I discovered when buying my bus ticket from Ljubljana to Vienna that I would have to have a layover in Zagreb. I was not totally disappointed by this news as it meant that I would get to see my Zagreb family again. Instead of the two hour minimum layover I gave myself a layover of about six hours so that I would actually have time to hang out rather than just coming by, saying hi, and heading back to the bus station. Unfortunately, Cookie Fingers was away on a daytrip, but I did get to see Mic, Hermione, and Holly. I arrived on the day that Hermione was moving from the hostel into her new apartment, so I helped her carry her things the few blocks to where she would be living for the next few months. We took a really sketchy old elevator up and I got the honor of being the first guest she had over to her place. Aside from that short venture and another quick trip to grab a sandwich for lunch I spent the rest of my time in Zagreb that day hanging out at the hostel and chatting with my three friends. While I was there, Hermione drew a picture of our little family on the drawing wall of the hostel while I supervised, and Holly made some oatmeal for us, while I once again supervised.
I decided that I would pose the best friend question to my Zagreb friends, and was really glad I did. Like with the folks in Ljubljana, I once again received some incredible answers and learned a lot more about these people, whom I had already gotten to know pretty well over the previous week. After saying goodbye to Zagreb once again, I boarded the bus to Vienna and thought about the best friend question as the bus took me to my next destination. I was already growing weary of the typical questions that we constantly ask and are being asked as travelers, such as, “Where are you from? Why are you traveling? What is your favorite place so far? Where are you most excited to visit? How long are you traveling for? What did/are you studying? What do you do for work?” None of which typically tell us meaningful things about the people we meet but rather tell us simple facts that blend with the facts we learn about all the other people we have recently met and leave no real impression. I decided that I would come up with a list of questions similar to the best friend question and try to replace the mundane questions that we usually ask with this new list of interesting questions that are much more likely to produce intriguing answers that help us get to actually know the person with whom we are speaking.
So, while on the bus I came up with fourteen more questions to add to the list and in the month since then I have asked these questions to people I have met everywhere I’ve gone and have had some really amazing conversations as a result. The list has expanded from the original fifteen questions up to nineteen currently and I’m sure there will be more added as time goes by. I encourage you to take these questions and use them the next time that you meet someone new. They were designed for travelers but can be used in everyday life as well. Even if you don’t ask them to anyone else I hope you will at least ask them to yourself. They require a fair amount of introspection for the most part and can lead you to some great personal revelations, as they did for me. Many people are pretty skeptical of the questions when I start asking them but by the time I get to the end of the list most people are disappointed that the questions are over and are asking for more. I even had one girl ask me to write the questions down for her so that she could put them up on her wall back home. So, I hope you enjoy the questions and if you have any stories that you would like to share as answers to any of these questions I highly encourage you do so in the comments section, or if you don’t want to share your answer publicly but are willing to share it with me privately, shoot me an email.
Without further adieu, I present, The Questions:
Who is your best friend and why?
Who was your first kiss and what were the circumstances?
What is your favorite memory of being sad?
What were you thinking about the last time you smiled to yourself?
Who was the first person you weren’t related to that you told you loved them?
When was the last time you really cried and why?
If you could spend the rest of your life with only one person who would it be?
If the rest of your life was just one day would it be the same person? If not who?
If you could choose how you died what would you choose? (peacefully in your sleep is not an option)
What do you miss most about being a kid?
What was the scariest moment of your life?
When did you last spit in the face of one of your big fears?
What was the moment you realized you were in love for the first time?
Who shaped the person you are today the most? (not including your parents)
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
What is your earliest memory?
What is your favorite memory of a meal where the food was the focus?
What was one of the most awkward moments of your life?
If you could add one thing to your life that you believe would make you happier, what would it be?