Dreams Really Do Come True

It was almost five years ago that I first entertained the idea of going to Malaysia to meet my beloved Facebook friends in real life. I thought about it countless times, and soon that idea moved into my heart as a dream.

And my friends repeatedly invited, encouraged, insisted, even demanded that I come. They believed in this dream much more readily than I did, and they were quite persuasive.

But there seemed to be so many obstacles holding me back. When would I find time to go? Who would go with me? Where would I stay? How long would I stay? What about the language gap? The culture gap? The religious gap? What if my friends were not the people I thought them to be? What if they didn't like me? And where on earth would I ever find enough money? It seemed that each question was a barrier keeping me from realizing my goal.

Over the years, and many hours of online conversation, those questions were either resolved or thrown out the window. I slowly realized that the quest for certainty can suffocate a dream, and that maybe I was hiding behind all those questions to avoid the real issue: Did I have the courage to make a 10,000 mile leap of faith or did I not?

Well. It turns out that I did. And yesterday, as I gathered with a group of my closest friends and their families for a beach barbecue in Port Dickson, I felt the full impact of this amazing dream come true. I'm really here!

^ Kids at beaches all do the exact same thing. Smooshing up giant piles of sand is clearly a planetary phenomenon.

^ Hammie, put away your toys and go barbecue me some lemongrass chicken. Thank you very much.

^ Most of my time at this beach picnic was spent in happy conversation and playful fun. But there were a few moments when I was overcome with amazement at having my far-flung friends gathered around me. The instant when I took this shot was one of those hard-to-believe moments

Also, can we just compare the size of Pjoe's forearms on the left to those of the bulky Hamster on the right? Malaysians, it seems, come in an astounding range of sizes.

^ Glorious, perfect golden sunset over the Melaka Strait. Come on. How did I get so lucky?

^ Apparently, I now pose for photos while soaking wet. I may have been fresh from the salty waters of the Strait, but I couldn't resist this opportunity to give Kama Zaid some bunny ears. 

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To find all the stories of my amazing adventures in southeast Asia, go here:

Me in Malaysia