How Saying “Yes” to the Unexpected Can Change Your Travel Experience and Give You the Best Story

So, you have the travel bug? The dates are set. The flights are purchased. Maybe you’re setting out on your bucket list journey of a lifetime. But you want it to be MORE. Every website you have scoured has told you all that you must see and savour. You have a Google Doc of each must-experience to tick off. Yet, the adventurous and risky side of you hopes for a great travel STORY and not just another beautiful Instagram post. Well, I’ve got an important trick for you. Just say, “Yes!”

It is a lovely experience to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris or bathe in the Szechenyi Thermal Baths of Budapest. Do it! You’ll be so glad you did. But the best and most memorable stories of travel come from the unplanned moments when you dare to say, “Yes,” to the unplanned and unexpected.

Recently, I was in Europe with my daughter, Emma, just days before the Coronavirus started to shut down the world. We already felt a level of adventure in each typical travel experience as we Clorox wiped our train seats and restaurant tables and hand sanitized until our skin literally peeled and cracked from alcohol exposure. What a surreal experience it was to stroll the empty streets of Prague and Paris...no lines, so quiet. Each day of travel was unique as we moved through countries from west to east, each one closing down just days after we moved forward. We took epic photographs and stood in the midst of unmatched beauty and each time it seemed that we had the entire city to ourselves. But one of the most memorable moments of all came in Budapest when we met and took a car ride with our Airbnb host, Ahmed.

The train from Vienna to Budapest was running late and Emma and I found ourselves arriving in the city very late at night. We were supposed to get a taxi, but the late hour and Coronavirus scares made that a daunting task. I sent a WhatsApp message to our host and within minutes he arrived at the station to chauffeur us to our stay. Blown away already by his generosity, we expected to go straight home and go to sleep. Ahmed had other ideas.

“Would you like a tour of my city,” our gregarious Egyptian host asked. At first my “mom alert” dared to kick in. My daughter and I were alone in a foreign city late at night with a man we do not know. What should I say? Do I feel comfortable? Does this seem safe? “YES!” I just said, “Yes.”

For the next hour we buzzed with Ahmed through the desolate and brilliantly lit streets of Budapest, sweeping around corners, running traffic lights, taking part in the most glorious tour of the cities, both Buda and Pest. Ahmed pointed out every landmark, making sure that I understood where it was located in the grid of the city and how to get to our stay from every location. He recited a list of his family’s favorite restaurants, told of his journey’s to the States and poked a bit of fun. He flippantly told of how his wife is from Hungary and the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Hungary and how he himself is an Egyptian, now Hungarian citizen who is a lawyer that does most of his work in the UAE. It was a fascinating whirlwind of laughter, education and awe. And as Ahmed finally dropped us off and settled us into our house for the next three days, I already felt at home.

No planned itinerary could have given Emma and I that once-in-a-lifetime, late night excursion that we took with our new friend, Ahmed. Photographs are always going to remind us of the beautiful sites that we beheld on our two week journey through Europe. But few pictures will evoke the emotion, warmth and smiles of the hour spent with our gracious and hospitable Egyptian-Hungarian tour guide in the middle of the night as one day was ending and a new day was about to begin. So next time you adventure, save some space for YOUR “Yes.” All of a sudden your normal holiday might just become a great adventure and an unforgettable memory.

© Amy Colón, May 14, 2020