It's not often I hear that traveling has actually changed someone's life.  It changed mine, in ways that are still making themselves apparent, but when I talk with most people who have traveled, they relate incredible experiences, not life changing events.  

 

And so it was that I found myself talking with a CFO of a small startup.  As I came into his office,  I saw pictures on his wall that were most certainly east Africa, and I was sure Kenya and Tanzania, specifically the Serengeti.  I asked about them and he related the story of the trip he took there with his wife and 2 children.  I told him of my travels there, and as we talked, he told me more and more about his trip.  But the conversation soon took a different turn, and he began talking not about the trip, but about the effect it had on his wife and his lives.

 

He told the story of being on safari with a local company, and they had a Masai scout along with them.   The scout's job is to spot animals while out driving through the preserve, and send the vehicle driver off in that direction.  They have an amazing ability to spot animals.  I remember one time where a scout spotted a leopard in a tree, that even with binoculars I could hardly make out.  It's almost uncanny, their ability to see animals at a distance.  

 

He went on to describe this man, telling me that he had almost no possessions to his name, short of his spear, club, and the clothes that he wore day to day, and yet he was one of if not the happiest, peaceful, most contented men he had ever met in his life.  Coming from the western world full of what George Carlin so lovingly refers to as simply "stuff", and especially the high powered world of a business executive, he was utterly blown away by the fact that this man could have so little and yet be so happy.

 

They spent many days on safari with the crew and this Masai warrior, and were deeply moved by his simple existence and carefree attitude towards life, and that became the most inspiring aspect of the entire trip.  Yes, Kenya, the wildlife, the flowing, undulating vastness of the Serengeti plains had certainly moved them, but nothing like the life of this Masai warrior, so opposite in every way to their own.

 

Upon returning to the states, he and his wife talked of this at length, and decided to not let a life lesson pass them by so easily.  Still desiring, and needing to some degree, to stay in Silicon Valley and continue working, they decided that they really didn't have need of nearly as much stuff as they currently owned.  Mr Carlin would have been proud.

 

They spent some time going through all their stuff, deciding on what was really important, and what was really hanging on from a sense of imagined sentimental guise.   They downsized, getting rid of a large percentage of what they owned, only keeping the things that they felt were truly important and had real meaning.

 

They also reevaluated their lives, and decided that family and friends were the most important things to them, and made a vow to put them first and foremost in their lives.  And so they made the changes to make this so.  Social functions took on much less importance, even business functions demanded of a high level executive, in favor of spending time with their friends, family and children. 

 

It's hard to describe the feelings that I felt as he told me all this: wonder, awe, respect, even jealousy.   Yes, jealousy.  Despite all my travels, I still feel pangs of jealousy every time I hear an amazing story like this, as my own desire for travel and the life changing events that it can bring never seems to be satiated.  But at the core, it was simply wonderful to meet someone that not only travel, but travel in a part of the world I hold so dear, had such a profound impact on their life.