I always believe that everything happens for a reason. Whether good or bad, there is always something I can learn.
When I was a kid, traveling was not really part of life. Our family holidays were simple. We were going to Jogjakarta, Indonesia, to visit my parents’ hometown.
I was born and grew up around Jakarta and Bekasi, so my world was mostly there. When friends came back from their weekend trips and told stories about other cities, I listened with curiosity, but honestly, I never felt I was missing out.
It did not seem important for me to see other places.
That thinking changed after my first trip to Bali around 2005. It was a company trip. The trip was nice and easy. The guides took us to cultural places like Sangeh Hills, where we could see wild monkeys around the temple, enjoy the breeze at Kuta Beach, and visit many other destinations. I realized there was a much bigger world beyond Jakarta.
After that, more trips followed. At one point, I even joined the band Padi on a tour around Sumatra.
Later, the company sent me overseas to Hong Kong. That was the first country I visited outside Indonesia. Not long after, I also traveled to Japan.
Each place showed me something new. People lived differently, worked differently, and even the cities smelled different.
One trip in particular changed me.
I traveled to Bristol, UK, for a team meeting. One evening while walking back to the hotel, I passed a group of students. The students were chatting and laughing in their uniforms. In the background was their school, with beautiful classic architecture that looked so grande and majestic. I stood there for a while.
Then a small question appeared in my mind.
Why had I never thought about studying abroad?
But life had its own direction.
A few years after that Bristol trip, I moved to Singapore for work. I thought I could get into a university in Singapore, but due to work commitments, time was not on my side yet.
Then one day, I realized something beautiful.
The dream of studying abroad was not meant for me.
It was meant for my daughters.
After we moved from Bekasi, they have been studying abroad since primary school and continue to do so as they attend university.
When I think about it, I feel grateful. Sometimes Allah answers a prayer in a different form. Not through our own path, but through our children.
And this is what I learned.
My travels around the world were actually to prepare them.
It was a way for me to understand the world first, so I could guide them better when their time came.
And who knows. Perhaps their journey will go further than mine ever did.
InshaAllah, they will use what they learn to bring something good to humanity.