If I tell you that I met a stranger on a trip who showed me around his city and shared a lot of things in just a day, would you believe it?
So, let me make you believe it. If you read my posts regularly, you would already know by now that I took a budget trip to Chicago in May 2022. I made plans to experiment with public transportation and achieved success in making a budget stay in the windy city. I covered all the destinations by availing of public transportation and by walking.
On one such day of exploring the city on my feet, I came across a man who was sitting outside a restaurant with a strange gadget in hand. With close inspection, I found out that the gadget was camera gear and he was a food blogger.
We both made introductions to each other and he said his name was Erik. I recall he said that he was from Ecuador. I even asked him to be a part of my vlog and he allowed me to cover his work. He was a food blogger based in Chicago. He went around in restaurants in his city and covered various places in his vlog. We both shared our Instagram and after that, I resumed my trip for the day.
Later that day, in the evening, I texted Erik if he was free, to which he replied, that he was. So we decided to meet up that evening. Erik brought along his car and he said he would show me the places I have not seen in Chicago. I hopped in his car and we both went for a ride downtown. Erik took me to the planetarium area to see the biggest skyline in Chicago.
When we landed there, it was super cold. Since it was winter there and since it is a windy city, the chilling cold almost made my fingers numb. We walked and took some beautiful panoramic pictures of the skyline. We had an amazing time there and after that, we headed to a pizza shop. The place was huge and beautifully decorated. While we were chatting at the shop, Erik shared more about his work. He told me that he usually handles social media for some big brands. He even did some paintings and sold them to restaurants. Erik also showed me some of the drone shots he took. We both had a great night, had pizza, chatted, and came back home. Since dinner for both of us was on me, Erik offered me breakfast the next day.
I was supposed to catch a flight back to India the next day, at 5 P.M. So we both went out for breakfast to a Mexican place. It was a local breakfast joint and the food was good. After that, he offered to drop me at the airport.
I came back to India and maintained our bond. Erik was a nice person. We both talked about work and I helped him find editors in India. I asked him to visit India soon and I promised to show him around and return the favor he did for me.
Erik and I, even though we were strangers, we bonded well. Since English has become a universal language over time, a lot of people could easily connect with little hassle. The world can be really beautiful at times. I would not lie about this but I was a little paranoid when Erik started the car. This does not happen every day. You don’t meet a stranger every day and then decide to spend an evening together in a different city. But I was positive that nothing bad would happen to me. My intuition said it was going to be interestingly good. So I just went with the flow and made a new friend in the new city.
If you also have such a rare story like this one, drop it down in the comments below.
