Last night I had dinner with my good friend and regular travel buddy, Jen, who’s visiting LA. Dinner was at a high-end pizzeria and we were both pleasantly surprised when we got the bill because it was much lower than either of us had expected. That surprise wore of quickly when Jen noticed that there was a reason our bill was so low; the waiter had forgotten to add in our glasses of wine. Aaah! So that’s where the missing $30.00 went. Now Jen and I are both very honest people, but we did give a thought to taking that little oversight as a blessing in disguise (there is a recession, you know). We quickly decided it was better to just be honest though, and let the waiter know about his mistake. Good choice! The waiter was so thankful when we told him he’d forgotten to charge us for our wine. I’m guessing that the difference would have come out of his pocket and maybe would have even caused problems for him with the management. He ended up only charging us for one glass of wine to thank us. This little episode reminded me of my belief in travel karma and how it served me well on my trips.

When I was on my round the world trip in 2001 and 2002, there were many times where I could have profited from someone else mistake. Incorrect hotel bills, bus drivers who forgot to collect my fare and accidentally being given extra of whatever I was buying at a local store. Each of those times I chose to speak up and let the person know of their mistake even though it was in my favor. Aside from having a mother who raised me well, something else stopped me from taking advantage of these situations. It was this idea I got in my head about travel Karma. When you’re on the road, what you put out into the world will at some point come back to you. Of course, the idea of Karma is not exclusive to travel, but for me, keeping that mindset while exploring a new country seems even more appropriate. As a guest in foreign land, I want to be a positive representative of travelers in general and American travelers, specifically. Also, in many countries, the $5.00 I could have pocketed may have been able to buy dinner for the other person’s entire family. Finally, I figured I could use as much luck as I could get being thousands of miles from home, so no need to jinx myself for the equivalent of a few dollars.

All those good deeds did pay off a few months later while I was in Hong Kong with my travelling buddies. I decided to grab dinner by myself one night and ended up in a crowded sushi spot near the section of town the call Times Square. After enjoying some delicious sushi and a little alone time to do some people watching I asked for the bill, paid and headed on my way.

The next day, I was on my own again, wandering the crowded streets of Hong Kong, looking in shop windows and checking out life in the city. As I was crossing a busy intersection filled with crowds of people, I realized someone was yelling. I tuned it out for a few seconds until I noticed that someone was a petite Chinese lady who was trying to get my attention. I knew exactly two people in all of Hong Kong and they were both back at the hotel waiting for me. Once this stranger got my attention, she explained in broken English that she saw me at the restaurant the night before and that I had to go back to the restaurant right away because they had money for me. What??

I tried to retrace my steps from the previous evening and finally ended up back at the restaurant. It turns out that the night before I had paid for my bill in cash and then left without waiting for my change. There was about $50.00 USD in the little envelope they had set aside for me in case I came back! $50.00 may not be a huge amount, but when you’re backpacking for 8 months on a fixed budget, that actually is a big deal. Of course I was thankful that the restaurant was so honest and put the money aside, but I was absolutely shocked that a stranger who just happened to be sitting near me the night before, remembered me and managed to find me in the crowded streets of Hong Kong. Granted, there are not a ton of tall black women wandering the streets there, so I did stick out a bit, but still if I had been a minute earlier or later, the kind stranger may never have seen me. Then it hit me…it’s the travel Karma coming back to me. After all those little acts of honesty I stored up, good Karma found me in Hong Kong. I’m sure some people would just call it good luck, but I like to think that my actions had a little something to do with it. Even 10 years later, I still look for ways I can “pay it forward”.