Smooth....Very Smooth

Budapest, Hungary

As most everyone knows, Kevin and his friend Sam have been gallivanting around Europe for the last month.  When people would hear of this trip, they normally had one of two reactions.  One group of cautious folks would have a look of horror come over their faces and would ask if we were nervous about letting him go.  The second group would slap us on the back and congratulate us for encouraging such a fine learning experience.  Typically that person had backpacked or biked through Europe themselves and would proceed to tell us stories of narrow escapes and wonderful memories from back in the day when they were a carefree teen or early twenty-something.  

Honestly, when Kevin approached us about the trip, I think he was surprised at our positive reaction.  But Kevin's super responsible, level headed, possesses more common sense than the average teen and has one of the biggest cases of wander lust ever known to a seventeen year old, so the trip seemed like a tailor made adventure for him.

While I confess that "worst case scenarios" occasionally run through my mind, for the most part I have complete confidence that Kevin and Sam are resourceful enough to find their way in train stations, decipher the time schedules, and figure out a way to communicate their needs, even in countries that don't speak their language.  And, if all else fails, they can both be amazingly charming and nearly irresistible.  

And based on a conversation I had with Kevin on facebook, my assessment of their abilities is entirely accurate.  They are in Croatia, staying in a home (the owners are out of town) with no internet access.  They rented bikes and planned to camp for two nights at a mountain near Varazdin, Croatia.  Unfortunately it was cold (like 45 degrees) and raining, so they pedaled back to the house in town.  The house with no internet.  

I saw Kevin online at about 1pm Croatia time and wondered how it happened he had internet access.  Here is a log of our Facebook chat.

Me:  Where are you right now, if the people don't have internet at their house?  
Some coffee shop or something?

Kevin:  We asked the neighbors for there wifi password. Lol

      Me: Oh my gosh...you all are CRACKING me up!   


       Kevin:  Haha.  We try.


       Me:  You just went knocking on their door, introduced yourselves and asked for their password?

      Kevin:  Maybe

Me: lol  Oh my...


Kevin:  We needed Internet!!!!


Me:  Desperate times call for desperate measures...no doubt.

Kevin:  Lol. It's good we did cause it's too rainy to go to town for Internet. It's nasty!


Me:  And they were happy to meet such charming American young men.


Kevin:  Exactly. And we needed it for getting train times and stuff


Me: Right...

So if you are the shocked and dismayed type who wondered why on earth we would let these young men buy a Eurail pass and visit London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest and now Croatia before moving on to Venice, Florence, Rome and who knows where else; rest easy.  These boys are smooth, very smooth.  Who else would have the courage to visit perfect strangers, who may or may not speak English, and ask for the password to their secure internet access?  And how many young men would be charming enough to walk away with password in hand?  No worries....these boys will be fine.