Happiness Relay
Happiness Relay
by Tricia Clark | Indianapolis, IN
I’m an American Pilgrims member because my husband and sister walked part of the Camino Portugués in 2018. Though I don’t feel called to do any of the more-travelled caminos, I do have plans to walk part of the way from Le Puy to Conques in September 2025. While the tale I am about to share comes from another route in another corner of the world, I suspect it will resonate with Camino pilgrims:
A friend met us when we arrived in Tokyo during a recent trip. She gave us gifts, among which were two starter smart cards (good for 10 years!), essentials in Japan that we used and reloaded with funds over and over. We certainly appreciated our friend’s thoughtfulness and generosity as her gifts proved helpful and useful throughout our travels.
By far the oldest in our group hiking parts of the very challenging Nakasendo Trail, I was often pulling up the rear. Our much younger guide, Naoko, kept me company, despite the fact that she and her husband are very athletic (he competes in races in their hometown of Osaka).
Explaining our plans after the hiking tour, I told Naoko that neighbors would be coming to Japan soon, and that we were going to leave funds on the smart cards and pass them on to our neighbors, as our friend had done for us. Ever the teacher, I said, “In English, we call this ‘paying it forward’.” To which Naoko replied, “Yes, like a happiness relay.”
Mark Twain once observed: “Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” I have no doubt that sentiment crosses all human cultures and is well understood by those on all of life’s caminos.
