ccolor

Hey, Kal - how many people have you run into on vacation that you REALLY wish you hadn't "found"?

Ryan

Several times. I met a person who lived two blocks from my family in Staten Island, while on a boat at the Great Barrier Reef. In Paris, one of my wife's college friends strolled past us as we were having drinks at the Cafe Des Deux Magots in Paris.

capri767

Too often..makes you realize what a small world it actually is. Less than a year post-college, some friends and I ran into a collge bf and his new gf in Nassau..maybe thats one reason I have never been a big fan of that place..lol.I have twice bumped into someone from my relatively small southern hometown in Miami airport and a friend of a friend in Aruba.A person cant go anywhere these days..lol.

sherryb

This happens to us EVERY time we go to Orlando to do all the parks. We have seen the same family from home on 3 separate trips and each time was a surprise.

While waiting in line to get in a club on Pleasure Island in WDW someone recognized my "Boston accent" and struck up a conversation. He ended up being my older sisters old high school boyfriend. Needless to say we didn't have to pay a cover charge. I have seen the same guy at different venues within WDW on our past 2 trips down there.

Also at WDW... hubby was about to start a new job and we made a last minute trip down there and who did he see in line to get into Magic Kingdom but the hiring VP! They had a good laugh about it but it was awkward for us when we realized we were in a much better resort and for a longer stay than his new boss.

Can't tell you how many waiters, bar tenders, etc. down in FLA came from my town and knew many of the same people as me.

Next trip is 5/2 to Ft. Walton Beach, FLA then on to Huntsville, AL for a wedding. Hubby and I are wondering who we will see on the beach!

BuffaloGirl

My husband and I were in Mexico 17 years ago with two other couples. My friend and her husband ran into someone they knew who was staying in the same hotel and introduced him to us. Years later, on a recommendation from my sister in law, we hired someone to put an addition on our house. It ended up being the guy we were introduced to in Mexico!

jetset1

Yes, I'm still amazed at the weirdness of my story. 1981- my mom, sister and I are living on Maui. My sister and I went to Whaler's village one night to pick my mom up from work(Liberty House). While we're waiting, two guys about our age(mid 20's), strike up a flirty conversation. The more talkative one was on the short side, and beginning to lose some hair. We mention that we're originally from Alaska. The short guy says he had worked up there a few summers, and had even dated the former governor's daughter. Come to find out, this guy was a third cousin or so to my mom. We were surprised to meet a relative this way, and had fun getting to know this cousin and his two roommates. They were sharing a condo like us, and working. We drifted apart after a couple months, when they seemed to get very boring,lol. I guess the scary part is wondering if poeple actually date their relatives without having a clue. No regional jokes intended, though I know the field here on Fodor's is wide open. So my question is, have any of you met anyone in this odd way that you were related to, or am I the only one??

jetset1

ttt

Ranger

On a recent trip to LA, we were driving down Hollywood Blvd. when the car in front of us rear ended the car in front of him. The driver got out of his car and it was a tablemate from our last cruise.

ronkala

George Weiseman, a former shipmate on the USS Trathen, tapped on my car window while I was eating lunch in the E J Korvette employees parking lot in Carle Place, LI. in the late 50s. I had last seen him five years prior when I left the ship in Norfolk. All attempts in recent years to find him again have failed

shannon44

Happens all the time! My husband and I are both from Marblehead, Mass. (on the coast, 15 miles north of Boston). He travels all the time for work, and slips into a simple Marblehead t or sweat shirt whenever possible. He runs into people with connections on almost every excursion. Sometimes I throw on one of his shirts when I'm out running errands etc. Same thing - complete strangers will literally stop me on the street to discuss. It's one of the nicest small towns anywhere, and it seems that everywhere there are people with way closer than "seven degrees of separation " to our little town!

karenvk

Years ago when I spent my junior year abroad in France, I traveled during the summer with my best friend from high school who had been studying in London. We ran into someone I knew from high school or college in virtually every city we went to in France, Spain, and Italy. It became a running joke that people should travel with me if they wanted to run into others they knew from home. Then a few years later I ran into an old high school crush on the strand in Hermosa Beach, CA where I was living at the time. He, unfortunately, was just visiting...

Retired_teacher

For several years my brother and I would stagger our vacation times so that one of us would be on call if our aging father needed us. After placing him in a nursing home, we found that we were now able to travel at will and agreeded to check our home answering machines on a daily basis while traveling in case there was a problem concerning dad that needed both parties input. The following July while my husband and I were traveling in New England, we found a message from the nursing home that required our attention. After leaving several unanswered messages at my brother's home and work numbers, we were at a loss as to how we could contact him. Early the following morning, we were walking down a street in the historic area of Philadelphia discussing whether or not to end our vacation at that point. Suddenly I looked up and saw my brother and his family approaching. They were also vacationing on the east coast that week. We were able to make some decisions, call the nursing home, and go our separate ways. Although estranged and a thousand miles from our respective homes, some force brought us together that morning.

shaz60

My husband was traveling with his siblings to Washington DC. from MA. They stopped at a rest area in MD and ran into my cousin and his wife who are from CT and were traveling to the Carolinas. It is amazing that the few minutes that you are at a rest area or on a street etc. would have you run into someone who is also there only momentarily.

Jackie44

My parents, stopping over in London for a few days enroute to Toronto from Saudi, ran into a friend and neighbour from their time in Grand Cayman, in Selfridges.

travdog

Hey,I know this is an old post, but I thought it said, "Have you ever RUN OVER anyone from home....."

I was in England and saw this guy that looked familiar to me. When I walked up to him, I realized it was someone I went to high school with.

The really bizarre part was that he was now living in a very isolated part of Ireland, and had seen someone else from our hometown several weeks before.

Even weirder was that my traveling companion, who'd grown up in London, actually knew the guy's wife who was Irish.

cigalechanta

My first time in Paris, I was lost couldn't find my hotel, stopped to look at a window display and a guy who ran a gallery next to my apartment was standing next to me and gave me my direction
We were in the Theives Market in Mexico City when we ran into someone who went to school with me, now living in MC. He invited us back to his home where we ended up spending an eating/drinking week-end.

MaureenB

My Dad had a great experience like this. He was in London, watching the changing of the guards, when he heard his name called. It was his nephew, standing practically next to him. Neither was aware the other would be in London then.

Shane

Many years ago, I had a writer named Eric Liu as a client. He was just out of college. Later, he would join the Clinton Administration as a writer and, after that, wrote a book called Accidental Asian or something like that. In 1995, I was visiting Seattle (my wife was stationed there for 4 months by the EPA) and was desperately trying to flag down a cab to get me to the airport when I saw Eric Liu doing the same thing but across the street. Unfortunately, things were so desperate (the Seattle trolly had broken down) and getting to Sea-Tac Airport on time was becoming touch and go, so I couldn't stop and chat with him. As we knew each other in Washington DC, it was odd to sort of meet him again in Washington State.

Syv

At Hopewell Rocks (Bay of Fundy) -- waiting for a lady in front of me to finish taking a picture before walking across in front of her. When she brought the camera down from her face, it was my "previous" sister-in-law (my brother was killed in a car accident 6 weeks after they married). She is now remarried & lives 2 hrs away from me.

kamahinaohoku

To relate to jetset1's reply in April: A number of years ago, I went to a dinner party at a friend's house in Honolulu, and met and was seated next to a nice couple who also lived in HNL. During the course of the dinner, I found out their last name (somewhat unusual). I asked the husband if he was related to a Ken ******, and he said "yes, he's my first cousin". I told him that in that case we were related, as my first cousin married his first cousin...we were "cousin-in-laws". Both cousins lived in NY, 5,000 miles away.

And once, while walking through the LAX airport on my way to visit the east coast (from HNL) I met a friend of mine who'd visited the east coast and was on his way back to HNL. Met in a tunnel. Amazing.