A chance meeting

Smile at a stranger. See what happens.
~Patti LuPone

When you travel routinely long distances then the odds of you experiencing new things gets higher. I'm cool with that, in fact I welcome it. It is good to have something now and then that challenges your day to day routines and shake your streams of thought.

Today I was on a flight back home from Kelantan (I go there all the time for sampling and data collection for my thesis) and was lining up to board the flight. As I was walking, I noticed the airline officer helping a foreign-looking mother to store her baby stroller. It can't be brought up as a hand luggage, you see. But the officer was very helpful and I can see that she was very thankful.

When I got to my aisle seat, I sat down straight away as I was feeling nauseous. The airport was full of people wanting to send their relatives to go perform Hajj so it was quite crowded and difficult to breathe. Add that to the fact that the plane hasn't started the air conditioning yet, so I was feeling a bit hazy. Then a voice said, "I'm in 7A" and I look up to see the mother smiling at me with a baby in her arms. "Oh, ok" I said as I stumbled out of my seat to give way for her to pass. It was quite difficult for her because she was carrying a backpack and a shoulder bag together with her baby boy. But she managed, as only a mother can :)

After she settled down the stewardess came to give her a slip for the stored stroller, and I said, "It's for the stroller". She only smiled and nodded. Encouraged, I asked more, "So where do you come from?" and so begins another friendship forged up in among the clouds.

I found out she's from Hungary and she's here to visit her in-laws as her husband is a Kelantanese. She wants to be a teacher and can speak Japanese. I also found out she used to be a travel agent. Haha, a nice surprise eh? These coincidences only fuels up my desire to make the Eurotrip a reality. Then after that, maybe a trip to travel the middle east. And then trekking all over Asia. And then.. haha,ok, sorry. That's another dream, another story ;)

She recommended me to a website named couchsurfing.org where they provide a platform for people who love to travel to connect in the truest-sense: to share/lend a couch or a place to stay and maybe even come with an unofficial travel guide: all for free!. The idea kinda reminds me of the movie "The Holiday" starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black but it's not the same. She said she have hosted many travellers before, even from Malaysia. Hmm..is this independent travelling thing big in Malaysia now? It comforts me to know that, somehow the knowledge of fellow countrymen and women doing it before makes it less apprehensive.

She gave me her email and I've emailed her already, hoping this could be a start for a meaningful friendship. C'mon, everything has risks but the hard thing is to figure out is whether the risk is worth it? And the bigger question would be: as I am all for challenging myself now, am I up for it this time?

Time, as always, will tell ;)