This picture was taken the first time I ever left the country. It was the trip that changed my life forever and made me into the traveling, restless hobo that I am today.
I never met these kids personally. But based on the many Ecuadorian kids I met, I know these two were beyond amazing. I was in a small town called Playas. No one ever goes there for tourism really. I was there to help teach kids, give shoes and clothes, etc.
The people in this town literally live in stick huts with dirt floors. A lot of them didn't have shoes.
Many of them couldn't pay to go to school (they have to pay for books and uniforms). I sponsored one to go to school.
One lady was so desperate, she kept trying to give me her baby and telling me to take it back to the US with me.
I tried to explain that I was only 19, unmarried, and still had to go to college. I don't think she understood.
You can imagine these kids didn't have a lot to play with. Yet, despite having almost nothing, the people in this town were some of the happiest and most generous people I'd ever met.
That's when I started realizing that material things don't matter.
Besides being happy and generous, they were also so smart and resourceful! I couldn't believe it when I saw these kids playing with a kite they had made out of sticks and newspaper! I would have never been able to figure that out as a kid.
Thought I'd share their adorable faces with you all :)
@juliank!Esta foto la tomé la primera vez que salí de mi país. Este fue el viaje que cambió mi vida para siempre y me convirtió en la vagabunda viajera que ahora soy.
¡No podía creerlo cuando vi a estos niños jugando con una cometa que habían hecho con palos y periódico! Yo nunca habría podido hacer algo así cuando era niña.
(Spanish edited by 
