Of all the things I’ve learned traveling, the most prominent is that we are all more alike than we might think. We all have a longing for the same basic needs – food, water, shelter, and human connection.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

I arrived into Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan around 1 pm after ten hours of overnight flying from Europe. The airplanes sitting on the tarmac all had names I hadn’t heard of – Air Astana, Air Nomads, and so on. I was not in Europe anymore. I didn’t sleep much on the flight and was pretty exhausted. I didn’t feel like my brain was sharp enough to venture out safely into an unknown city and culture, so I took it easy and just wandered a few blocks away from my hostel to a park and a local grocery store. It took me no more than five minutes to realize that no one – literally no one – spoke English. The signs were in Russian. The food products were in Russian. The people spoke Russian. I do not speak Russian. Thank god for Google Translate.

Day tour of Bishkek

I had booked a day tour of Bishkek and the surrounding areas and exchanged a few messages with my guide for the next day. He confirmed the pickup time and location and explained briefly that he worked for a US consulting firm, so he didn’t sleep during the night, but was excited to have me on his calendar. I told him I was a quick tourist and promised to give him the afternoon to sleep.