102 HERWORLD JAN 2020
StrangersWhoOpenedMyHeart
Inthecourseofmyyear-longtravel,Imet
incrediblepeople.Whowould’veknownthat
Iwouldmakethatmanynewfriends,andin
diff erent continents too?
Friendships aside, the strangers whom I
met on my journey remind me every day that it’s
important to be kind because it goes a long way –
the same way people have shown kindness
and support during my diffi cult moments in
Colca Canyon.
The ordinary folks whom I got to know
in South Africa, Myanmar and Peru taught
me something invaluable: Be grateful that my
blessings are more than my problems.
Sometimes, we owe it to ourselves to pause
every now and then to acknowledge that good
feeling after a job well done or the gratifi cation
after a good meal, or refl ect on a meaningful
conversation. You don’t need fancy or expensive
stuff to bring you joy.
I learnt about the “art of enough” through the
people I met on my trip. How they live and what
made them happy got me thinking deeply about
the concept of suffi ciency in today’s modern
society, of how we can balance the way we liveanddothingsinordertomaintainourwell-
beingandhappiness.
Iwasfortunatetohavecrossedpathwith
genuinefolkswhofilledmyheart,souland
tummy with good (home-cooked) food, coff ee
and wine, kindness and many wonderful stories
that I could take home. That was enough for me.Happier Self
I never thought I would make it to 23 countries
in 12 months. It was defi nitely no Amazing Race
as I set out on my happiness journey from Day 1
in a leisurely pace.
I arrived with an open mind to embrace
the present and what was ahead, and it was
nothing short of empowering and, at times,
endearing.
It became a transformative process,
watching myself grow from someone who was
fi nding her path to fi nding herself. And along
the self-explorative quest, I reclaimed my
happiness.
I returned to Singapore a year later with
renewed energy, having “graduated” from a
worldly experience that made me see things in a
whole new perspective.Seen here at Paro
Taktsang, a sacred
site located in Paro
valley in Bhutan, writer
Gyscha Rendy grew
from someone who
was finding her path to
finding herself.