{"id":4687,"date":"2014-05-06T15:57:11","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T20:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/?p=4687"},"modified":"2014-05-06T15:57:11","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T20:57:11","slug":"yay-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/2014\/05\/06\/yay-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Yay Friends!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"courtneytravelfriends201405b\"<\/a>
Jess and I followed this guy through incredible crowds in Valencia for the fireworks show. We got completely stuck in the crowd, so I decided to say hello since we were mushed together for the next hour. Turns out he\u2019s from Norway! We snapped a picture together for good measure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"courtneytravelfriends201405d\"<\/a>
I met this guy in line at the Louvre in France by asking what he was listening to on his iPod. He is from Ibiza and was traveling solo across Europe for a month. We ended up spending the rest of the day touring around Paris together \u2026 even locking a lock as a joke on the bridge!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the best parts of traveling is the opportunity to meet a lot of people quickly. Whether it\u2019s asking for directions, relishing in the fact that you both speak English, sharing an airport bench on your layover, or staying in hostel room together, you\u2019re guaranteed to meet new people that have the potential to become lifelong friends.<\/p>\n

Below I\u2019ve listed the top items I\u2019ve been able to connect to people with and strike up conversation. You\u2019re going to be in line for the Vatican for two hours anyway, might as well meet someone new! By far the best places to reach out and start up conversation with someone are in line, on modes of transportation (plane, train, bus), the people in your hostel, and\/or people who are stuck in sticky situations with you (missed trains, security backups, being lost, etc). If nothing else, moments like these give you a chance to practice your conversation skills, a very important skill in business. Many employers nowadays actively seek candidates with excellent communication skills. You can consider it networking; with globalization, having connections globally will definitely serve you in the long run.<\/p>\n

Aside from being a good conversationalist, here are a few items to pack in your suitcase on your next adventure as an easy way to start up conversation with someone. Also, check out this article<\/a> from TED about author Davy Rothbart who explored the world of conversation with strangers in his book, How Did You End Up Here?: The Surprising Ways Our Questions Connect Us.<\/i> I’ve found these items\u00a0foolproof:<\/p>\n

\"courtneytravelfriends201405e\"<\/a>
We met Natalie and her family while on a four-day break in the Canary Islands. We stayed in touch and I got to visit her in England and stay with her family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"courtneytravelfriends201405c\"<\/a>
Here\u2019s my friend Oscar I met through Intercambios. It\u2019s amazing how easy a \u201cDo you have Facebook?\u201d is to connect to people \u2026 and so much less awkward than \u201cCan I have yo number?\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deck of Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>I\u2019ve lost track of how many people I\u2019ve invited to play a hand of Rummy with over the last few months. It\u2019s amazing how handy a simple deck of cards can be. It\u2019s kept us occupied at airports waiting for flights, given us something to do in our hostel at night when we\u2019re exhausted, allowed us to be social while getting cups of coffee out in town, and helped us pass time non-awkwardly with strangers. Rummy\u2019s a great go-to game, everyone either loves it or will enjoy learning how to play.<\/p>\n

Spare Change, an Umbrella and a Map<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to win someone over is to help them when they\u2019re in need. The extra 10 cents for their metro ticket they didn\u2019t have, the offering of an umbrella when it unexpected downpours, or a quick reference to a map to help someone get back on track are all excellent ways to do good while traveling. Remind yourself how you\u2019d liked to be treated when in similar mini-stress situations, it\u2019s amazing how far the extra 10 cents will go.<\/p>\n

Confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

An awesome part about traveling is that you have increased control over whether or not you\u2019ll see the person again in your life or not. Therefore, there\u2019s no need to be hesitant about striking up conversation. Confidence is key. We\u2019re all people and I\u2019ve rarely encountered someone who doesn\u2019t return the conversation.<\/p>\n

Put yourself out there! Traveling is rewarding when you can leave with new friends. It improves your conversation skills, makes your Facebook newsfeed more interesting, gives you national\/global connections, and may leave you with new best friends. Take a peek at the photos I’ve collected of the new people I’ve been able to spend time with while traveling!<\/p>\n

Hasta luego!
\nCourtney<\/p>\n

Courtney Cerniglia<\/a> is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point majoring in business administration and Spanish.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best parts of traveling is the opportunity to meet a lot of people quickly. Whether it\u2019s asking for directions, relishing in the fact that you both speak English, sharing an airport bench on your layover, or staying in hostel room together, you\u2019re guaranteed to meet new people that have the potential to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,12,53,23,24],"tags":[305,312,341,343,344],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}