You Never Know Who You Might Meet Along the Journey
“As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” - Winnie the Pooh
Most definitely, Duane and I are thankful to be sharing this grand adventure with each other, but we also love intersecting with other folks along the way. In the 4.5 months we’ve been on this journey, the list of fascinating humans we’ve met and journeyed with has grown quite long. Most are new friends we’ve made such as the Sisters in Kerala, Dhanyajinu in Kerala, Mark and Cindy from Waco, Beryl from England, Kathy from Australia, Marisa and Torbin from South Africa and Germany, Eysan from Turkey, and more to come.
Our path has also been blessed by the accompaniment of old friends such as Mike and Stephanie and Steve and MaryJo in Malaysia, Ron and Janine in Bali, our Emily and Franklin in Bali and Delhi, Hannah in Delhi, and many others. Moments shared with these friends are rich treasures.
Travelers often are kindred spirits, which is why you’ll hear people talk about meeting someone while on a trip and keeping in touch with them for life. You might have already had someone come to mind who’s like that for you! There is something about connecting with people while “on the road” - you end up sharing stories, comparing notes, passing on tips and tricks you’ve learned, connecting the dots in your lives, and feeling enriched from the encounter.
Keep your eyes and ears open and your heart willing to receive, and you’ll often find these wonderful treats as you journey. We recently had an unexpected treat that actually came through a connection with my former job at Brookdale Westlake Hills. One day back in September I received a Whatsapp message from Sue Lindell who happens to be the daughter-in-law of Betty Lindell, one of the sweet ladies I became close with at Brookdale. She said, “We are going to be in Singapore in October and wondered if we might meet up with you wherever you are in Southeast Asia at that time!”
One thing nice about the way Duane and I are traveling is we pretty much “make the road as walk it” which means we remain fairly flexible at all times. We were in Penang, Malaysia preparing to head to Vietnam when we received Sue’s message, so we posed the suggestion that they come let us show them some of Penang then travel with us to Kuala Lumpur and Melacca, Malaysia then on to Vietnam. Much to our delight, they actually jumped on the suggestion!
I had spent a little time with Bob and Sue through working with Bob’s mom at Brookdale, but Duane had not met either of them, so we were delighted to discover the four of us made great travel buddies! The “Southeast Asia Adventurers”, as Sue named us, spent a week together exploring Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Malacca (they decided to save Vietnam for another time). Sharing adventures on trains, buses, boats, rickshaws, and Ubers (called “GRAB” in Asia), we had so much fun! Duane and I were delighted that Bob and Sue were so willing to jump right in and go to all of these places with us. We enjoyed exploring together, sharing lots of stories and laughs, and forming memories which we will treasure forever.
You just never know who you might meet along the journey. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open!
In closing, we want to let you know that we are now sitting in a very cool boutique hotel in the center of the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam! We arrived a few days ago and have already fallen in love with this city. Stay tuned for blog posts to come!
