Wonder-lost

The first time that I knew, and not just realized, but deep down in the depth of my soul knew, that traveling was the only thing that could cure my wondering heart, my curious mind and my itchy feet was when I set foot upon the untouched land of Coffee Bay. Coffee Bay, and unspoiled gypsy village in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, had an aura like I had felt before, jolting with bursts of sunshine and unrequited happiness. This dusty town had not one lavish amenity, actually it was quite the contrary, but never had I seen faces so happy, with pockets so empty. In this moment, I realized that, it was about the little things, about the small beautiful pleasures, the beauty in the ugly and the simplicity of squelching mud between my toes. When last did you stop to squelch the mud between your toes, and laugh in zeal with delight as it tickled?
Days were spent exploring the lands, unsure of what was over the mountain, uncertain of when I would turn around, touching, feeling, living the unknown. I observed the intricacy of simplicity, with the wonder of a child, and even though I was the epitome of a lost soul, I never felt more like I belonged.
I found pleasure in the sun tucked behind the clouds, the dirt in the freshly caught and uncleaned mussels, the girl with the spare cigarette, the homeless man who remembered my birthday, the icy salty ocean waves that literally knocked me off my feet, the hopefulness in the vagrant's eyes, the worm in the corn cob and the smell of the fresh rain on the hot sand.
While driving out of the town, being stared at by every child, woman and cow, as we had a 4x4 vehicle, I stopped by a little boy to hand him my last R20, ($1.87) and as I drove off, unsettled dust emerging behind me, my heart dropped as I watched him in my rear view mirror, open and close the R20 note, four times, before jumping up and down and waving his arms above his head as if he was the richest man in the world.
There were moments, where it felt almost cruel to leave my footprint in such an untouched land, to leave a hopeless R20, and my name painted on a rock, but then it dawned on me, that this was what all my wondering lost was for, to discovered the undiscovered, and to revel in the small things, that often sadly go unnoticed and untouched in a bustling world run by so much more than the little beautiful things.