I started this thread of posts to share feel-good encounters I’ve experienced while traveling (If you haven’t already, check out Part 1). Often, people are overly cautious and on edge when visiting new destinations, especially places with a mixed reputation. However, I’ve been fortunate to meet several amazing strangers during my travels, and I cherish even the smallest gestures of kindness they’ve shown me. I hope these stories remind everyone that there are still good people out there. Here’s the public transport edition of these encounters.
Unlocking Buenos Aires City Bikes with a Kind Stranger’s ID
Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a major urban enthusiast, so I love exploring cities using public transportation. Naturally, when I visited Buenos Aires, I was thrilled to discover their extensive bicycle-sharing network, Ecobici, which was free as long as you returned the bike to another station within 30 minutes. I found a station with the bright orange bikes and eagerly downloaded the app, ready to ride.
To my dismay, I realized the system wasn’t tourist-friendly—it required an Argentinean or Chilean ID. Frustrated, I stood by the bikes, pondering my next move. Just then, an Argentinean man arrived to drop off a bike and asked me what was wrong. I explained my situation, and after a moment’s thought he told me to wait and made a phone call.
When he hung up, he told me his sister had offered her account for me to use. He helped me sign into his sister’s account and retrieve a bike. I explained the places in the city I wanted to visit, and he even mapped out a route to ensure I could reach each nearby bike station within the allotted time to access another bike. Thanks to this kind man and his sister, whom I never met, I enjoyed the best views of Buenos Aires from the comfort of an Ecobici bike, free of charge.
Navigating Foz do Iguaçu’s (Brazil) Buses with A Local’s Help
After a breathtaking visit to Iguazu Falls and a short walk to Parque das Aves to see hundreds of bird species, I was exhausted and needed to return to Foz do Iguaçu city. Uber operates around Foz, but wait times can be long, and prices high for Brazil, so I decided to figure out the bus system. With the Moovit app, I had a rough idea of how it worked, but its bus arrival times were often inaccurate (Google Maps was even worse).
At the bus stop, only an old Brazilian woman was waiting. I sat beside her, hoping I was in the right place. After waiting seven minutes past the scheduled time, I gathered the courage to ask her. She only spoke Portuguese, but she was eager to help. I switched to Spanish, figuring that she would likely understand about half what I said, and I surprisingly understood about half of her Portuguese. She explained the bus options to get back to the city and reassured me that buses often run late.
Her bus arrived, but she chose to wait with me until mine came. I think she enjoyed hearing about my solo trip to Brazil. We conversed for about 10 minutes—her in Portuguese, me in Spanish—with a strange but mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s companionship. My bus arrived, and as I boarded and waved goodbye, I realized that despite seeing the world’s largest waterfall system and over 100 bird species, the highlight of my day had been a broken Spanish-Portuguese conversation with a kind old woman by the road to Foz do Iguaçu.
