When the winds of change blow, some build walls and others build windmills. 

Chinese proverb

I'd never traveled on my own when I headed to Hong Kong, and I was terrified. Just out of school, no idea how to do pretty much anything, and so ready to see and do everything I possibly could. 

A friend's ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend was in Hong Kong, and I called him up. It might have been the biggest stretch ever for a friendly tour guide, but it worked. I spent the next week exploring that mega-city of flashing lights and a thousand cultures.

I was overwhelmed and starry eyed.