egypt, or to go clubbing in London – don’t forget to
talk. Talk with the locals, talk with other travelers, talk your way through
your travels. Connect with those who live differently than you do, whose lives
are full of experiences you have never had. You may be a globetrotter who has
visited more places than most have even heard of, who has rafted
down the Nile in Uganda, admired the Mona Lisa in Paris, and taken a cooking
class in Thailand. But the Nile is just a river, the Mona Lisa just a painting,
and phad thai is just noodles. If the only thing you are interested in is checking experiences off a list, you will leave
the same foreigner you came in as.
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