My night started in a small restaurant in Indonesia. The tables and chairs were made out of old bamboo strung together, and the floor was a mixture of dirt and sand. I sat reading a book while I waited for a vegetable curry. I’ve been trying my best to travel as lightly as possible, so I have been re-reading the same battered copy of The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. The pages are creased and graffitied from all the notes I’ve written in there.

Tolle writes about how human suffering comes from being trapped in thoughts about the past or the future, and how awareness of “the now” can dissolve anxiety, pain, and ego-driven conflict. I often re-read particular sections on days that I’m feeling extra emotional, and this day, I was feeling EXTRA emotional.

“You’re so lucky,” a voice said. I looked up with a soft smile to see an older Indonesian woman passing slowly by my table.

“I am lucky,” I replied. “But why do you say that?” I said.

“You’re lucky because you can read,” she replied. “I wish I could read.”

Her words caught me off guard. I invited her to sit with me and eat dinner, but she had just eaten and was happy to sit and talk instead. She told me about her life and how she works in the rice fields, and when there is no work in the fields, she tries to sell sarongs and bracelets to tourists. She told me of the struggles to pay $25 per month in tuition for her daughter’s school. She said that all she wants in life is for her daughter to live a better life than she was able to.