There’s a friend of a friend wherever you go.
As mentioned in the last blog, we popped up to the Philippines, and loved it, even though there were 3 typhoons in the area and there was more water than I’ve ever seen, falling, and flooding, and fogging – generally obscuring the views. Good thing we actually flew there for the conversations. (We’ll see the views next time)
John, in the video below, became our friend and (tour guide) via facebook messages with a mutual friend. Listen to our chat about the value of talking to strangers and the joy of connecting.
John drove us an hour from Manila to Tagaytay City – to his family’s favourite restaurant where we had a really lovely brunch.
John says in the video, “They’ve been able to try some of the local foods like Bulalo. And now, it’s too bad because it’s really foggy but they’re supposed to see how beautiful the lake should be. One of the things that I’m really fascinated by meeting Lyndon and Kerrie is, when you go out of your comfort zone and talk to strangers and the next minute you become friends… what an experience.
… that saying “Don’t talk to strangers because they might end up harming you one way or another” is really not something that’s always the case.”
It’s important to let go of that fear or that concern – as so many people say to me “99% of the time, when we say hello to somebody, it’s either it’s fine or its good or really good”.
It’s so rare that you encounter somebody who’s not pleasant because if you’re looking for people you can connect with, you’re looking for a friendly face. It’s going to turn out ok. Especially if you show your friendly face!
REFLECT – What’s your perception of talking to strangers? And what’s the family conversation? Do people tell you “don’t talk to strangers”? What’s the impact of holding back from a possible connection? What have you learned from strangers? And what gift have you given strangers? (you might be unaware of your impact!)
We’ve done a ‘soft launch’ of the Connect With Confidence online program and it’s exciting to see new conversations and connections occuring as a result. If you haven’t seen it yet – check it out here – and get the earlybird price :)
Have a great week connecting!!!
Cheering you on,
Kerrie
PS. Are you in the neighbourhood? Join us for an event here – EVENTS
PS. A little bonus reading & watching –
A view of Tagaytay’s beautiful volcano lake on a clearer day. Photo supplied by John Prado
Our conversation with John continued as we drove around Tagaytay and through a new (stunning) housing estate and I captured a few more of John’s insights.
“Talking to some local stranger, they give you more ideas rather than what you can see on books or on the websites… I love doing that. Every time I travel, even when I was in Europe, I ask people, like, even in France, in Paris, I ask for the Boulangerie, where’s the local bakeries and bakeshops and often, it’s really underrated.
Like, the best pastries that they had, all my life is just from one local bakeshop that nobody tells you about in books or in websites. So, yeah, go connect with strangers and they might surprise you in a great way.”
by Kerrie Phipps
