Aside experiencing new cultures, expanding your awareness of the world and learning new histories, traveling can be about the people you meet. Whether it is someone you met trying to figure out the subway system or the person in the bunk above you at the hostel or the group of people at the table next to you at lunch, there is always a chance for you to meet new characters along your journey. Traveling affords you new connections with people not only from the countries you are visiting, but also from the entire world. And with characters come some pretty great stories.
On a rainy day in London, my brother and I were searching for our next hostel. He’d done the booking and was leading the way to our next temporary home. I was lugging months’ worth of luggage and just wanted to get to our final destination. After bouncing around the city from one wrong hostel to the next, we finally found ours. By this point we were both soaked and tired. The hostel manager, for one reason or another, maybe he took pity on us, decided to invite us out for the night with some of the other people that worked at the hostel. The group was a collection of 20-somethings from Australia, Italy, Ireland, Canada, and The Netherlands, fueled by alcohol that had been left behind by some former hostel guests and the destination was a gay club’s straight night. Aside from it being my brother’s first gay club, it was a crazy experience filled drag queens, lots of glitter and some crazy dancing. For our remaining days in London, my brother and I had a group that showed us more of London than we knew existed.
Stories can also come from the shared experiences of the people you travel with. They can push you outside your comfort zone and introduce you to new things you never knew existed.
With unsupportive shoes and days filled of walking left me with a stress fracture in my right foot, so I was looking for a day of sitting or as little movement as possible on my first day in Barcelona. Sitting out by the water, my friend and trusty traveling companion spotted some gondolas that looked as if they traveling into the sky. We decided to go find them and where they led. Fortunately we never found them and ended up scaling the side of the mountain to find a bunch of unexpected treasures, from a playground to a tropical garden to an open-air castle.
When you are traveling, everything is about the people you are with; good or bad, these are the people that shape your adventures. Contiki is unique because they plan trips for people under 35; they know how important the people you are with are to the entire ambiance. These trips are for young people that like to adventure and actively participate in the world around them. Check out some of their most popular offers here.