19 years ago I was in Rome, where all I had with me was my trusty backpack and some savings in the bank. I wandered the streets looking for somewhere to stay. By chance I discovered a dorm type youth hostel named Fawlty Towers, this was clearly meant to be. For those that don’t know, Fawlty Towers is one of the most famous and loved sitcoms to come out of the UK. Starring John Cleese as a bumbling hotel manager a few decades ago this TV show won the hearts and minds of millions, and it’s still hilarious if you watch it today.
So as a Brit, seeing this was too good to be true. Upon entering it didn’t disappoint, a hand written sign with an arrow pointing to one of those old cage lifts was in the hall and I jumped in. Not much happened, I thought they were automatic, not so. I found a chain dangling in the corner so pulled it. High above me I heard the distant sound of a bell ringing. A minute later, with lots of crunching noise the lift began to rise. I started to become unsure whether I’d make it to the top alive and on that short (though what felt very long) journey I became convinced I would fall to my death in what felt more like a torture chamber than lift.
I did make it to the top, where an Italian girl greeted me with such enthusiasm I wasn’t sure if she’d had human contact in a while. It was quiet and kinda ghostly, so my mind began to work on an escape plan, I was no longer sure staying there was right for me. The ghostly nature and over excited greeting I’d received were unnerving.
“English?” The girl asked
“How did you know?” I replied
“You look really English” was her response
“Oh, how do I look English?” I said, trying to hide the hurt in my voice. I liked to pride myself on blending in wherever I visited and clearly I’d done a poor job in Rome.
“Ha! Well it was either that or American, no Italian would be wearing those shoes.”
At this point I wasn’t sure if I liked her or loathed her, it was definitely one of the two.
After a coffee and more chat she told me the computer system was down and she couldn’t assign rooms so was doing it the old fashioned way on paper. It also turned out they were full except for 1 of the 2 single rooms they had (all the rest were dorms). I wasn’t able to afford it as still had 10 months of travel ahead of me, I didn’t want to waste dollars on luxury at this point.
I offered to take a look at her computer, I liked tinkering. The girl let me sit down and I played around, I don’t remember exactly what was wrong but it was some kind of device conflict and I had it fixed with the software up and running pretty quickly.
With this, what was an excitable greeting initially, just got turned up to super maximum. The girl did a jig, shouted excitedly at the top of her voice and gave me one of the biggest hugs I’d ever had at that point in my life. She then refused to let me leave, offering me the single room free for the next 3 nights as a thank you. Turns out she’d been waiting a couple of days for a technician to arrive and fix the issue.
From that moment on, in every country I visited I asked about computer problems in hostels and cafes. I enjoyed the tinkering, I only broke one system badly enough that I got asked to leave and I managed to get free accommodation in parts of Thailand, Australia and Fiji. I never did ask for anything in return, it was either offered to me or my payment refused as a thank you.
I learned a lot during that period. From how to to build trust quickly, what the common pitfalls of Windows 98 were (there were many) and that helping people do things that you also enjoy feels really satisfying, it’s win win for all.
And sometimes, the reward is a hug, that’s the best reward on the planet.