A Date to Remember

In my last year of adolescence, I went on a date that changed my life. You might be thinking that I met the man of my dreams - but that's not actually this story.

This is the story of how my way of thinking about the world, its people, and life in general made its first distinct transformation.

I grew up in a small town in a conservative family. What I knew about the world, like many people, came from TV, movies, and the news.

Because of that, my view of the world was very insular. I was the center of the world, the inside, and everything else was on the outside. People from different cultures seemed fundamentally different. How could they not be? They lived in entirely different environments, under different conditions, speaking different languages and practicing different religions. They were totally and fundamental - different.

Then, I went on this date. I went to the mall to see "Tomb Raider." The first Angelia Jolie Tomb Raider. Before the movie, we went to KFC. Classy, right? Then we did a little window shopping around the mall. It was this huge mall, like five stories. It had so many amazing women's clothing, shoes, and cosmetic stores. It's food courts had McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts.

It was your typical mall.

The thing was...I was on a date in Medan, Indonesia. A country with a population of 238 million people which is actually the fourth largest country by population. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and it's also the world's third biggest democracy.

So, back to the date. A couple weeks earlier, I was on this boat crossing the Strait of Malacca and I met this man, a Scottish Chemical Engineer. We had been traveling together since that boat ride but - that's also a story for another day.

This date was our last hooray before going our separate ways. He was heading to Singapore and I had to go back to Thailand by way of Malaysia the next day.

So we decided for our final night, we would go out for dinner and a movie which brings us back to - KFC, Tomb Raider, and wandering the mall.

It was during that window shopping that my transformation began. I was watching a group of women in hijabs looking at a little red dress while one of the girls pointed out a pair of matching high heels. Something started tickling at my brain. Then, I saw a mother eating her McDonald french fries while her husband was trying to get their children's attention, they were very excited about the mall jungle gym. There was that tickle again! We went to the concessions and then to see the movie. As I tried to focus on Angelina Jolie kicking butt, I had this sudden realization that all human beings are fundamentally the same. I mean, I was realizing this along the way of course, as I spent every night hanging out with locals, but this is when it really hit me.

All humans care about their family.

All humans want a tribe, a group of friends they can hangout and feel comfortable with.

They want to express themselves, and their individuality - sometimes with fashion.

They want to fall in love, have a family.

They want to live a long life, in peace.

....for the most part.

I wanted to see more of this. To learn about humans - every human. To spend time with people, talk to them, learn about them and FROM them. There's always been a desire to see things in me, to travel and see the big sights. But this was the moment when my reason for traveling changed.

I wanted to experience...everything and everyone.

If someone asked me to describe myself in one adjective - it would be "curious" and that was really solidified here, in this moment. I'd always been curious and I knew that this was just the beginning of my learning. I needed to see more, meet more people, experience every climate, immerse myself in every culture, and see every desert, jungle, forest, and city that I could.

I want to see it all.

This used to make me anxious. There would never be enough time. Not enough life to see all of life. Now, I don't really feel like that. I've accepted that I will never experience "the whole world." That's okay. It's about the journey, living in the moment when I travel. It's not about marking items off a bucket list. It's about taking control of my life and focusing on the happiness I gain with every new person I meet and every new town or village I visit.

My advice - take it slow, see what you can, experience what you can and soak it all up...like a sponge. Happiness will always follow.