How Being Lost in a Foreign City Restored My Faith in Humanity

It was a cloudy and humid day at around 35 °C in Hong Kong, when I wandered around the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. I missed my bus stop and got off around five stops too late. There was no money left in my pocket to buy a ticket for the way back, so I started walking.

I was looking for my hotel. I knew I was on the right street, but I just couldn't find it anywhere. My backpack was so heavy that I started to have extreme back pain. I was sweating. Wearing a sweatshirt and a scarf that wasn't a surprise, but there was no possibility of getting changed. They lost my luggage, so the only clothes I had were the ones on my body.

I was lost. After over one hour of walking, I started to give up. I was on this journey for 20 hours already. All the way from Germany. I had no internet connection to look for my hotel. No money left to pay for a room in another hotel. No one by my side. I was all alone. For the first time in my life, on the other side of the globe.

It started to rain. What would I do next? Where would I sleep? It slowly started to rise. That little tingle in my nose, right before my eyes started to fill with water. That was just about when I heard someone speak. I turned around and looked him straight in his eyes. A man was standing behind me, talking to me in a foreign language.

"Sorry?" I said.

"Do you need help?" he asked.

That was the moment when the lump in my throat and the weight on my shoulders slowly started to dissolve.

I explained my situation to him, and he offered to look for my hotel on his phone. After him trying to explain to me how to get there and me not getting it, he took the time out of his probably very busy day, to walk me to my hotel. I must have looked awful, desperate at least. I never felt so thankful before.

As soon as I got to my hotel room, I started crying. All the tension, all the worries that built up during this awful journey came crashing down on me. I never felt so alone in my life.

When I tried contacting the airline regarding my luggage, I noticed my phone battery was dying. That's when it hit me. A crater the size of a football started to build in my chest. My charger was in the suitcase that the airline lost. How was I going to ask my parents for help to fix the issue with my credit card or contact the airline regarding my luggage?

I went for a walk and took my camera with me, to give myself a break from everything that had happened during the last couple of hours.

On the way back to my hotel suddenly someone started talking to me again. He walked with me for a while, and we talked about photography and travelling. He wrote down some sightseeing tips on the map I carried with me. I also told him about my situation with my luggage and my phone and that I didn't have enough money at the moment to buy a new charger.

He told me he had a friend that owns a charger like the one I need, and he could get it for me. At that moment I was speechless. How much luck does one person need, to meet two of the most selfless people possible in a matter of only 3 hours? I know it was just a phone charger, but it was also the thing I needed the most at that moment. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time. I felt like hugging the whole world. I felt like all of my worries were swept aside.

He got me the charger, I charged my phone and met up with him again, later on, to give it back to him. That's when my journey made a 180° turn and everything turned to a better.

Two beautiful souls showed up to me when I needed it the most. When I was at a low and didn't have a way out. Two selfless individuals taking time out of their day to help a stranger on the street.