Coffee Stained pages:

That’s how people live, by telling stories. What’s the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? “Tell me a story.” That’s how we understand who we are, where we come from.

Stories are everything. 

You’ll never know, maybe that time when you smiled and greeted the stranger, that stranger could have his/her life changed because of it. You’ll never know, maybe that kid sitting by himself is just waiting for someone to approach him and be his friend. You’ll never know, the rude cashier had a tough day with her family. You’ll never know, maybe you have already met the one just by doing one good act. You’ll never know until you try.

My idea of travel: travel is little beds and cramped bathrooms. It's old television sets and slow Internet connections. Travel is extraordinary conversations with ordinary people. It's waiters, gas station attendants, and housekeepers becoming the most interesting people in the world. It's MacDonald's drive-thru being a luxury. It's the realization that you may have been born in the wrong country. Travel is a smile that leads to a conversation in broken English. Travel is tipping 10% and being embraced for it. Travel is the same white T-shirt and jeans again tomorrow. travel is flowing in the back of a bus with giggly strangers. It's a street full of bearded backpackers looking down at maps. Travel is wishing for one more bite of whatever that just was. It's the rediscovery of walking somewhere. It's sharing a can of root beer on a overnight train with a new friend. Travel is "Maybe I don't have to do it that way when I get back home ♥

It's the wound we can't see that caused us the most heartache.

Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes.

Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.