Meeting people on cruises

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

I meet people on cruises and on public transportation if I engage them in conversation.

My father had the same knack.

 

To be fair, when I'm traveling alone in various cities, I'm not big on striking up conversations with strangers (the world being what it is for a solo female). If I do, I'd rather converse with local residents than with other tourists. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I'd rather converse with local residents than with other tourists. 

Absolutely.

 

Here's a local in Montenegro (I think!) who bought us a pastry and even gave me his phone # in case we had any problems. Those are the memories I like to make.

 

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, clo said:

Oh, I'm a tested out "extreme extrovert" but honestly don't care about establishing other than the most basic exchanges.

I love conversation .I exercise at a gym several days a week and I engage in conversation with every person I see.

Two examples:

One day a guy was exercising .He was wearing a tee shirt from an organization.I told him that I was a member in the 60’s.He said he joined in the 70’s but thought we may have known some of the same people.We did not.Then he said that a guy he was very friendly with but lost touch with him 20 years ago.That guy has been my best friend for 70 plus years.

Just a few days ago during the course of conversation the guy I was talking to was friends of one of my relatives.

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

To be fair, when I'm traveling alone in various cities, I'm not big on striking up conversations with strangers (the world being what it is for a solo female). If I do, I'd rather converse with local residents than with other tourists. 

My wife is the same way as you .On a cruise I enjoy conversing with people and have made friends that I communicate with at least once a week.

[zauberflote]

Not a cruise but sort of travel and very eery!
My mother grew up in Bennington, Vt. While she was in high school, my "future and now late" MIL attended Bennington College. They probably passed each other in town at least once.
Some years later, when I was 9 or 10, my family took a short vacation to Cape Cod. One of our day trips was to the village where said future MIL had spent every summer of her life, and was in the process of raising her kids there every summer too. Oh yes, I am sure my future DH and I passed each other on the street.
Some years way later, someone from where we live now purchased a cousin's house in that village, on the same street as ours.
You can't make that kind of stuff up!


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[lenquixote66]

On 1/31/2020 at 10:58 PM, zauberflote said:

Not a cruise but sort of travel and very eery!
My mother grew up in Bennington, Vt. While she was in high school, my "future and now late" MIL attended Bennington College. They probably passed each other in town at least once.
Some years later, when I was 9 or 10, my family took a short vacation to Cape Cod. One of our day trips was to the village where said future MIL had spent every summer of her life, and was in the process of raising her kids there every summer too. Oh yes, I am sure my future DH and I passed each other on the street.
Some years way later, someone from where we live now purchased a cousin's house in that village, on the same street as ours.
You can't make that kind of stuff up!


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A guy who I went to HS with in Brooklyn,NY became a medical doctor with a practice in Bennington,VT

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, fyree39 said:

My husband is the introvert. I think I'm extroverted with people I'll never see again rather than letting people I see often grow close. I've only met people who live in some of the places I once lived. Never anyone who knew the same people I did.

I was an introvert for many years .I never was invited to school reunions because the assumption was that I would be sitting by myself in a corner.One year a guy who was very popular in HS told the reunion organizer that he would not attend unless Lenquixote66 was invited.Everyone who knew me years back could not believe how talkative I had become.

[zauberflote]

A guy who I went to HS with in Brooklyn,NY became a medical doctor with a practice in Bennington,VT

Wow. Many of my HS classmates never left Bennington (yeah, I lived there for a few years too!) but I have never heard of anybody moving there on purpose except college professors.


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[marco]

Not on a cruise, but last year freinds of ours were on the same flight as us (neither of us knew the others were traveling) and when we got to our destination, neighbors of ours were at that gate, waiting for thier flight.

[navybankerteacher]

The old “6 degrees of separation” theory often proves itself — if I strike up a conversation with someone on a cruise and we find similar interests - it often happens that we discover having in the past  run into each other’s relatives, classmates, old shipmates , etc.

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, marco said:

Not on a cruise, but last year freinds of ours were on the same flight as us (neither of us knew the others were traveling) and when we got to our destination, neighbors of ours were at that gate, waiting for thier flight.

 

I currently live in the US, but travel for a living. A few years ago, I was on a flight from Canberra to Melbourne in Australia and found myself across the aisle from my old dentist in Kansas City. Apparently his daughter was studying abroad in Canberra and was heading to Melbourne for a quick weekend of exploring before going home. 

 

Three days before that, I was in the domestic terminal in Sydney waiting for my flight to Canberra and bumped in to an old business contact of mine from Melbourne who I had not seen in about five years. Much less odd, at least she was Australian so it made a little sense, but still random! 

Edited October 14, 2020 by Zach1213

[gooch47]

I was walking through a lounge on an Hawaiian cruise and heard someone call my name.  It turned out to be a former pastor and his family.  But what was really strange was that he knew we were on board because all of our tour tickets had accidentally been delivered to his cabin.

[lenquixote66]

15 hours ago, zauberflote said:

Wow. Many of my HS classmates never left Bennington (yeah, I lived there for a few years too!) but I have never heard of anybody moving there on purpose except college professors.


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He is actually still practicing even though elderly.Having vacationed in VT many times,mainly in Bennington I know for certain that it is a much better environment than NYC.I was at a HS reunion with him in 2011 and he looked a lot younger than everyone else and seemed to be a lot healthier.

[zauberflote]

He is actually still practicing even though elderly.Having vacationed in VT many times,mainly in Bennington I know for certain that it is a much better environment than NYC.I was at a HS reunion with him in 2011 and he looked a lot younger than everyone else and seemed to be a lot healthier.

Wow-- perhaps you have family there, to make Bennington a vacation destination? How are you on the tourist spots around there? My family lived in what is now called the Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion for a number of years as general caretakers. My sister and I gave tours in the summer, Mom was in charge of weddings in the house, Dad kept on good terms with the night watchman and the antique boiler, and our extraordinarily stupid Siamese cat managed to climb two floors up from the basement to the formal dining room Inside The Walls-- from where she had to be surgically extracted. I believe the patch in the dining room wall covering is still there 50 years later....


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[sail7seas]

On 1/22/2020 at 7:00 PM, cruiserking said:

Not so much from childhood but, we've taken cruises in Europe and bumped into friends from the states. Or bumped into friends we had no idea were aboard. 

 

Jonathan

 

 

Ditto

 

We were in the Gucci store in Florence when   my  late  dH recognized  a gentleman shopping for briefcases, as  was my dh.   The other gent lived in our hometown and  did work  similar to my   dh's professsion.    Well acquainted with each  other though not close friends and neither knew  in advance of the other's travel plans.

 

 

 

 

It  truly is  a  'small wold

.

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by sail7seas

[rkacruiser]

One has to "behave" oneself wherever one is.  One never knows who will recognize you even if you don't recognize them.  

[lenquixote66]

21 hours ago, zauberflote said:

Wow-- perhaps you have family there, to make Bennington a vacation destination? How are you on the tourist spots around there? My family lived in what is now called the Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion for a number of years as general caretakers. My sister and I gave tours in the summer, Mom was in charge of weddings in the house, Dad kept on good terms with the night watchman and the antique boiler, and our extraordinarily stupid Siamese cat managed to climb two floors up from the basement to the formal dining room Inside The Walls-- from where she had to be surgically extracted. I believe the patch in the dining room wall covering is still there 50 years later....


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No family in VT. We do have friends though .Are you familiar with the author Archer Mayor ? He is a friend.

[cruznjan]

On 1/22/2020 at 4:54 PM, lenquixote66 said:

Have you ever gotten into a conversation on a cruise and found out that you shared something in common from your childhood ?

I met a couple who were retired Penn State Professors.He had a very distinctive southern accent and told me he grew up in Beaumont ,Texas.

His wife had a different accent and I jokingly said that she must have grown up in Brooklyn ,NY.She looked amazed and said that she did.After further conversation we determined that we went to the same high school at the same time.We did not know each other then but we had mutual friends.

Small world.

After I met a guy from our roll call, I found out we're both from Brooklyn.

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, cruznjan said:

After I met a guy from our roll call, I found out we're both from Brooklyn.

 

4 hours ago, cruznjan said:

After I met a guy from our roll call, I found out we're both from Brooklyn.

Where in Brooklyn are you from ? I grew up in Crown Heights and also,lived in Canarsie.

[cruznjan]

13 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

 

Where in Brooklyn are you from ? I grew up in Crown Heights and also,lived in Canarsie.

I grew up in Bed-Stuy, and I also lived in Brownsville and Crown Heights.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, cruznjan said:

I grew up in Bed-Stuy, and I also lived in Brownsville and Crown Heights.

 

3 hours ago, cruznjan said:

I grew up in Bed-Stuy, and I also lived in Brownsville and Crown Heights.

Where in Crown Heights ? I lived on Montgomery St.

[cruznjan]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

 

Where in Crown Heights ? I lived on Montgomery St.

Sterling Street.

[lenquixote66]

17 minutes ago, cruznjan said:

Sterling Street.

My best friend in HS (Wingate) moved to Greensboro ,NC .many years ago.

[BlueRiband]

The most awkward meetup I had involved a M&G.  I asked if there was one in the roll call for the sailing and a member posted the day and time.  However, it turned out to be primarily members of a facebook group who knew one another by their actual names and hardly anybody knew CC members by their screen name.  I felt like the illegetimate at a family reunion.

[cruznjan]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

My best friend in HS (Wingate) moved to Greensboro ,NC .many years ago.

I went to Prospect Heights.