It's the little luxuries in life that you notice most immediately when they're gone. The simple pleasantries that make modern life a little bit easier. They're the salve you apply to bad day. You barely notice them when they're just a part of your day-to-day, but when you abruptly have to give them up, you suddenly realize how much you needed them.

As a traveler, it can be all too easy to write the narrative before the trip even begins. We assume that if we charge boldly into a strange new world, we will inevitably be rewarded with spiritual growth and imbued with ascendant knowledge. But the real process, I think, is far more exciting than that.