I never seem to have that sort of luck.
When I attended an international conference in Adelaide, back in 1986, I was hoping that I might get to know people from all over the world, so that I could have some cheap holidays. However, while I met lots of great people, there was only one guy who I knew would have been happy to invite me into his home. Unfortunately, a visit to his home city at that time might have ended up with me staying in his country rather longer than I intended (as Terry Waite did). Yes, the only close friend I made was head of the Unesco mission in Beirut! ;-)
Chris