Explore the world, internalize its magic, reflect its beauty

Destination: Anywhere
Date: Anytime
Gate: Who knows!
Seat: Cheapest!
Passenger: Miss Tamlyn Henderson
Non-refundable
Non-refuseable!

Scribbled on a piece of torn paper, written by a man only I can call brother, slipped into my fingers the day I turned twenty seven. What can be experienced off the back of a tattered piece of brotherly love? It made the day of a Peruvian cab driver when I stepped off the airplane and into the drivers seat, making him squeal with thigh-slapping glee. It inspired a thousand confused expressions, the recipients of my jangled, mashed-up, no doubt hilarious attempts at Spanish. Forever changed my perception of the color blue in Huaraz after peaking a ridge to feast on laguna 69, an intensity so shocking it burned the image to my eyeballs and ingrained mother natures masterpiece to my memory. Hold up, make that masterpieces. For what other word holds enough power to describe the meticulously and poetically placed bricks of Machu Pichu, a time capsule of concentrated history, witnessed only by the rolling sweep of surrounding green secret-filled mountains. Or the vast expanse of shimmering mineral salts that form the Bolivian Salar De Uyuni, captivating and holding all her adoring spectators in awed silence, a lone glacial fox sat on her silver carpet in quiet contemplation. That single piece of paper lightened my backpack of the unecessary weight of a tablet and knocked a few significant zeros off my budget on the Peru-Ecuador border crossing. Eliminated the fear of a re-occuring childhood nightmare as Vulcán Tungurahua exploded ash and lava right before my eyes, thrilling instead of chilling my senses to the bone as we drove beneath her fiery tantrum. Flooded a Puerto Lopez sidewalk with my tears one Christmas Eve as I gave in to a sudden and desperate craving for the people I call home. Sprinkled a different sidewalk in Riobamba with my blood after caving into the inevitability of high altitude. Passed eight months of my life in a small town bordering the Ecuadorian jungle being charmed by four year olds, bathing in rivers fluttering with dancing butterflies, forging friendships, eating jungle delights, absorbing the music that is Spanish, cementing my inner me.

So just how much ´gift´can you cram into a tatty piece of paper? This one, tucked safely into my faithful diary has crossed countries, seen wonders, and paid a richness of experience into my life bank that will gather interest in my memories for years to come.