This is Joe. He’s Sama from the Borneo part of Malaysia. Left his fishing village at 16, used his charisma to pave his path, married a city girl, and knows 10+ languages.

He chatted me up to see if I needed a taxi and was the least pushy and possibly most delightful taxi guy I’ve met. Honestly, I was sad I already had a ride on it’s way because he was so funny and interesting I would have loved to have talked to him another hour. But, we’ve agreed that someday I’ll take him skiing and he’ll take me scuba diving.

His name’s not really Joe, obviously, so I asked his real name, Irikay. To which my natural response was “Iglesias?”

Didn’t miss a beat, hit me with a little Bilamos, and we sang the only line everyone knows from Hero in the quiet Kuala Lumpur airport. I wasn’t expecting to spark my first Malaysian connection over Enrique Iglesias, giggling under the buzz of a massive Burger King sign, but that’s what’s so much fun about travel.

There are good sunny kind people everywhere, you can feel it in your heart almost immediately. A warmth that floods in. Something just glows. There is usually laughter. There is always curiosity.

Damnit I wanna go to Borneo.