My mom loves talking to strangers. For as long as I can remember, anytime she went out would later come home with stories about the nicest woman/man/young adult she met on the bus/train/plane/line at A&P and how they had the loveliest conversation. In addition, these people always ended up being just like her, and together they would bask in the glow of similar interests.
I on the other hand rarely enjoy chatting with strangers. The weird thing is that it feels as though they make it a personal mission to find me and get the conversation going. And of course it’s always when I listening to my ipod or in the middle of a really good book. I feel bad, obviously giving off a “I do not want to talk” vibe, but man…sometimes a girl needs to be alone with her thoughts.
It got my thinking. In a world that is basically consisted of strangers, I’d rather give off something that makes me approachable. It’s nice to be the type of individual that people want to talk to. And these small conversations are, after all, the stories of life that help mix up an otherwise ladi dah seen-it-before day.
I decided that for now on, I will speak to one stranger a day. If they approach me, well that’s great! Then I don’t have to make the first move 
. The most important thing is be engaged while not mentally begging the person to leave me alone (which is usually the case?. Generally, I humor the alleged stranger a bit, while hinting that my book is obviously more important then them. Nope. Not anymore!
I officially began on Tuesday while riding down the elevator during lunch. The woman across the way was holding a book by one of my favorite authors, Philippa Gregory. Turns out if was Philippa’s newest & I didn’t even know about it’s existence! According to my elevator friend it is very good. How great is that? Later while Kyle & I waited in line to buy tickets for a movie, the man behind us started kidding around about this and that. At the end of the day, I was amazed how easy it was once I gave myself the push forward.
Wednesday & Thursday were a piece of cake. It basically consisted of business men making small talk with me while in the elevator, on the bus going to work, and at the coffee house Emily & I go to for our coffee breaks.
I want to approach my trip to New Zealand with a positive open mind and heart. The people you meet while away from home are those who you never forget. Looking back on vacations, faces appear that made my trips meaningful. We will be in New Zealand for a year and I want to talk to & meet as many people as possible. Pretty soon the only person I’ll know is Kyle. Talking with strangers now where I’m in a safe environment is a good exercise to get me into the habit of putting myself out there to genuinely say hello to the world.