Angkor Wat is one of those places that call to travelers as a must visit destination. For me it loomed large in the “must see before you die” list of destinations. Whenever I would meet travelers Angkor Wat was always a place they had gone to and was amazed by. I loved my first trip and have returned for a second pass through the vast temple complex.

Angkor Wat also holds a special palace in my heart beyond its history and beauty. It was then that I discovered my love for travel and a pivotal point in my life where I made a choice to work hard to make freedom a central part of my life.

On my first trip to Angkor Wat, I met an older man from the US who, like me, was visiting Cambodia and Angkor Wat for the first time. In fact, this was his very first trip out of the US. He recently retired from a 40 year career at an auto parts manufacturing company. This was the trip he had dreamed about, the trip that would sustain him when he would spend long hours working for the company. Now he was here, living his dream. I could see the excitement in his face. His body showed signs of the work he spent most of his life doing. His hands crooked with arthritis, he walked with a cane and labored with his breathing. I was excited to see Angkor Wat but I was also excited for HIM to see it too!

As we made out way off the mini bus we had both taken from the hotel, I noticed he was having a hard time getting out and set on his feet. He made his way to a nearby bench and sat down. His eyes looked forlorn towards the uneven stairs and walkways that comprised the Temple complex. I could tell he his dream of exploring the site was beginning to dim a bit. I asked him if he needed some help but he just looked a little deflated and said “no, thanks though, i guess i’m gonna have to sit this one out”...I nodded as we both looked at the uneven grounds between us and the entrance to the first structure. I left him there as I made my way into the stone structure. I could see him from one of the openings in the temple. There he was, looking on, trying to make the most of seeing Angkor Wat from a bench outside.

It was then I decided that it was very important for me to find a way to travel and see the world while I still could. It hit me hard and that man on the bench on the outside of Angkor Wat, became my reason to do things differently. I made living my life while I still had some of it left a priority. I spent the next several years traveling at every opportunity I had. Making choices in my life that would open up greater degrees of freedom. The concept is easy to understand, you don’t want to spend your life working in the hope that you will catch up on living at the end. Nothing is guaranteed, the time to live is now. So for me Angkor Wat has become my anchor for a life well lived. It will always be the place I learned what “living too late” means.