We experience some of our best memories while traveling, and we also can experience our worst. You learn a lot about yourself, and the people around you, when you are in an unfamiliar place, being confronted with unfamiliar situations. The excerpt from, “Travelling,” by Grace Paley, describes two different scenarios that portray this phenomenon very well. It is a girl reflecting on a story of her mother who stands up for human rights on a bus, and she looks back on her own response to when she was once faced with a similar situation.

This story had me reminiscing on my personal experiences while traveling. I have spent a lot of my time and money going on trips around the world, and when I look back on each of my ventures, I can think of at least one positive or negative memory that I consider unforgettable.

I once found myself face to face with a woman I couldn’t keep my eyes off of. She was a woman on the streets of Hong Kong, who possessed all the wrong things. She had a drug addiction, a sidewalk for a home, and a baby girl. In the streets of New York I always try and avoid eye contact with the homeless, but this woman with her baby had my attention. She had the most beautiful, bright, yet saddened eyes that one could imagine. I wish I could have known what she was thinking in that moment. Did she hate me? Did she spite me? Did she think I was judging her? I always wonder what that women thought of me and I’ve always wondered why. She most likely didn’t even think anything of it- just another person poking sticks through her cage. But those eyes, that scene, and that baby’s gaze is something I’ll never forget. So I bought her a cup of bubble tea, and I swept myself away.