Accidental Time Capsul

I was packing for the next leg of my journey when I came across my money belt, one of two that a brought. This one is pretty intricate with lots of pockets and I don’t usually carry it because it’s too bulky. For whatever reason, I opened up one of the tiny pockets in the front and was surprised to see a $5 US bill. I knew I hadn’t put it there, at least not recently. It turned out to be a miniature time capsule from almost exactly 6 years ago on my last day in Australia. There was a hard candy wrapper inside as well as a airplane shuttle ticket and a receipt from my stay in the “Yellow Submarine” youth hostel in Brisbane (only about $11, by the way). It brought me right back to that morning when I woke up at 4am because I was so worried I would miss the shuttle and then eventually my plane. I was seriously low on cash at that point and I was praying that the transaction would go through while I watched the sleepy-eyed front desk attendant run my debit card. I knew I only had exactly enough cash to pay the shuttle driver so I was relieved when this receipt printed out. I remember being so relieved to be going home from that difficult and transformative journey. It’s crazy how certain things can bring your right back somewhere. And it’s strange that my fingers didn’t touched that $5 bill until I was way over here. I’m going to keep it right where I found it and maybe I’ll use it to buy a coke in the Windhoek airport two years from now while I wait to board my plane home.