Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As Sophia translated these last words, Seng's eyes filled with tears. Mai looked back
and forth between Sophia and his mother, as though he, too, were just beginning to under-
stand. Seng said something to Sophia in Khmer, the Cambodian national language.
Sophia smiled and explained, “She says thank you and that she will never forget you in
her life.”
Seng took hold of my hand, the tears now flowing down her face. We didn't need words.
This was the type of moment that I had always been seeking. It wasn't out on the road with
unending freedom. It was here, in Seng's hut. It was getting to pay attention to someone
closely enough, that I not only learned about her life, I was able to become a part of it.
Mai came up to me and gave me a hug as he thanked me in both Khmer and English.
Seng also began to smile through her tears, speaking again to Sophia.
Now it was Sophia's turn to start crying, “She said she's never lived in a proper house.”
The missionary's words were wafting through my soul—I would learn so much more
from the people I met than I could ever hope to teach them. The only thing I could do was
humbly offer gratitude for the lesson.
Before leaving the next day, I gave Mai a ride in Kindness One. As the wind whizzed
through his hair, I looked over to see him smiling. It was the first time I had seen him smile,
and it was the memory of that joy that followed me down the dusty road as I restarted my
journey to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Meeting Seng had shown me just how
isolated one human could be. I hoped that in offering her a home, she would feel connected
again to life.
* * *
I find that sometimes it takes a third party to restore us to our best selves. Sometimes we
just can't do it ourselves, however hard we may try. I thought back to when I moved to Los
Angeles to pursue my big dreams. Like for so many people who try to break the mold of
their previous existence, things weren't going particularly well. I had come up with a big
dream, which unfortunately had turned into big expectations. Big disappointment naturally
followed. Those walls felt like they were closing in on me, so I decided I would find a new
dream, out there, away from home.
Had I been with Lina at the time, I am sure she would have called it running. But I
called it adventure. I was going to drive from London to Mongolia. The only snafu was
that I had a near head-on collision with a Romanian driver. Death missed its intended target
