To the person I was before I started the three-year journey around the world.

Dear Me,

You are now in Essaouira, Morocco, after traveling 1,086 days around the world. In ten days, you will complete three years of vagabonding. What an absolutely fantastic adventure it has been.

You’ve been to 67 countries, nearly 300 cities, and covered thousands of kilometers. You’ve had countless adventures and met so many beautiful souls—some became friends, some became stories, and some became lessons. You’ve seen unbelievable natural beauty, from erupting volcanoes to endless deep blue oceans; from lions and orangutans in the wild, free and full of life, to expansive deserts with not a soul in sight.

You’ve witnessed the rich spend mindless amounts of money on floating Louis Vuitton islands, glorified churches and mosques, and vintage Jaguar cars for a Tuesday drive to the grocery store—and yet complain about every single thing in their lives. You’ve also seen children going without school lunches, not eating from 8 am to 4 pm because of a lack of funds. You’ve seen dogs, cats, and cows starve on the sides of the road, and people covered in their own waste with not a morsel to eat, who yet smiled at you warmly when you shared a piece of bread or a bottle of water.

You’ve experienced multiple religions, praying in temples, churches, mosques, synagogues, and gurudwaras. You’ve lived in villages and immersed yourself in tribal cultures; you prayed to the sun god, danced in the rain, bathed elephants, and fed cows and chickens. You took care of stray animals and slept on roofs, beaches, desert sands, and in the thick of jungles, and on volcanoes, watching the vast, expansive stars and galaxies far, far away.

You took planes, trains, subways, buses, campers, motorbikes, mopeds, and bicycles; you hitchhiked and walked thousands of kilometers with a backpack containing the only belongings you have and a heart full of adventure. You laughed and you cried—out of happiness, pain, pure joy, utter sadness, fun, out of fear, and sometimes, because it was the only thing you could do.

You succeeded and you failed. You put on weight, then lost a few inches. You felt your best after yoga training and Ayurvedic massages, and you were so sick you passed out on a bathroom floor with no one even knowing. You got tattoos applied with grapefruit thorns by local tribes; you have scarred knees from falling thirty meters down a mountain and neurotoxic coral wounds.

You fell in love, got your heart broken, and broke hearts. You hugged and held space for people, and were held close until you “ugly cried” into their clothes—sometimes out of love, sometimes out of loneliness. You were scared, lost, and lonely, but you never gave up because you knew that after every storm, the sun inevitably comes out. “This too shall pass” you reminded yourself many times. You learned to live through all emotions, respecting them and enjoying them while they lasted.

You learned that we live in an unjust, biased, and prejudiced world. But you also grew wise enough to understand that you only see a small part of what happens during a lifetime, and no matter how harsh it looks, it is exactly how it is supposed to be. You learned the true meaning of “what goes around comes around,” and discovered that there is so much love, joy, and kindness in this world if you know the secret of looking for it in the little things.

You’ve faced this world with a big smile, a kind heart, and a strong mind. I’m so proud of you, because everything I have today is because you never gave up on your dreams and never let fear win. I love you the most.

With love,

Mia (You)

© Dear Dhuniya 2026