The Kindness of Strangers

I want to share an endearing story with my readers,  thank a new friend, and introduce a method for retrieving items lost when traveling.

We visited Israel in January 2010, staying a few nights in the Old City of Jerusalem. We had taken 2 digital cameras with us, along with 1 film camera to photograph the amazing sites and scenes of the ancient city. We got some excellent pictures, and were looking forward to getting home to share them with our friends.

On our final day in Jerusalem, we awoke at 5 a.m. for a bus ride to Eilat. Our sleepiness coupled with our hurrying caused us to leave behind one of our best cameras: a Canon S3. Though we were disappointed to have lost the camera, we were more upset about the many pictures that we had taken which were not replaceable.

We attempted to contact the hotel from Egypt, and several times again once back in the United States, but the management refused to package the camera and mail it to us. I initially reached out to friends with family in Jerusalem, contacted travel bloggers located in Israel, but could not find anyone able to pick up the camera. As a last result, figuring the camera was most likely lost for good, I put a posting on the Jerusalem Craigslist page under the “gigs” section.

Within a few hours I received contact from Sharene, an American girl living in Israel, who kindly said she would help us. It was a challenge coordinating the pickup with the hotel, and Sharene had to venture within the walls of the Old City three times before they gave her the camera. But once she had it, it was back in our hands in the United States within one week. The Israeli post office even helped pack the camera for her, and then mailed it for a very reasonable price just under 100 shekels.

This story reinforced an important principle of travel: its okay to rely on the kindness of strangers when traveling. When you travel, everyone is a stranger, so open your mind and your trust. You’ll be surprised how helpful people can be if you give them a chance.

Also, if you do lose something while abroad, leverage the internet to try and get it back. Utilize your social networks, Skype, or listing websites like Craigslist to find someone to help you.

Finally, please join me in thanking Sharene on Facebook. She was more than kind for helping us, and had great patience while dealing with the hotel. Here are some of the pictures she helped us retrieve.

[View with PicLens]

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