One of many joys of journey is the chance to satisfy new folks and expertise completely different cultures — typically, even once we are firmly encamped in our personal cities with no quick plans to journey, we ourselves develop into the those that different vacationers meet.

On serendipity

Serendipity is considered one of my favourite phrases — its that means, in response to Merriam-Webster, is “the school or phenomenon of discovering helpful or agreeable issues not looked for.” In different phrases, serendipity is an surprising shock that brings luck, happiness or each.

Every time I encounter the time period, I’m reminded of the 2001 movie of the identical title starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale — a love story arising from an opportunity encounter. Whereas there isn’t a romance to be found on this story of my very own serendipitous expertise (sorry to disappoint!), it was nonetheless very agreeable to me and introduced an excessive amount of pleasure!

An opportunity assembly with two German flight attendants

The day was Fats Tuesday — the top of Mardi Gras. I used to be in Boston and, a number of nights prior, had made a plan to satisfy up with a pal for dinner and a drink. We chosen a time and place (an area sports activities bar), however delayed our assembly by an hour resulting from a longer-than-expected work day.

About midway into our first drink, I used to be approached by a lady who was interested in my energy wheelchair — a 2022 Permobil F3 with ActiveHeight expertise. Whereas some disabled folks get annoyed by strangers’ curiosity of their mobility tools, I welcome it — I by no means flip down the chance to satisfy and converse with somebody new.

The lady, let’s name her A, was quickly joined by her pal, who I’ll check with as B. The pair commented on the multitude of airline baggage tags hooked up to my wheelchair and I quickly realized that these girls had been in truth flight attendants out for a meal earlier than their flight dwelling to Germany the following day.

A dialog that may have lasted only some seconds continued for hours. We chatted about wheelchairs, airplanes, journey, politics and a lot extra. The dialog grew to become so participating that we forgot about our meals and drinks! By the point we parted methods, I knew that I had made new associates in A and B.

However, one thing of consequence — one thing really surprising, thrilling, and serendipitous — occurred earlier than we left the restaurant.

An surprising, serendipitous journey to Germany

Simply earlier than leaving, A and B proposed a wild concept — they invited me to affix them on their flight dwelling to Frankfurt, Germany the following day. It was to depart lower than 24 hours later and, whereas most individuals would doubtless have stated no (together with my pal from Boston!), I accepted. “Completely,” I exclaimed!

Lower than 24 hours later, I made my option to the Boston Airport and boarded a Lufthansa Airbus A340 certain for Frankfurt, Germany. My new flight attendant associates greeted me and we had been quickly en path to the European continent.

On arrival, I had a espresso with A, then set off to discover what’s a very underrated German metropolis. I visited a number of museums, ate an unique frankfurter, had a German beer, and ready for my flight dwelling to the USA the next morning. It was a whirlwind journey — one I might by no means have imagined taking once I set off for the pub on Tuesday evening in Boston.

Closing ideas

From an opportunity assembly in a Boston sports activities bar to a transatlantic flight to Germany in a day! How serendipitous is that? As lots of my associates have stated, it’s “traditional John” to have an expertise so unbelievably random — however, in actuality, this unimaginable story began like all others have… with a easy hiya!

After arriving in Germany, I took to Instagram to share a number of ideas on what had led me there. I’ll shut this weblog publish by republishing these ideas right here:

Should you preserve an open thoughts, at all times reply in earnest to a “hiya,” and discover pleasure in likelihood encounters, serendipity awaits!

In reflecting on these splendidly stunning days, I can’t assist however take into consideration the hundred tiny choices that mixed to kind this second. Planning a night out. Selecting a specific pub. Arriving on the proper second. Responding to a hiya. Being loopy sufficient to e-book a last-minute flight. That’s simply within the span of someday, however in actuality, the place the place you might be proper now, the second you end up in, is the results of an infinite variety of choices and likelihood occurrences — a timeline of occasions that started on the daybreak of time. It’s a humbling actuality and purpose to be pleased about the magnificent reward of life!

We’re so lucky to be alive on this second. Put your self on the market and be open to permitting serendipity discover you.