On "Misery and Beauty of Travel"

Due to various reasons, I got stuck in unknown and undesired places a few times during my travels. Though very frustrating, in retrospect, I value those times. As I had no option but to regurgitate my feelings, I sat back, examined my life, and tried to judge it as a third person from far.

Once stuck in a tiny small town of upstate New York due to massive snow, I had the most peaceful dinner (steak cooked by an older man) under very dim light at a small eatery adjacent to a motel. It was nothing but serenity in my heart - the steak was tender, the silence was priceless, and the moonlight after the snow was magical. The next day, I had to walk to a small store in foot deep snow to buy food. A mother and her little girls ran the store. Happiness on their faces to find a customer told me how important it is for people to pay bills on time. It was a very humbling experience.

 Driving through Alabama, my car broke down, and I had to wait three days in a tiny town. I had no choice but to sit on the balcony all day and read a book - and watch people going on with their life. It dawned on me that we all are just characters on a TV screen. The script is indeed written somewhere else. I became less judgemental of people since then.

 When I had a two-month gap between my residency and board exam, I took a road trip and drove I-90 across the continent from West to East Coast. On the first night, as I entered Idaho, I was exhausted. I stopped by at a small gas station. I saw a sign of "psychic." He gave me graphic details of my life for the next 20 years. Many of them turned out to be very real and in the same manner!

 Not very long ago, two old hostesses of not a very fancy 'Bed and Breakfast' in a small town in France fought with a taxi driver as I missed my train as he didn't arrive on time. They forced him to drive me to the train station for free.

 I encountered good and bad people, but I found humans helping and of good heart in general. The family has opened doors on me in the pitch darkness of the massive wilderness of Indiana. In Ottowa, a bartender has cooked fresh-cut fries for me knowing I am hungry. Denny's waitress had let go of half my bill in Kentucky as I was short on money, and my credit card didn't work. It was in Turkey that I was served free breakfast only because I was from Pakistan! I have people buying a subway ticket for me in Quebec as I struggled with the machine due to the language barrier. I had the best samosas of my life in the far land of Tanzania. Forget humans; I had bears on the highway staring at me but let me pass without harm.

 I have no regrets of unkind hosts, harsh weather, getting mugged (once), missed flights, broken car, long lines, dirty motels, sleeping in rest areas, etc. - as these all made me witness the beauty of humanity from very near.

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