Travel, for me, is about connecting with people and nature. After my second trip abroad, I found out that I wasn’t into checking off the biggest number of places or visiting the most popular attractions in each country. Staying in glamorous hotels or getting five-star services wasn’t my thing. Going to a place without trying local transportation or without living with locals would make me feel like missing out. Since then, my travels have been linked to people and social interactions.

Traveling slowly, exploring locally and finding gems in very ordinary places is all I need. It provides me with a sense of simplicity and satisfaction simultaneously.

Having vegetarian homemade meals with a local Nepali family after helping out on their farm in Bhaktapur, attending a Nepali wedding party in Birgunj, receiving some rupees from the bride (which was a kind of tradition) and seeing how much we have in common, more than differences, taking my host’s children for a walk in Mombasa and buying them ice cream were a few of my happiest and unforgettable experiences.

I found generosity and warmth in most places. On that farm in Bhaktapur, my host’s wife gave me some of her winter clothes as I wasn't equipped for that cold weather. She was also keen to feed me well every day. One day, I accompanied her wearing one of her saris when she went to vote, everyone we passed by thought I was a Nepali relative of her.

I’m still in contact with some but life got in the way with the most of them.

I’m wondering whether the Nepali woman got more volunteers! How the Kenyan girls look now after two years! Do they still remember me? How many children do the married Nepali couple get?