I have written about Ibn Battuta many times. In the 14^th century, he journeyed 75,000 miles in southwestern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, Central, South, Southeast Asia, and Asia. Reflecting upon his three major treks, he said, “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” That is one of the things that I have in common with Ibn Battuta.

Travel does leave you speechless. As a consequence, it does make you a storyteller. Additionally, it is also the best means of being educated. Name a place that you haven’t visited that you want to visit.

Read about that place, watch videos, and talk to people who have been there. Then, spend a week or a year in the place that you wish to visit. What you learned about your chosen destination from books, videos, and people is two-dimensional at best. However, take a trip to that place, and you will grasp the destination three-dimensionally.

In my attempt at seeing the world, I have been to all Western and parts of Central Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and much of South, Southeast Asia, and Asia. Mark Twain wrote, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” George Santayana had a similar insight: “A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.”

A dozen years ago, I visited Myanmar for the first time. However, I loved visiting cities like Mandalay or the Golden Rock. Additionally, I discovered my granddaughter, Ti Ti, who was nine years old, while playing Scrabble with her. That single event changed my Weltanschauung.

Ti Ti has two younger sisters who attended a preschool class, which I visited.

This is Ti Ti and her parents.

I returned to Myanmar to visit my family twice. On my last trip, the entire family went on a family tour together of their homeland. Interestingly, we went to a small village that is seldom seen by any Americans.

I had the time of my life. When traveling, if I see a group of young kids, I’ll tell them that I’ll flip them.

However, I discovered my great-granddaughter. I don’t recall asking an older child, who was taking care of the little one. I carried her around for a great deal of time while at Set Set Yo. It was a couple of days before she turned one year old. A Ngal Lay isn’t her actual name, but it is the Burmese translation of the little one. Either Ti Ti or her uncle had my camera while I carried A Ngal Lay around.

This photo is of A Ngal Lay and me. She wasn’t a year old when we first met. Look at her eyes, trying to grasp who I was.

This link is A Ngal Lay’s section of my website.

A Ngal Lay’s father works in Malaysia and sends money back to his family. Many people in Myanmar want to leave the country or at least work where one can make far more money than in Myanmar.

A Ngal Lay has an older sister who is a teenager now. These are several photos of A Ngal Lay that her mother sent to my family.

This is A Ngal Lay giving food to a Buddhist monk at the monastery at Set Set Yo.

A Ngal Lay’s birthday is January 3, and she turned 7.

I have a good friend in Myanmar who is an excellent painter. I commissioned him to paint the photo of the two of us.

Than documented the process of painting an old American and an infant in Myanmar.

The painting hangs in A Ngal Lay’s home. I wonder what she thinks when she sees Than’s painting.

I hope to return to Myanmar and see my family again. While there, my family and I will visit A Ngal Lay. Words can’t describe how I will feel when our families are together.

In my last essay last year, My Bucket List, Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson about when Egyptians die.

“Have you found joy in your life? Followed up by “Has your life brought joy to others?” I have found the most profound joy, and I hope my family grasps how much I love them.