Tips in Talking to Strangers When Travelling to Improve Your Experience
When you were young, your parents might keep telling you to not talk to strangers. As a child, you still dont know what those strangers can do to you. However, as an adult, you need to have a slight change in perspective. Of course, you cant just trust anyone with something important in your life. It is a good idea to spend time with total strangers though while you are travelling. It allows you to build possible friendships and enrich your journey.
You wont know who you are going to meet as you travel. However, you can make it a wonderful opportunity to learn. These are some tips when you speak with strangers on your journey.
Find groups instead of individuals
If you want to talk to strangers, you can start with a group. It will be less awkward when there is a group of people you can have a conversation with. You can have several topics to talk about. There is also a good chance that you will like at least one person in that group. In contrary, when you speak with just one person, you could end up not liking the person. You will force yourself to talk to this person anyway.
Listen with intent
The reason why you are talking to strangers during your trip is because you want to have a wonderful experience with them and learn a lot about them. If you are in another country, speaking to strangers allows you to know their cultural background and beliefs. You can learn from their personal experiences too. Allow them to talk if they have something interesting to share. You can enter the conversation to ask questions.
Dont boast about yourself
When you speak with people whom you dont know, you might have a tendency to brag about yourself and your experiences. Dont be that kind of person. You dont want to create tension earlier on in the conversation. You might be talking to that stranger, but you are also a stranger to that person. The person can easily walk away from you if you sound arrogant and boastful.
Ask interesting questions
Again, talking to strangers is your opportunity to learn. You need to make sure that you are making the most of it by asking interesting questions. Avoid the usual questions that you ask someone you know. Even when you are asking questions about local cultures and places, you need to avoid the ones where the answers are quite obvious. Allow the person to talk about something new and interesting. Nod if you agree with the statement or you find it interesting.
Say thank you
In any culture, saying thank you is always a good thing. You have learned from this conversation and the least you can do is say thank you. If you want to continue the conversation or build on what you have started, you can exchange contact information.
Yes, there is still a risk that comes with a conversation with a stranger. However, you can still make the most of it if you choose the best people to talk to.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image from https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/the-truth-about-meeting-locals-abroad/
2nd image from https://medium.com/personal-growth/4-ways-to-start-conversations-with-a-stranger-ed6df6ca6a5f
