Summary

In 1985, a public school teacher from the United States embarked on a ten-week trip across the British Isles, relying on Servas, a peace-promoting hospitality exchange organization, and hitchhiking for free lodging and transportation, leading to an extraordinary series of coincidences involving a host's family in Belfast and a chance reunion in London.

Abstract

The author, an American educator with a passion for travel, recounts an extraordinary sequence of events during his 1985 trip to Europe. Utilizing Servas, an organization aimed at fostering world peace through cultural exchange, he secured free accommodations and embraced hitchhiking to explore extensively. His journey took him through Belfast, where he was hosted by the family of a man named Andy Frew, who had moved to London. Later, while hitchhiking in Yorkshire, he was given a ride by a family, including a woman named Camilla, with whom he parted ways without exchanging contact information. In a remarkable twist of fate, upon struggling to find Andy's address in London, the traveler serendipitously encountered Camilla at a randomly chosen house, leading to a reunion with both Andy and Camilla's family before his return to the U.S.

Opinions

The author values Servas as a means of promoting world peace and cultural understanding, emphasizing its role in his travel experiences.
He views hitchhiking as an effective and adventurous mode of transportation, reflecting his thrifty and intrepid approach to travel.
The author considers his coincidental meetings with Andy's family in Belfast and Camilla in London as a remarkable and memorable aspect of his journey, highlighting the interconnectedness of people's lives.
He reflects on the "small world" phenomenon, inviting readers to share their own experiences of serendipitous travel encounters.
The author's positive sentiment towards his hosts and the hospitality he received is evident, as he fondly recalls the connections made during his trip.

The most amazing coincidence story I have ever experienced or heard of

Follow me from Belfast to Yorkshire to London

Roughly the ten-week trip I took, starting in London and going west, clockwise, through Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England. The three scenes for this story take place in Belfast (1), Yorkshire (2), and London (3). [This and all other photos by the author.]

In 1985 I visited Europe for the first time. I was 38 years old, had just completed my sixteenth year of public school teaching, and my only other overseas travel experience had been five and a half weeks in Japan, 1982.

I was traveling on the cheap in those days, using every possible way to save money so that my travel could last longer. Low-cost was good. Free was even better!

Free places to sleep and free transportation as much as possible

By then I had been a home host member of Servas for seven years. Servas was founded after World War II as a means of promoting world peace among citizens of different countries. It’s a terrific organization and I’m still a Servas host.

The way that it works is that travelers who had been interviewed and granted official letters of introduction could arrange to make two-night visits in the homes of hosts who were listed in the host book of the country where they lived. There is no exchange of money between visitor and host.

By then, having hosted dozens of travelers from all over the world, I had been a traveler only during my visit to Japan. I was well versed in how the system worked and, if I must say so myself, was a damn good host and traveler.

As for transportation, my preferred method was hitchhiking. I sure did do a lot of that, as I traversed a huge percentage of the British Isles during the ten weeks I was there. You can see the map above to get a sense of the ground that I covered during this trip.

It started with a stay in Belfast

The way that Servas worked in the pre-Internet age was that a traveler wrote a letter to a host where he wanted to stay, giving the host enough time to write back to accept or decline the request. There was no doubt about it: traveling this way took quite a bit of patience and advance planning!

For my Belfast visit, I had received a positive response from a gentleman named Andy Frew. When I arrived at the house on the pre-determined day of my arrival, his mother opened the door, invited me inside, and told me that Andy had moved to London for work. Though he would not be there to host me, I was welcome to stay just the same.

Before I left Belfast to continue my journey, Andy’s mom gave me his address and phone number in London. Since I would need to return to London for my flight home, I told her that I would contact Andy so that we could eventually meet in person.

Hitchhiking success in Yorkshire

After visiting Scotland, I returned to England. Somewhere in Yorkshire, I was picked up by a delightful family comprised of a middle-aged couple and their two adult children whom I assessed to be in their early twenties.

Of the members in the family, the only name I remember is the daughter: Camilla.

I don’t remember too much about the ride, but, based on this photo of Camilla and her parents, we evidently stopped somewhere. I have no recollection of that at all. [It was, after all, 37 years ago.]

When the ride was over, I thanked them and went on our separate ways. We did nothing like exchange phone numbers, addresses, or anything like that.

Return to London

Once I was in London for the final days of my trip, I decided I would make good on my promise to meet up with Andy. I still have the little book of London maps, Pocket London, in which I attempted to find his address. I usually do quite well when it comes to finding my way using maps. As I wandered through Andy’s residential neighborhood, though, I found that I was having a devil of a time locating the proper address.

It was a quiet residential neighborhood where there were not many people on the street; those whom I approached for help did not know of the place I was looking for. In desperation, I thought, Well, then, probably somebody who lives in this neighborhood would be able to help me out.

It seemed that my best approach would be simply to walk up to any random house, knock on the door, and ask whoever answered the door if they could help me out.

And that is what I did. I just picked a house at random, knocked on the door, and then, when the door opened, there stood…

Camilla!

As you can imagine, we were both shocked. I was thinking, How did you get here? and she must have been wondering, “How did you find me?”

Epilogue

In any event, I did eventually find Andy, as you can see from this photo:

And though I don’t remember the exact details, I met up with Camilla and her brother before I left London for my return home.

How about you? Have you had any kind of “small world” or coincidence story such as this when you traveled?