We feasted on the kindness of strangers
The clear Guatemala night sky revealed an unfamiliar starscape. A rickety porch roof sheltered us from the expected summer thunderstorm. We shared a can of cold refried beans in silence. The silence, we told ourselves, was a courtesy to the peasant farmer who slept with his family one thin wall away. But all three of us knew better than that. Ours was the stunned silence of teens recovering from an encounter, at gunpoint, with a military patrol that had followed our progress on this weekend jungle trek. Somehow my companions had convinced them we were not guerillas. Somehow we had telescoped the polarities of travel into one day – danger and the redeeming stranger. How would we pay forward that debt to the peasant farmer?
Practicing kindness on the road
I was drawn to the new book by Lonely Planet Press The Kindness of Strangers. The project began with a contest calling for people’s travel stories. The result is an offering more than 25 stories of kindness-on-the-road by professional and amateur travel writers. There is a preface by the Dalai Lama who epitomizes a kindness-on-the-road philosophy. You can find an online interview with the editor, Don George, that will give you the flavor of the book.
I spotted another travel book with a theme of generosity – Volunteer
Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others. And I discovered
online one person’s reflections on volunteering with a disability.
Watch for an article going into more depth on this topic in the Suite 101
Travel & Disability section in 2004. Also, check out Wheels for Humanity, an organization with
a mission to place wheelchairs left unused or abandoned in the United States
with the disabled poor in developing countries. They are looking for volunteers.
Travel as a gift – Returning the kindness
For years my father has wanted to take a small ship cruise to Alaska. Small ships are the best way to get in where the larger ships can’t go. This year my wife and I are inviting him and a guest of his choosing to take the trip with us.
In planning this trip, as well as researching articles for Suite 101, I have found the staff at Small Ship Cruises to be responsive and knowledgeable. I recommend them if you plan a cruise to Alaska.
Random acts of kindness
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