Today in Mongolia we celebrate the spright and wide-eyed child in us all. In the squares of Ulaanbaatar the ostentatious fantasies and creativities of a child's mind have come to fruition through circuses, ice cream, rides and more. In this story, Annika Furman tells how, much like these circuses and festivities, adventure and travel can bring you back to your youth. 

One of the incredible elements of traveling and experiencing a new country is the feeling of childlike jubilance. Whether it is because you feel free to express yourself, or the beautiful people from that country make you feel at home, traveling to a new destination brings out a spontaneous and adventurous side of people that isn’t always present in day-to-day life. When people begin to let go of their egos and relax into their innate way of being, cultural differences and language barriers melt away.

During one of our first days in Mongolia, our team slept in gers on the banks of Lake Khövsgöl. Many children lived near our ger site. As soon as we settled, the curious eyes of three little girls crept around a tree, eager to see to whom these new faces belonged to. This curiosity quickly deliquesced their adolescent shyness and they emerged from behind the trees to tug on our pant legs and say hello. The little girls began with the easiest targets, the teenagers in the team. They took us to see their fairy houses built in the mossy dirty, where they made tables of tree bark and beds of leaves. This transited into a game of tickle tag, where the girls would giggle furiously at wiggling fingers and run away with crescent moon smiles on their faces.

It didn’t take long for the girls to become friends with the other members of our team. Soon they had hypnotized Peter Blake, the crafty cowboy of the group. Peter began running around the grass showing the girls how to do cartwheels and handstands, and before long, the entire gang had become amateur gymnasts.

Summers, the witty photographer on the team, found the way into the hearts of the young girls was through her Polaroid camera. Summers and her two daughters, Julia and Fiona, induced elated giggles as they snapped shots of the girls and the camera instantly spit out photographs. The little girls held the film in their hands like a diamond ring.

The little girls made us feel welcome in their community, helping us to relax, and be silly and joyful. They were just as captivated by our nuances as we were with theirs. Instead of hiding behind words, everyone expressed the universal language of laughter and play. We focused on what made us similar, instead of the differences that could have kept us apart. It was important for all of us to indulge in the art of playing because through childish glee, we are able to embody ourselves wholeheartedly, and connect with the people of the places in Mongolia.

Written by Annika Furman

Annika Furman is currently a student at Colorado College. She travelled with founders Bill and Betina across Mongolia meeting herders and experiencing the culture of the vast steppe meanwhile gathering stories and insight.

Photo by Julia Moore