Came across this via twitter--the blog of a young woman talking about why she came to teach English in Cambodia:

What On Earth Made You Go To Cambodia?!

It's interesting.  I wish I had half her sense of adventure.

Yes, I did spend 4 years in Cambodia myself.  But most of that time was spent just walking from my apartment to the coffee shop to work to the bar and then back to my apartment.  I probably didn't make the most of my experience, the way she did.

But then, what is the value of experience?
On her blog, the young woman writes:

Watching all my friends being tied down by car loans, student loans and the constant 'I can't because blah blah blah...' made me determined to live differently. Why? Why waste your youth paying off crap that you'll end up not needing in 5, 10, 50 years? Experience is with you forever. The lessons I've learned this year will be with me when I have children, when I'm at my worst financially and when I'm old and watching my Grandkids take the same steps. Where will your brand new 2015 Suzuki Swift with the sports body kit be?

Will it though?  I don't know.  The older I get, the more I realize how fragile memories and experiences are.

I'm 38 now, and my memories of my first years living in Japan (when I was 23) are becoming very hazy.