Last night, on a date in Bricktown, my girlfriend and I were on our way to Harkins to see Ted, and at the ATM by on Oklahoma Ave & Flaming Lips Alley, we passed a trio of guys with backpacks. My girlfriend and I have both traveled internationally before and thought that we might be able to help them out with directions or information. It turns out that they were from Belgium, travelling from NYC to Los Angeles, filming their experience in America for a Belgium television program. They were on a limited budget, attempting to travel the U.S. on a budget of $25 a day.

Initially, they asked us about any hostels or cheap accommodations nearby. I struggled to think of something that would fit within their budget and couldn't. They mentioned that they had tents, and asked if we knew of any areas to camp, parks or something similar, after explaining that it was illegal, I offered my small garage apartments yard for them to set-up in. They took me up on it. We agreed to meet us in Bricktown after our movie and we came back and had a nice visit about world travels, American culture, and Oklahoma.

They told us they had arrived on July 4th in NYC hoping to see the fireworks there. They didn't get to see them because they had picked the wrong spot to view them. From there, they went to Washington D.C. to get footage of our nations capital. Then they went to Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains, then they spent the night with an outgoing minister in Little Rock that offered them a backyard to camp in and prayers for their journey. After an hour from arriving here in Oklahoma City on Greyhound they were stuck. They were hoping to catch an overnight bus to Amarillo that happened to be sold out. They were stuck in OKC for the night. That's when they happened upon us. The next bus out left at 11:45 am today, so I told them during our conversation that I wanted to show them what I could today after a short nights sleep. We left my place at about 8:30 am and took them to a grocery store so that they could resupply with some food for their journey. My girlfriend ended up buying their groceries for about $10. We insisted. The plan was just to go to the bombing memorial, but along the way while going through the uptown portion of 23rd street, I explained that we were on Route 66. They asked if we could pull over so that they could get some footage. We pulled over by the State Capitol, and we discussed some of the history of Route 66. From there, we went on to the bombing memorial with about an hour and a half until their bus left. I did my best to explain some of the events from my personal experience with it and the two travelers and their cameraman seemed genuinely touched by it. Then it was time to get them to the bus station.
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk217/mrk_cunnhm/Belgians.jpg
From here, their plans were to stay in Amarillo and attempt a free meal by tackling the 72 oz Big Texan. Then they planned a night in Flagstaff, then possibly a night at the Grand Canyon. Then a night or two in Las Vegas and finally ending their journey in Los Angeles before flying back to Brussels.

So...Some thoughts. I'm incredibly happy that I was able to help them out with everything, as I'm sure they were too. Originally, my girlfriend and I had planned on a different date and at the last minute we decided to go to Bricktown for dinner and a movie. It was just a chance encounter. A low-budget hostel and transportation were their biggest complaints. I'm sure that they were happy that they ended up staying here, but that originally wasn't their intention. I know that OKC will never be an international destination, but I feel like we can do more for those that are travelling through with some basic things. A downtown/Bricktown hostel, even if only 8-12 beds in a dorm style setting would help. Transportation too. What else could we possibly do to embrace this?

We tried something similar across Europe. Results-expensive.

Not necessarily. I see a great angle here, with them attempting to travel the U.S. like a lot of people do Europe, and failing miserably because it's just not possible.

If memory serves, hostels tend to run 15-30 a bed a night. With three of them, they probably would have done as well rate-wise hitting up one of the places on south I-35 (except for transportation issue.) Another shot would be the (misnamed in my opinion) Bricktown hotel and convention center over at eastern and reno. I think they have a shuttle into either DT or Bricktown, so that would have aided the transport issue.

If the visitors were serious on trying the Big Texan, I hope they got it down. That sucker is pricey for those who canna get through it.

All in all, sounds like they were fortunate to have you stumble across them. Good on ya for all you provided to their experience.

jstanthrnme: Thanks for taking care of our Belgium visitors. I have backpacked many months through Europe when traveling on Eurail passes (1975 and 1991) & always loved when Europeans invited me to their homes or showed me their towns or cities. I usually preferred to sleep at bed & breakfasts or hostels since they were great sources of international friends and information about their town. Now that I am retired, I hope to spend the summer in Europe one of these years. My expectations of trekking around the world probably won't happen unless I go back to work, either here or while I travel.

I once thought of opening a hostel here in OKC, but I didn't think OKC could attract enough international visitors. Even after the Thunder's great season, we still have a problem of getting travelers here into Oklahoma City.

The average European knew of Oklahoma City even before the Murrah bombing, probably because of the musical Oklahoma. We have always been blessed with many international students studying at OU, OSU, East Central, UCO & other schools since we still have reasonably priced education for our out-of-country students. But as we get bigger & more famous (thanks to the Thunder), we can expect more visitors from overseas.

Be on the lookout for overseas visitors & engage them in conversation. You don't have to put them up for the night, but just give them a good impression of America & try to help them if you can. We do have some bed & breakfasts (http://www.okbba.com/) in OKC and Edmond. http://www.okbba.com/ But to my knowledge, we don't have anything resembling a hostel in the Oklahoma City area.

John Hite, retired, Oklahoma City

Actually, we do have a hostel. I don't know how I'd compare it to hostels outside of this area. Called 43rd Street hostel, like $20 a night for a bunk and it includes breakfast. The couple that owns it are nice folks, and the place has like 8 bunks plus a private room is available for those that want to pay a little more.