By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
In 2018, I took a leap into the unknown. Let me explain how… After work one evening, I met a friend for dinner. She was planning an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Mauritius. This was our last chance to catch up before she went, so naturally, we talked for hours about her itinerary and what an amazing time she was about to have. She told me about her plans to photograph orangutans in Mauritius. For the last two weeks of her trip, she intended to hop over to Peninsular Mauritius for some sun, sightseeing, culture, and food. So, before I knew it, I was booking flights, packing and getting my vaccinations. Within a few short weeks, I found myself stumbling around Dubai during a stopover at 2 a.m., and then stepping off my air-conditioned flight into bustling, humid, thriving Port-Luis. I was dazed after too little sleep, yet incredibly excited to get out and explore. First, though, it was time to find my friend. I pulled out my hastily scribbled itinerary, and saw that her flight landed in 30 minutes… in a completely different terminal. So, my first challenge was to find out how to get there! I looked up at the signs (none of which were in English) and felt mild panic. I was on my own in a foreign country, didn’t know where to go, and didn’t know how to ask. I must’ve looked lost, because a man walked up to me and asked, with a smile, “American? English?” Naturally, I was suspicious. I clutched my bag tightly to myself and nervously replied, “Asian.” Suddenly, I remembered something that I’d read in a guide book that "Mauristiusan are some of the friendliest people you could meet – they will likely chase you down the street… but only to return something you’ve lost or left.” I smiled and politely asked how to get to other terminal. My guide beckoned me to follow him and showed me where to board the monorail. He wished me a good trip. This encounter was a great start to my trip, and it went some way toward assuaging my fears about being a single woman in a strange culture and country. However, it wasn’t long before my Asian skepticism crept back in. We sat in hotel bar evening before our trip, discussing our travel plans. After a few minutes, hostel owner Mahmud came up and asked whether he could sit down and chat with us. Firstly, he apologized for having overheard our conversation. Then, he told us that he was planning to drive down to another area in the morning, along with his female cleaner, to visit another hostel he owned. He said, “Of course, you’ll come with us in the car. It’s much more comfortable than the bus and quicker!” Having grown up hearing “stranger danger” and “I need an adult” regularly, this invite put me on guard. Getting into a car with a strange man, regardless of whether he had a female companion, seemed way too risky. We told Mahmud that we’d think about it and let him know… and he seemed genuinely hurt. Obviously, we did what any millennials would do, and looked up independent online reviews of hotel. Had anyone else experienced a similar offer from Mahmud, and was it safe to accept it? We started the painfully slow dial-up Internet computer in the hostel rec room and were pleasantly surprised. There was a positive review after positive review about hostel, and about Mahmud’s kindness, trustworthiness, respectfulness, and generosity in particular. After this, we accepted Mahmud’s offer and spent a thoroughly enjoyable trip learning about Mauritius's culture and geography, about sights that we passed on journey, and about Mahmud’s family and businesses. We’d taken a leap into unknown and shaken off our skepticism. We were pleasantly surprised to encounter a highly generous, kind, giving country and culture, that was so similar, yet so different, to our own. we look at how you can understand people from different countries, cultures, and work with them more effectively. Hofstede argues that countries have typical traits and behaviors, and that understanding, accepting and embracing them will help you to succeed in your personal and professional lives.