As I walk around, I’m perpetually reminded of people or places. It’s usually just little things. I look at a hill and it reminds me of a girl I went hiking with last year. I can still hear her calling me “old man.” 

Some 5 years ago or so I used to idly fantasize about bringing the various friends of my life together. There are friends from my time in Jakarta, in the US, in Switzerland, and elsewhere. They have different contexts in my life but overall I have good memories of them and would love to have them within reach. 

Still, I got older and my priorities have changed, and I always knew that idle fantasy would never happen. 

The first time I fell in love, I discovered that what I wanted rather more was at least one person who took enough interest in my life to want to discover my roots and hear my stories. 

The trouble is that while some people can take their significant others home to their old family home filled with memories and photos and family, I can’t. There were two houses in Jakarta, a place in Michigan, extended family in Houston, the several places I lived in Switzerland, and so on. It’s almost impossible to retrace the steps of my life. 

While the idea of a world tour, should I one day prove rich enough, is a fun one… Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if my life were simpler.