When coronavirus hit, thousands were trapped overseas with no idea what to do or how to get home. When things started to get hectic, these travel agents (or travel angels, as some have dubbed them) stepped up. Sanne Wesselman was stuck in Alicante, Spain. She was far from her home in the Netherlands and had no way of finding a face mask for her returning flight.
"I was a little nervous about taking a flight right in an outbreak," said Wesselman. "So not being able to buy a face mask definitely increased my stress levels."
An eavesdropping shopper overheard her plight and offered to buy her a new facemask. Wesselman accepted, and things took off from there. "She prepared a lovely package for me, containing the face mask, gloves and hand sanitizer. I picked it up the next day," said Wesselman on her travel blog.
She wasn't the only person receiving a kind act in an uncertain time. Jess Ekstrom showed up late in Philadelphia and recalled an Enterprise shuttle pulling up beside her while she waited for the correct bus. As a result, she now only drives with that company.
"The driver parked his shuttle," she recalled, "and waited until the right shuttle pulled up so I wouldn't be standing out there alone."
All around the globe, nice people are doing their best to do nice things for those new to their community. A recent survey found that 2 out of every 3 US citizens say that a smile or "hello!" from another person makes them feel less anxious while traveling. Next time you see someone new to your area, be sure to ease their worries and offer up a grin!