LOCATION: "The Elephant Crossing" - VANG VIENG, LAOS

It was a humid night at the Elephant Crossing lobby in good ol' infamous-for-tubing Vang Vieng. My good friend Javier was rocking out an acoustic set, wow'ing our newly made friends Andrew B. , Melissa A. , Amanda G. as well as myself. Amidst failing at my attempt to provide justified "oohs" and "aahs" to support my homey, one of the coolest things ever happened.

I saw that the newest edition of the BACKPACKER. South East Asia Magazine had been released digitally.

So why would this be such an exciting event in my short life?

Well... because on Page 15, I found this.

It's the first time my own work has been featured in a printed publication. It was a piece I called "Koh Exist/You Are On an Island", which was inspired by my previous trips to Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Phuket & Koh Lanta.

I quickly face-timed my brother to let him know that it was up. And then it hit me, my immediate family was nowhere to be found within arms reach. I was a whole world away, in a place I have never been in, celebrating one of the greatest things to have ever happened, with strangers.

And that.... is the beauty of it all.

For I was able to share my moment with people from totally different walks of life. The way I've always wanted to. As Melissa & Amanda & Javier took turns reading my piece, I cringed in fear, trying not to show an ounce of expression on my face, in the hopes that they would like it. And once they had given me their verdict, I let out a sigh of relief as we continued on with the music.

The world will never cease to amaze me. I've had some of the greatest moments of my life occur with people who I've known for a matter of either 2 minutes or 2 days. The aftermath of such moments don't matter as much, whether I will get to see them ever again, which in most cases, I hope I do. Because that won't take away from the "now" factor associated with each moment I've gotten to share with them. Traveling, has in fact given my definition of what a "friend" is, a total face lift.

So with that said, this is just me expressing gratitude for any and everybody with whom I've got a chance to share a "hello" and "goodbye" to. I wish to see you all again at one point in time, and if not, I keep you in my prayers and hope that your travels bring you moments of "genius", "clarity" and "excitement".

This is coming from very bottom of the heart of the introvert whose passion and desire to see the world, trumps his fear of interacting with the unfamiliar faces and unknown places.

Because of you, I've went from writing 3 "16 Bar" stanzas packed with amateur rhymes to reflective articles on how amazing the world is, and what it means to me.

So All in All,

Muchas Gracias

Merci

Kopchai Lalai

Maraming Salamat

Saum Arkoun Anak

Dankie etc.

Thank You, "Friend".

-PASSPORT|kenny

Field Notes