Soaring Spirit

Freedom.

I didn’t realize how parched my soul had become from a lack of long-term travel until I stepped foot in Taiwan for my layover.

I can feel my soul expanding, smiling, happy.

If my soul could speak it would be saying:

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I never sleep well on planes but I slept almost the entire 13 hour flight to Taiwan. When I awoke I asked the American couple next to me how much longer to Taiwan and they said 40 minutes!

Amazing.

Hogan and Lisa were the American couple from Iowa who were sitting next to me. They are academics who lecture around the world at various universities.

They are taking a sabbatical and traveling around the world for 7 months, starting in Malaysia.

After that? Who knows.

Makes my 10-week trip to Bali and India look like a shrimpy, well-planned trip.

I stopped at the money exchanger to get Taiwanese currency so I could buy breakfast and a coffee. I asked to exchange $100 for Indonesian currency and the money exchanger said, “Don’t do it here, do it in Indonesia–better exchange rate.”

Sweet.

Then I sat down in a cafe to drink my coffee and first one then two Vietnamese people sat down next to me.

A 25-year-0ld woman from Minnesota named Vi and a 52-year-old man from Atlanta, Georgia named Hong.

They didn’t know each other and they certainly didn’t know me but within two minutes we had exchanged names, jobs, locations of home in the U.S.

They were adorable. Hong was hysterical.

He had these one-liners that would make Alicia (my friend who does one-woman comedy shows) proud.

Sorry Alicia, I can’t remember any of his one-liners right now. But they were quite funny.

Vi and I were laughing and rolling our eyes at Hong.

It was so fun.

My soul has been missing this instant connection with strangers that happens so easily when one travels.

Bali, here I come!