Anyone who has traveled has had this experience: you see something, whether it be intentionally or by happy accident, there is a moment that totally captures your attention. There you are - standing at the end of some little curving narrow street or watching gondolieres dock their gondolas - far from home, somewhere on the globe, relaxed, unencumbered by stress and deadlines, part of a moment in another country and another culture.
Everything looks different, smells different and feels different. The sounds you hear might be another language. It IS different and yet, the same too. The people may live differently, speak differently but there are so many more similarities than differences between us. Your mind, your emotions are all caught up in the experience and you are transformed, maybe forever, by the new memory created. At that moment, there aren't words to fully explain what it feels like and what it means. It is specific to you but others who have traveled or who have really good imaginations can relate.
This isn't completely accurate or sufficient by any means but as close as I can get:
It is magic. Pure magic.
From that point forward you will always remember those little moments. Whenever something jogs that memory be it an image, a sound, a name; and it warms you up and makes you smile. And you think to yourself "I was there. I saw that. I was part of that." It's thrilling.
So, when I write about smelly pit toilets or bad shower experiences remember that it is only one small part of the whole experience of travel. The joy of travel over shadows the occasional unpleasant experience, by far.
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