You never know what kind of unique opportunities might happen on a MindStretch Travel Adventures trip. Here are four examples where we’ve made local headlines during some of our past journeys. Click each photo and check out the caption for each photo to get the back story.

Click this link to find out how you can make your own headlines in 2019.
...

Last night I was fortunate to be in the audience in Tryon at a concert by the Kruger Brothers. If you’ve never heard of them, or never heard them…you should check them out. http://krugerbrothers.com
 
The brothers are two Swiss-born musicians accompanied by an American guy and their music is is a blend of Americana roots music, a little bluegrass, folk, and even classical. Doc Watson was one of their inspirations and in fact the brothers settled in Wilkesboro, North Carolina to be near Doc and his musical influences.
 
And so how does this relate to how an MTA experience can turn boys into storytellers?
 
Well Jens and Uwe Kruger talked last night of their early musical experiences and how part of that was busking as young kids and teenagers on the streets in Western and Eastern Europe.
 
And that reminded me of a MindStretch Europe trip in 2009. We were exploring the streets and canals of Amsterdam and happened upon a string duo. It so happened that one of our adventurers was a 12-year-old who had recently started to learn the mandolin. As things would happen, Mark Gilbert was soon handed over the mandolin from one of the street musicians and the other European musician accompanied Mark for a number or two.
 
I’m guessing Mark no longer plays the mandolin, but I’m guessing he still remembers his entertaining me, his fellow travelers, and absolute strangers as he played on a canal bridge in Amsterdam.
 ​
And that’s one more chapter in turning boys into storytellers.
 
We hope you’ll be interested in being part of your own story this coming summer.
 
Read about the opportunities available this summer.

These were two street musicians we discovered on our way to dinner and the Anne Frank House. Leader Chuck Bryan originally hails from Kentucky and he asked these guys if they could play "Kentucky." They obliged. Here's a short video clip. By the way, these two musicians are from Europe...you would have thought they were part of an Appalachian bluegrass band. We dedicate this video to Chuck.

Part of the fun of  traveling anywhere we go is coming upon a street musician or two. The YouTube video here takes that to a whole new level. I'm not sure where in Europe this was filmed but I hope we end up there this July.

And that always bring back memories of our own Mark Gilbert performing with a couple of street musicians in Amsterdam on our 2009 trip. I don't know if Mark still plays the mandolin or not, but he's going back with us on our upcoming trip. HIs little brother is coming along too! Who knows what we'll discover on this year's adventure but you can sure it will all be memorable!