Love Letters — An Around the World Tale
There’s something so personal about writing a letter.
You have to have the supplies, the patience to write, and the desire to share something lasting with a specific person.
Traveling around the world for six months without a phone or reliable internet, letters were my way of sharing my experience and communicating. When letters are all that connect you to your family, friends, boyfriend, and life back home, those letters become more valuable than gold.
There is something cathartic, beautiful, and even romantic in letter writing. Maybe it’s because writing letters are shown as grand gestures in romantic movies, or maybe it’s because we hand write so little that receiving something handwritten is surprising and special. Whatever the case, the long, handwritten letters I sent, and those I received in return, made me feel closer to my loved ones.
I know receiving letters was one of my favorite things at each port: it was so special to open the letters and see a snapshot into the world back home.
Excerpts from the first letter sent on my around the world journey
My Dearest Kyle,
The nature of traveling on this big ship is unlike any I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing before. There is a false and lulling sense of sameness on this ship. We can sleep and eat and walk and chat and do homework in the same places every day. The constant rolling waves give us the calming sense that today is the same as yesterday which will feel the same as tomorrow. Endless stretches of sea are visible to the horizon and beyond. But this ‘sameness’ may be our most life-altering and continuously changing part of our voyage. Every day, every hour, we pass over worlds that reside under the waves. There are countless unexplored places and creatures just beneath us — and we hardly even notice!
Every day may look the same, but there is nothing the same about them. The water constantly changes; the sky and weather are new; the people are the same but we too change day by day. I have plenty of time to reflect and truly think about who I am, and I know I am changing. Instead of my connection to my phone, I have developed more love for pen and paper. I really enjoy my quiet and introspective time to really reflect, analyze, and remember. I have been forced to enter a small community where I meet new people constantly, but I am more alone than ever before. I’m making friends, but we are all so new here. The constant motion and quiet alone time make reflection quite necessary for survival. I’ve been pondering questions of: Why am I here? Why not travel by a faster means? How have I never noticed how vast the world, particularly the ocean is?
We are all changing, always in constant flux; we are learning to really observe our surroundings. I want to share all of this with you, Kyle. I wish you could experience this constant meditative motion and this sameness with me. Remember that I am still here for you, here to calm and encourage you, to hold your hand, and catch you if you fall. I love you Kyle.
You are the love of my life, my soulmate, and I am trying to send you every ounce of my love to you through my letters. I hope you can feel it.
Tonight I noticed the stars for the first time. Balmy night air whipped around us as we were bathed in the moonlight. My new friends and I could not resist the call of the beautiful stars. We climbed to the upper deck and laid down right on the deck with our heads forming a kind-of circle. The inky black night sky is somehow less black than the sea below and even at this late hour the horizon is still visible and looks oddly close. The only half-full moon is so bright that it lights everything in silvery light. Tonight, this beautiful night, is the very last night I will be on the same day as you. We cross the international date line tonight so I will be quite officially on the other side of the world when I wake up tomorrow.
…
As I write this I am sitting outside watching the almost purple waves and the huge clouds with the rays of the sun peeking through. It is so beautiful Kyle. The air has started to cool down. I have definitely felt a change in the wind. As I write this, I will be in Japan in 2 days time. I cannot believe what I am currently doing and the adventure that is just around the corner. In just two days, I will be in Japan traveling around experiencing the beauty of the land and the culture. Just over a week later I will be in China exploring the Great Wall and watching New Year’s celebrations.
Can you imagine the wonders I will see? Or the people I will meet?
…
Just another note on the rockiness of the ship my love: books don’t stay on shelves, drawers open and close of their own volition, and cups and dishes skitter off of tables. Another neat trick I have picked up here is that while I sleep, I can levitate! Yes, I definitely woke up last night as my levitating trick failed and I slammed back onto my bed. It’s beyond scary to wake up flying out of your bed because the ship just fell away under you. I apologize for my handwriting, the rocking ship is making my hand stray.
…
As the ship nears Japan, I am getting more and more excited. I really can’t believe this is actually happening. My dream is really finally coming true! I know I have been here for a few weeks already, but it somehow still doesn’t feel quite real. Maybe it will really hit me in Japan. Maybe not. I keep getting these huge waves of uncontrollable excitement and I kinda have to jump around a little bit to calm down. Everyone just laughs at this, but that’s ok. I have every reason in the world to be jumping up and down with joy. I mean, just yesterday Desmond Tutu walked up to me and gave me a high-five! And he is coming to my class to speak to us about Nelson Mandela. How cool is that?
Well my love, we will be docking in Japan in less than 24 hours and I am officially feeling my journey begin. I really would would like to see land again, but I am not yet tired of being at sea. I actually kind of like it. I enjoy being surrounded by beautiful ocean and sky as far as the eye can see. It gives me the strange sensation that we may be the only people left on the planet.
I apologize for my ramblings; I have wanted to share so much with you that I have become a bit obsessed with writing to you. I hope you don’t mind too much.
While we are apart, I promise to think of you always and love you with all of my heart. I can’t wait to hear from you my love. I will tell you all about my adventures in Japan in my next letter. I love you more than anything.
All my love,
Leana
…And the last letter from the voyage
My dear Kyle,
Well, here it is. This is my final letter home before I see you at the airport. Guess what? I made it. Here I am standing at the summit — I’ve made it around the world. And you know what else? I’ve been all around the great big world, met all kinds of guys, but I’ve still never met one like you. Let’s see, I think that makes you one in…7 billion! I am so glad I can still call you mine.
I want to tell you honestly that this is a very bitter-sweet time for me. I am so excited that I will be seeing you again very soon. But with the same stroke, I am bringing my amazing whirlwind adventure to a close. If I could have it my way, you would just be here with me and we could travel and discover the amazing things the world has to offer….together. That’s my dream. We can make it happen someday.
I know I’ve promised details about my travels in Ghana in my letter, but I’m afraid I am not going to keep that promise. A final letter from your love while abroad should be a beautiful summation of the entire voyage. So that is what I will attempt to do in this letter.
From tobogganing down the Great Wall of China to being chased by a lion in South Africa, I never quite expected traveling the world to be like this. In less than 5 months, I have seen snow fall in the Forbidden City and sand blow across the Sahara Desert. I have explored the temples of ancient Bagan; basked in the bright lights of Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore; paddled down the quiet canals of Vietnam; and climbed a mountain, turned around, then explored the jungles and savannas of South Africa. I have sailed through the roughest and smoothest seas, been mentored by Archbishop Tutu, and slept on a kind woman’s straw mattress in a tiny village in rural Ghana. I have experienced the richness of big-game dinner and the sour stench of open sewage. I have become friends with and ridden majestic elephants and I have been nearly thrown from a camel. I watch the waves, feel the wind, and see the strength of the people I have met, and every part has humbled me. I have been able to go on more adventures in a few months than I ever thought I would be able to. It has been everything I dreamed about and so much more.
I have spent quiet days walking through ancient forests and crazy days building a new family on the ship. They may not always be here next to me, but I know we have a bond that will stand the test of time and space. How could we ever forget traveling through entire countries with nothing but each other? Together we have sailed around the world and learned about new countries and cultures we never even knew existed. We have learned to live in a world with no phone and no outside connections. We have learned to live right here in the world without a connection to our own safe and comfortable world at home. No one can ever replace you my love, but know that the people and adventures here can never be forgotten.
I jumped on this ship knowing I would leave everything I have ever known and ever loved behind me. It was not easy in any way, but it was the only way to live my dream. And, somehow, I have not only survived (and we have survived), but I’ve grown stronger (and I think our relationship has grown stronger too). I have gained appreciation for things I didn’t even realize I took for granted as well as for things I always knew I needed, but never realized how much! I now know how much I appreciate a Western toilet — toilet paper, soap, and running water are all just bonuses. Who knew how much I would learn to appreciate a sip of safe, clean water?
I now realize how incredibly lucky I am to have my parents’ support, my friends’ support, and your support. You were the one person I would have stayed for — but you would never have asked me to stay and forgo my lifelong dream. I can’t thank you enough for supporting me and encouraging me to live my dream. Thank you.
As I have watched the children grow taller and taller on the ship, so too have we all grown on the ship. Not so tall maybe, but in ways we have yet to even discover. How can I — or anyone — begin to measure the growth of meeting and interacting with hundreds of people of all cultures all over the world? How can I begin to explain what it is like to visit countries where the biggest tourist cities have not even a single bank? How do I describe the inequities of countries where the people live in hovels while the temples glint gold?
I may not be able to truly explain what I have seen and everything I have done, but my actions from here on can show what I have learned.
Although I may never be able to truly express it, I will try. I want to share it all with you.
I have been so inspired by countless people and heartbroken and helpless with so many others. My taxi driver in Burma who would stuff his mattress with his driving cash so he could one day donate it to the monastery inspired me. People live on the streets and in tiny huts, but no one steals the gold from the temples; instead they are the ones who donate it. The kind woman offers me her single daily meal because I am her guest — it doesn’t matter that she is hungry too. That’s community. That’s true love.
A young girl saw me drink from a water bottle early one day while visiting a village in Ghana. After playing for hours and holding my hand and leading me places all day, she tugged my shirt and asked me to bend down so she could whisper in my year, “I’m so thirsty. Can I have some of your water? I’m so thirsty.” I was horrified. Something as simple as water was being asked of me, but without enough to give her and all the other children with dehydrating myself, all I could say was, “I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t help the sweet, thirsty girl with her distended belly. I still don’t know what to do, but I know I must somehow do something. I will never be the same after that.
With every crazy adventure I have also learned about myself, about people in general, people in specific cultures, and about how the world works. The more I see, the more I realize how very skewed the world can be. There is something very wrong when we can waste food and eat until we want to throw up and others barely have enough food for one nutrient-poor meal split between too many mouths. Unfortunately, it even happens within the same country — the same city. People in India sit and eat lavishly even as people right across the street are picking through rotting garbage just trying to find something to eat. I even saw some just eating the trash itself.
All of us on this crazy adventure have learned so much and have seen more than we can even comprehend. We walk through the world with new eyes; a new look we don’t even realize we wear. I can see it in the people around me. Something has changed. It isn’t tangible and I could never describe it, but it is there. Smiles are more genuine; hugs are meant to last forever; goodbye is never for good; ears listen more carefully; and we are gentler and slower to judge.
We see people as people and no language “barrier” could possibly hinder that. I’ve discovered the fun of communicating using charades, make-shift pictionary, and broken words of languages we don’t really know.
I have been changed in more ways than I know. I’ve seen things I will never forget and heard things that will haunt me forever. I will never forget the wide back of an African elephant, nor will I ever forget the Burmese woman who would have traded anything in her shop for some perfume or a lipstick. I’ll never forget my heart being wrenched apart as I watched you and my parents waving me off. I’ve learned what is important to me and what is not. You, my love, are the most important. Love is what the world needs — it’s what all people need — and we, together in love, can change the world. It may sound sappy, but it’s true. I’ve seen what love can do and I’ve seen what happens when people are convinced that love and kindness no longer exist. Love may not be the only thing necessary in life, but love is what makes life worth living.
I love you Kyle and I always will. I miss you. We have so much to share and so much to learn about each other — I can’t wait.
As I look at the world map on the wall, I realize just how small the world has become — how very much of the world I have glimpsed. I realize that with each new country and person I met, I didn’t check the place off my list like I thought I would; instead, it made me want to see and learn that much more. Instead of 14 countries explored and seen, I now have 14 countries I want more than ever to explore in depth — and 1 I may never be able to.
My adventure is not over now, even though my voyage has ended. My adventures — including adventures with you — are just beginning. A world of opportunities has been given to me, so I will continue to explore them for the rest of my life.
I love you Kyle. I’ll see you soon my love.
All my love,
Leana
Just over two years after this voyage and these letters were exchanged, my boyfriend and I took our first trip together to Italy. My boyfriend became my fiancee on a gondola in Venice during that trip.
Less than two years later, he became my husband — and of course, we held our wedding on a boat.
Leana’s an avid world traveler who has been to over 40 countries and will be venturing to her 7th continent in 2022. She believes in ubuntu and that adventures make life worth living. To follow her journey as a plus-sized woman with unquenchable wanderlust as she continues to seek out all that the world has to offer, you can check out The Overweight Adventurer.
