What's the best unexpected gift you have received while travelling?

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This thread has made me reminisce about random acts of kindness, both given and received.

One of my lost memorable was the BA Concorde staff gifting me a bottle of Champagne as the flight I took (BA 1 LHR/JFK) was a couple of weeks shy of my birthday back in 2002. They'd asked me whether it was a special flight - so I had mentioned my first time, my number 1 bucket list items and ít was my birthday present to myself - but thought nothing of it until close to landing they came and gave me a bottle wrapped in a Concorde bag. I'm not a Champagne drinker, but it was gratefully re-gifted to friends with whom I was staying in the USA (and she was a UA FA, so very thrilled to receive).

I have @straitman to thank for his idea of taking school-related gifts to Fiji (pens, colouring books & pencils, rulers, erasers, lined exercise books). We organised with our driver to do a trip to a rural village (his own). Our kids had filled a backpack and we made them (aged 6 and 8 at the time) give it to the teacher in the village school. The kids even sat in on a lesson whilst we visited with the village elders and drank kava.

We had a second backpack and gave half of it to the Fijian lady we had minding our kids whilst Mrs QF WP and I went on a couple of individual trips. FJD$50 per day was just ludicrously small amount of money to pay for our sanity. Needless to say, again we got an outpouring of love from her for our Salote and Jacae (Fijian names for our kids).

On our return journey to the airport, we gave what we had left to our driver (we had put some aside for him to give to his daughters). He was really surprised at our generosity, given what we had already done for his village.

Damn, this makes me want to go back! Can't wait for the skies to re-open.
 
This thread has made me reminisce about random acts of kindness, both given and received.

One of my lost memorable was the BA Concorde staff gifting me a bottle of Champagne as the flight I took (BA 1 LHR/JFK) was a couple of weeks shy of my birthday back in 2002. They'd asked me whether it was a special flight - so I had mentioned my first time, my number 1 bucket list items and ít was my birthday present to myself - but thought nothing of it until close to landing they came and gave me a bottle wrapped in a Concorde bag. I'm not a Champagne drinker, but it was gratefully re-gifted to friends with whom I was staying in the USA (and she was a UA FA, so very thrilled to receive).

I have @straitman to thank for his idea of taking school-related gifts to Fiji (pens, colouring books & pencils, rulers, erasers, lined exercise books). We organised with our driver to do a trip to a rural village (his own). Our kids had filled a backpack and we made them (aged 6 and 8 at the time) give it to the teacher in the village school. The kids even sat in on a lesson whilst we visited with the village elders and drank kava.

We had a second backpack and gave half of it to the Fijian lady we had minding our kids whilst Mrs QF WP and I went on a couple of individual trips. FJD$50 per day was just ludicrously small amount of money to pay for our sanity. Needless to say, again we got an outpouring of love from her for our Salote and Jacae (Fijian names for our kids).

On our return journey to the airport, we gave what we had left to our driver (we had put some aside for him to give to his daughters). He was really surprised at our generosity, given what we had already done for his village.

Damn, this makes me want to go back! Can't wait for the skies to re-open.
We have had a large suitcase full of clothes and other stuff for our Fiji friends and other stuff packed since February.

We were going in June, then October and now rebooked for May next year.

The gift for us is the appreciation they show in return.
 
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Arrived in Ypres, Belgium on the train well after dark with hotel a reasonable walk away. We were walking out of the station when a middle age lady asked me where we were from and why we were in Ypres. After saying that we were Australians and here because of our interest in Ypres and WW1,she asked if she could take us for a drive and then to our hotel.

This is not something we would normally accept but there were two of us! She took us for a drive of about 30 minutes to the Menin Gate and other relevant historic sights. She says that she often offers a similar trip to visitors from countries who soldiers were members of the Allies in WW1, and helped liberate Ypres.

It is a shame that the soldiers could not see how much their braveness was appreciated by the future generations in the countries they helped liberate.
 
In Pakse Laos I asked the hotel owner if she knew of anywhere that I could get number plates for my collection. Most people say that it is not possible, problems with the police and the like. When we returned a few days later she had a Vietnamese plate and a Lao plate for me, refused money, so when I got back home I sent her reading glasses and pens for local schools, amazingly she received them, things can go missing apparently. I have been lucky with plates, quite a few given to me over the years. I try to respond with something, not always possible!
 
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I’ve never really been given a “gift” whilst traveling (although the miniature light-sabers I got from one conference made excellent gifts for the kids), but I’ve certainly been given free experiences, mostly around been invited out for dinners and parties.

Perhaps the best one was the “Netflix” party. I had spent the day at a conference, and got talking with some of the other attendees. Anyway as the day was wrapping up they mentioned they were going to a “Netflix” party. I thought that meant we’d go around to some ones place, order some pizzas and watch some TV shows. No, this was a party, hosted by Netflix the company, where they had hired out a bar for a private party.

On turning up there I was given a wrist band and told that’ll get me free drinks for the rest of the night. I spent the night talking to a whole host of interesting people, having drink after drink on Netflix’s tab.

As you may have guessed, this happened in San Francisco.
 
Way back in 1986, I was given a free personalised tour of St Peter's Basilica and square by an unknown local. I had quickly spent the money I'd budgeted for that day on a train ticket, a can of drink and a map of Rome and was sitting quietly, people watching and wondering what I could do for free before taking the 1 hour train trip back to my camp ground, when I was approached by a man in the square. My lie about waiting for friends must have been very transparent, so he assured me that we would stay in very public areas while he showed me around and I would be perfectly safe.

Well, he was correct and I had an amazing 2 hour tour of the whole area, with stories and titbits that I would have never discovered on my own. He showed me a little heart carved into one of the cobble stones in the square. His story was that the man who designed the square (Bernini?) had fallen in love with a nun, but the pope had demanded complete abstinence from his workers, so the only way Bernini could express his love was to carve the heart. A bit of poetic licence, perhaps, but it added colour to my day. He also took me to the spot in the square where, due to an optical illusion and great engineering, it appears that there is only one row of columns, not four.

Next we went into the basilica, where we pushed passed all the people lined up, so I could rub the toes of the St Peter statue and he explained the many wonders of the interior and the dome.

Finally we went for a drink, which he wouldn't let me pay for, and he apologised that he couldn't take me to his house for lunch, because his mother was feeling unwell that day. The kind gift of this man's time and local knowledge turned what would have been a disappointing first visit to Rome into an amazing day that I will always remember.
 
In security line going to NZ .Man in front had bought a bottle of very expensive perfume for wife. Was not wrapped ,was above the liquid allowed .I always carry clean empty small allowable bottles to use with business class amenities etc .so I gave him my small bottles so he could decant the perfume and was able to put the allowable small bottles into the poly bag I gave him and on he went, other than that the bottle would have been thrown away So I felt really glad for him .
 
We had a rental car and took a “shortcut” over a mountain pass somewhere in Southern Turkey 30 years ago. We broke down in the middle of nowhere up in the mountains No phone reception of course. As darkness approached we were approached by a goat herding family They took My mate off signaling they would take him down to a village somewhere to find a phone. The 2 girls and I were politely ushered to their little nomadic camp where we were treated like royalty. The girls were shown the art of doing their hair in some local henna dye. I made the mistake of agreeing in sign language that yes we were hungry. So instantly 2 of their chickens were killed for our dinner. Had a wonderful night under the stars on their mountaintop and successfully got a replacement car next day to continue our adventure.
 
In security line going to NZ .Man in front had bought a bottle of very expensive perfume for wife. Was not wrapped ,was above the liquid allowed .I always carry clean empty small allowable bottles to use with business class amenities etc .so I gave him my small bottles so he could decant the perfume and was able to put the allowable small bottles into the poly bag I gave him and on he went, other than that the bottle would have been thrown away So I felt really glad for him .
He didn't offer one to you?!
 
On 1987 we were in San Fransisco wandering around looking to see if we could find an Indian restaurant for dinner that night. We saw a sign and walked up the steps to the door to make a reservation. Sitting just inside the door was a very friendly woman who explained that they weren’t open for bookings that night as it was their official opening but would we like to come to that. Well, why not.

We turned up early dressed very casually not really knowing what was going to happen. and were welcomed in. We found a good spot near the kitchen where food was continuously coming through on platters. The bar was open for whatever drink you’d like. We had a wonderful evening with all the glitter of San Fransisco dressed to the nines and speeches from the mayor and other ‘important’ people.

The Indian food was some of the best we had ever had, certainly the most memorable.
 
Three things stick in my mind - small things but generous:

1. Emigrating to Australia, I spent the night in the LAX Hilton. I went to the Executive Lounge for breakfast but it was full. Another man there suggested we went down to the restaurant to have the buffet breakfast. I agreed but was nervous because it was expensive and money was tight. It turned out the other chap was very rich and developed shopping centres - he was really interesting company. At the end, he paid for both of us without even asking.

2. I had hired a guide and a police escort for a visit to the Casbah in Algiers. At the bottom of the Casbah, my police escort met his superintendent by chance. My guide was going to get a taxi back to the top, but the superintendent offered us a lift in his car. Back at the top, he took me into his office, had a chat and gave me some old postcards of the Casbah. My guide was at great pains to tell me we were not being arrested, and was an odd mixture of intrigued and horrified. Apparently this is not something that the police in Algeria EVER do.

3. My first major overseas trip and after an overnight flight to Singapore, I was exhausted. I tried to stay awake until bedtime and went out in the evening to have a beer. I ended up in the Tekka Centre Hawker Market, and the next table was full of raucous Chinese market workers ploughing through a huge number of bottles. One woman came over to talk to me, discovered I was from Scotland on my first trip, and she got the Chinese music taken off the loudspeakers and had the Beegees put on instead. Then when that finished, she translated the Chinese opera music for me while giving me steamed buns and beer.
 
Was travelling in the SE USA and had arranged to meet a female friend of my sisters for a drink.
She had bought another couple along...sensible, as we didn't know each other from Adam.
The night went well and when they asked about my future travel plans I said I was going up North and would be in Washington DC eventually. The guy (from the other couple) said his sister lives there and she would show me around her work. Where was that I asked? The Pentagon!
So I called her when I got there, not expecting anything...and got a free tour inside the Pentagon, she had to sign me in and I had a special "Visitor" badge like in the movies. I saw a lot more than the standard tours do, and no booking in and waiting for approval etc. Very interesting.
Still keep in touch with them and hopefully they will come here one day so I can repay them.

I have an interest in WW2 due to family connections and visit any WW2 or Aircraft Museum I can find...being under 50 I guess I don't fit the usual profile and have had many VIP tours from the guides as I show an interest, including being allowed to jump barriers and get better pictures etc. One bloke even drove me 10 miles back to the town as before we realized it we were talking for so long it had got dark and there were no more buses going by. Have even managed to meet two guys who flew with my grandfather.

Doing Family History research I have rocked up at small churches in the middle of nowhere and asked about ancestors...found out some interesting things that way. Other times you strike out.

Things like this mean more to me than a bottle of wine or an upgrade.
 
Mine is 55 years old but I still remember it. A mate and I were hitchhiking around New Zealand and were down on the South Island. We had been to see some feature and had returned to this quiet road and were waiting for a hitch back to the main road, It was about 4 pm. A car going the opposite way slowed down and asked where we were going, the couple was concerned as there wasn't a lot of traffic they said. We said we would be OK as we had a pup tent and Sleeping bags. They drove off but came back an hour later. It turned out they lived a couple of miles up the road and could see there wasn't any traffic. They insisted on taking us home, feeding us, and letting us sleep on the lounge room floor. Stranger still it turned out that the lady's sister was a neighbor of my parents in Australia. The next morning they drove us 50 miles to our next town. We remained friends for years afterward.
 
The best upgrade thread is lots of fun. Travel can be bad and gets TV shows made about he horrible stuff, but it can be wonderful and unexpected.
We were at the Dead Sea in Jordan and talked to the life gauds at the beach. I think it would be impossible to sink enough to drown, their main job is to have lots of bottled water for when you get salt in your eyes. With not much happening we were having a great chat about Jordan and New Zealand, when one of them disappeared and came back with a kilo of Dead Sea Mud, carefully wrapped for us to take home.😳
We thankfully took it with us to the next hotel in Petra. We found one of the staff who understood that we couldn't take mud through Europe for another 3 weeks and certainly couldn't bring it back to New Zealand. He assured us his wife would be very happy.
We also had a few days in Aman. The taxi driver who got us from the airport seemed agreeable, so we asked if he could take us on a few day trips. When he took us back to the airport he have us local Omani Power Authority windscreen shades and coffee cups. We could carry those home.
These weren't huge gifts, but stick in our minds as the fun side of travel.


Make of this what you will.....but please do read to the end of the story for the coup de grace

It was in Melbourne, at the start of 1989 that my wife and I decided to start a family.
Months later, when nothing seemed to be 'producing results', we booked a visit to her GP who simply told us to just relax, chill out and to take our minds off it maybe just book a long holiday somewhere.
So we did and booked a long trip to visit family and friends in the UK, Europe and Eastern Europe.
You guessed it, booking the holiday for later that year did the trick, my dear wife fell pregnant in no time at all.
Three months later - when getting the results of her first ultrasound, my wife rang me at my work to announce the news that not only was she pregnant but that she was carrying mono-zygotic twins.

Great news, that presented us with a dilemma, i.e. shouldn't we now cancel our trip.
My wife made an appointment with her specialist to seek her advice - who advised her not to cancel the trip but to perhaps shorten it and avoid any overexertion in any particular part of the itinerary.
When my wife mentioned that we had planned to also visit the Soviet Union, Moscow in particular, her advisor said that having personally participated in an official tour in recent times, that she saw no reason for us not to go.

So having taken her advice and having discussed it with me, my wife decided that yes we should still go but sensibly shorten the trip. So we contacted our travel agent and presented them with a new, shorter itinerary and the insurance policy charge was adjusted accordingly. Months later but still before our departure, we watched news reports of protests in Tiananmen Square and commented to each other that surely this must mark the beginning of the end.

Fast forward some months now, we are now on our trip and having been to the UK and Europe, we boarded the train in Paris that was to take us to Moscow. We were going to Riga in Latvia but via Moscow.

We had a great time in both Moscow and in Riga and were on the very last day of our trip, packed ready to start the return leg home when my wife took ill - what then took place was a nightmare. It seems that there were two health systems - one for the party members and one for the masses. Our relations managed to talk our way into an ambulance and the hospital only to find us stopped in admissions, the stretcher with my wife placed on the floor and a huge argument ensue - none of which we could understand save for the fact that we weren't party officials and weren't allowed in this class of facility. Developments however took place at such a pace that they had no option but to admit my wife.

It must be kept in mind that at this time the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapsing politically. That night whilst waiting, the doctors (who incidentally in this crazy communist word were paid the lowest wages in their system) presented me with news that I might not have a wife by the end of that night. In an operating room that resembled an abattoir, they did their best with very basic tools. My wife survived the episode but miscarried and over the next 4 weeks we survived through the generosity of our relations who daily worked their social networks to get my wife some of the basics through the black market. None of which included sanitary products or syringes - why syringes, well the ward nurse who seemed to be re using needles and when we asked about HIV, someone resembling Nurse Ratched from One flew over the Cuckoo' Nest, that there wasn't any HIV in the Soviet Union as it was illegal and no good communist would do that kind of thing, share needles etc. At this point in the story, do not ask me about what happened or more precisely didn't happen with our very high profile Australian travel insurance company. Suffice to say it was a life lesson learned that I never forgot.

My wife was eventually discharged from hospital some weeks later and we then spent time with relations. After two months of being in Riga, we managed to buy tickets to exit via train to East Germany. It was an emotional farewell and and an experience that bonded our families like nothing before. We arrived by train into East Berlin with a plan to cross over into West Berlin via Checkpoint Charlie. Forget what we said earlier about trouble in China, it was the Soviet system that was unravelling, and quickly. We did cross the border but by just walking through without being stopped, such was the disarray.

Having put our USSR problems behind us, we simply got ourselves into another pickle. For neither love nor money, could we get a plane ticket out, a hire car or a hotel bedroom. Turns out in amongst of the political turmoil, that there was an exhibition grid iron game scheduled and the amenities were stretched to the max with players, officials, US armed forces stationed in Europe and anyone else keen to catch the game. We faced a night sleeping rough. Standing at the Zoogarten railway station very late at night, staring at the neon sign and handset with a matrix of hotels listed, I rang every single one - all told me 'no rooms available' - in what seems now like a Harry Potter moment, the top left panel blinked several times and I rang it immediately - they had had a last minute cancellation. I grabbed the opportunity without asking anything else and we turned up at what I think might have been the towns' most expensive hotel. My recollection is that the fee was $600 US for the night just for the room, nothing else.

So perhaps at this point if you are still reading my story, you might be asking, where in amongst this is the unexpected gift?


Well it's about to be revealed now....

My Amex credit card survived possibly it's worst ever hammering in a 24 hour time frame, we watched the Berlin wall being torn/chipped down. Then we made some tight connections that saw us arrive at Charles De Gaulle airport just before the boarding was due to start on our carrier Thai Airways. We presented ourselves at their check in counter with our full fare return economy tickets, admittedly both out of date now and asked could we be checked in to what we understood was to be the last flight back to Australia that week. The counter attendant, a very petite polite Thai lady said that she couldn't check us in, even though the flight wasn't full; that that call could only be made/authorized by her supervisors in the Paris office, which was now closed due to the late hour of the evening and that we would have to wait for the weekend to pass until Monday mid morning to try and see what they could do.

At this point my wife broke down crying and I now started to tell the Thai employee what events had been responsible up until this point in time for our out of date tickets. She moved us away from the counter professionally and politely, as I began to plead our case. All three of us were now oblivious to what was happening around us, a sizeable crowd had now assembled, leaning in and listening in to our tale of woe. The Thai lady was clear, she said was beyond her authority level.

At this point a tall American male possibly in his late 20's early thirties moved from the edge of the crowd to us in the centre. In a polite and quiet manner, he apologized that he had been listening along with everyone else in the crowd. He said something along the lines of the following...'' I happen to work here for United Airlines, I can understand completely and respect what this Thai Airlines employee is saying BUT he said, I am so moved by what has happened to you that I have here in my hand a book of inter airlines ticket/vouchers?? I will personally authorize for both of you, two tickets that should all else fail, will be fully underwritten cost wise by United Airlines. With that statement to everyone in the even bigger by now crowd, and the approval of the Thai Airways employee, he duly signed the two chits and handed them her. With that simple gesture, we then proceeded to board the plane for the flight back to Australia.

That folks, is one simple kind gesture I will never forget.
 
Rono.... that was a wonderful story, beautifully written. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your kind words, appreciated.

The memory of it all is still vivid in my mind.
The kindness people from all walks of life have shown me on my travels never ceases to amaze me.
Of course I have met some 'right coughs' as well on other journeys but all in all, it must be said that the kindness shown to both me and my wife on our numerous trips has always outweighed the bad experiences.

Cheers Rono
 
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@Rono, I agree with @sanne - an adventure of epic proportions. I hope your later travels have been less exciting, in the best possible way!

Thank you.

Incidentally last month was the 'anniversary' of this horror trip. It took some time back home in Melbourne for my wife to fully recover both physically and emotionally. But praise be, we now have two great grown up kids and lots of (mostly) great memories of past trips.

Cheers

Rono
 
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