𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐢: 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭

This afternoon I had coffee with an elderly Western elegant woman, with white hair and clear blue eyes. She told me about his trip to Chiang Mai last November. Her name is Samiam, 60 years old, from Sweden. Her husband passed away in 2019, and her children are all grown up, so she traveled alone.

“First day at the sanctuary,” he said, “I didn’t take a single photo. I just sat under a tree and watched this old female elephant standing alone. She was staring into the distance. And I thought—God, she looks like me.” So she asked to volunteer, but not a one-day tour, five days.

Woke up at 5 AM, prepared milk for orphaned baby elephants, cleaned poop and chopped grass. Her hands trembled a little as she told me this, but her eyes—her eyes were bright. She said: " There was this one little elephant, who kept poking me with her trunk, asking for milk. I held her, and she breathed softly against my ear. For the first time since my husband passed, I felt my heart beat again.”

She smiled: “ I didn't take a single picture of that elephant. Because no camera—no photo—could ever capture how it felt when she rested her head on my shoulder that late afternoon.” She shared with me that she was old now, so she didn't need to look back at the picture, just needed to remember.

I’m writing this and still chuckling at myself. Back then in Chiang Mai, I came home and proudly showed my friends my elephant-riding album, beautiful shots and fun moments. But I’ve never had an elephant rest her head on my shoulder.

Maybe that Swedish woman—60 years old, traveling alone—has figured out something I haven’t. She travels not to have more, but to be more. And I think that is the kind of trip can still remember forever.