I’ve thought about this photo since 2014…

Out of all of the photos in my camera roll, I’ve thought about this one the most.

I spotted this woman carrying over a dozen balloons on a side street in Jerusalem in 2014.

Where was she headed?

Who were the balloons for?

What was the reason to celebrate?

She was just living her normal life. I was just an observer.

Sonder: noun. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.

This photo, this moment, this woman…this is when I REALLY understood the beauty of travel. I was a 19-year-old American girl with my own hopes and dreams and fears and celebrations, and there I was getting to witness someone else in her own home, living her own existence. We’re not so different.

I’ll never know who she is or where she was going. She’ll never know me. But as humans, we are connected.

Something to think about the next time you travel…