Guest post by @aseper

For an entire year, we were fortunate enough to travel the world, seeing and experiencing some of Earth’s greatest wonders. We saw and did enough to last a lifetime. Places like Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls, and the Taj Mahal obviously stood out as highlights of our trip. But one of the best, most rewarding, and humbling experiences of our year-long round the world trip was the time we spent at PURE! for Kids in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As far as highlights, it didn’t get much better than this, and the few days we spent here impacted me forever.

We were lucky enough to have an acquaintance, Nicoline, who runs PURE! for Kids, an orphanage located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia went through one of the most horrid and violent times in human history when Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge took over the country in the mid-1970’s. An estimated 20% (at least) of the population was killed, and thirty years later the country still reels from the effects of this genocide. As a result, much of the country’s poverty-stricken children are displaced from their homes and families, and so many need a place not only to live, but to learn and try to get them out of this cycle of poverty.

Children at PURE! for Kids learning a new song

That is where PURE! for Kids comes in, a Dutch based company whose mission “is to inspire young people to work together for a better world by giving the children of Cambodia and Bali a better future.” My wife, Megan, met Nicoline when she was an exchange student in her high school, and they have managed to stay in touch since. She splits her time between Holland and Cambodia, and we were lucky enough to cross paths when we were in Southeast Asia. She was very kind and generous to invite us to the orphanage for a few days to give us a tour and help out where we could.

I immediately fell in love after walking through the doors of Pure and being greeted by 34 of the most happy, smiley, and cheerful children I have ever laid eyes on, who ranged in age from 18 months to 16 years. We arrived mid-morning, and the kids were in the middle of classes, which was just one of the many impressive aspects of Pure. Not only did they provide a home, food, companionship, and love to these children, they provided an education, vital for the future of one of the poorest nations in the world. Nicoline gave us a tour of the place, allowing us to pop our heads in and out of the three classrooms, always receiving smiles and emphatic waves from the children.

The orphanage was a simple building with all the necessities the children needed, but not much else. The little ones slept in tiny little wooden bunk beds in a large, dorm-like setting, and the older ones shared smaller rooms located upstairs. There are three full time live-in women as part of the staff, and typically there are three volunteers who teach classes every day. The six months that Nicoline spends in Cambodia is shared between Pure and other projects her NGO supports in Siem Reap.

When we were there, two new volunteers were just beginning, and the staff was planning a rededication ceremony, so things were a bit more chaotic than normal. It seemed as though we came at the perfect time as they really did benefit from having a few extra hands there to help out. We did what we could in the few days we spent there, from helping out with serving lunch to teaching classes to herding all the children to the bathroom to clean up and get ready for meals to just simply playing and spending time with them. It was a magical few days, and everything we witnessed and observed is ingrained in my memory forever.

It’s interesting to put experiences like this into perspective. During part of our time at Pure, it was just like it would be anywhere else in the world where thirty plus kids were present. They laughed, they played, they ran, they sang, they ate, they cried, they fought, just like kids would from Bangkok to Mumbai to New York to Paris. There were many times where you could never tell the difference between the kids at Pure from kids at any other school in the world.

Then we looked a bit closer. To the minuscule, little dorm beds they slept in. To the one communal downstairs room they ate in. To the tiny, little back yard where they housed their chickens. To the few bathrooms available for the nearly forty people who lived there. To the simple meals they ate. To the classrooms they studied in and limited supplies they had. To the few toys available to play with. It was true that as far as material possessions, these kids didn’t have much. But you could never tell it from looking at their smiling faces.

There was no doubt about it that these kids were extremely happy. They didn’t need fancy televisions, PlayStations, or iPods to get them through the day. They didn’t need their own bicycles, McDonald’s Happy Meals, or portable DVD’s to keep them happy. All they needed and wanted was a little bit of love, and they received it in bucketfuls, from the staff and volunteers to each other. Each child came from a different situation, but the one thing they all had in common was that they wanted and deserved affection. Imagine being forced out of your home as a young child, being separated from your family, and living on the streets. That was the reality for some of the children at Pure. So it came as no surprise that what these little boys and girls really wanted and needed most was love, not any possession.

It was evident from the minute we stepped through the doors. Hugs and cuddles were the norm amongst everyone, no matter the age or gender. After a few short hours there, every single kid was playing, hugging, and treating us as though we were their big brother and sister. We had the eighteen-month old wobbling over with his arms up in the air, the toddlers wrapping their arms around our legs, and the older ones using me as their own personal jungle gym. It was also common to have the teenagers join in on the love. There was no chance of losing face and not acting macho here at Pure. Teenage boys would follow me around, subtly laying a hand on my shoulder or wrapping their arms around me for a picture, something that would never have happened here at home. It was a refreshing and humbling thing to see, and my heart melts thinking about it as I sit here and reflect on our time spent there.

I can’t speak highly enough of the job that Nicoline, the staff, and volunteers do at Pure with what little they have, both in supplies and financial support. They do this not because they have to, but because they want to. There is no doubt that people like Nicoline and everyone involved at Pure and places like it simply make this world a better place to live in. Many of these kids went from having literally nothing to having an entire family looking after them. And that’s what Pure is, a family. They may not be the richest family in the world, and they may not have the best and fanciest stuff, but what they do have is love. And I am thankful every single day that I was able to be a part of their loving family, if only a few days.

To find out more about Pure, visit their website. If you are interested in volunteering or donating to Pure, please check the links for further information. Pure! for Kids is an excellent organization, that despite the fantastic efforts of everyone involved, could always use more help and support, so please consider learning more about what they do and help out however you can.

Adam

Adam set off on a year-long RTW trip in October 2008, touching down in eleven countries and ninety cities over three continents. Now back home in St. Louis, Adam is trying to bust into the travel writing business. You can check out Adam’s brand new site, still a work in progress with new content being added daily, at www.worldtravelforcouples.com, or you can follow Adam’s journey to become a travel writer at www.journeyofatravelwriter.com. Adam also kept a blog of their RTW trip, at thewanderyear.com.

This is for everyone who found joy in the first collection of Faces Of The Future and for those who wanted to contribute their photos. I hope these photos brings a smile to your face because I couldn’t get rid of my Kool-Aid smile while I was putting this post together.

I received a large number of submission for this photo collection and I am very sorry to say that I was not able to use every single photo that was submitted. Please don’t hate me. Look at the babies instead!

Misones, Argentina

Michael Tieso

Michael Tieso started Art Of Backpacking with a vision of sharing cultural knowledge to the world and inspire more people to travel. He left the cubicle life to travel the world in May 2009 and he still continues the journey to this day with no end to it. He loves adventure, food, and music. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter @djskylab.

Guatemala

Photo by Halle Hughes, aged 10 traveling near Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Halle was on her first trip overseas with her 2 sisters and parents and said the best part of going to Guatemala was doing Dog Meets World and meeting other kids.

Costa Rica

Photo by Kathryn Rouillard, a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica took pictures in Playa Panama and said that practicing DMW was "one of the highest highs I have experienced thus far as a PCV in Costa Rica.

Dominica Republic

Tanzania

Haiti

Taken by Carolyn Lane, founder of DMW in Lacul, Haiti in a village along the sea. None of the children had ever had their photos to own!

Carolyn Lane

Carolyn Lane is the founder and president of Dog Meets World, nonprofit organization seeking to put a photo in the hand of every child in need in the world.

The Caribbean

Taken at Grand Anse Beach, Grenada, Caribbean

Maharasthra, India

Taken in Ellora, Maharasthra, India

Cairo, Egypt

Taken at an engagement party held on the street, Cairo, Egypt

Connie Hum

Connie Hum is a bit of a loose canon. She gets an idea in her head and she just goes with it. After making the decision to live the life she’s always wanted, Connie left her amazing apartment in New York City and job at an international consulting firm in February 2009. Since that time, she’s lived in Istanbul, sailed in the Mediterranean, slept in a Bedouin cave in the mountains of Petra, bellydanced her way through Cairo, drank afternoon tea in London, danced with young Buddhist monks in Burma, learned the art of Vipassana meditation in an ashram in India, trekked the Himalayan mountain range in Nepal and sunbathed in the gorgeous beaches of Thailand. And this is only the beginning! You can follow her travel (mis)adventures on www.connvoyage.com or on Twitter at @connvoyage.

Sapa, Vietnam

Little Hmong girl carrying her baby brother. Click on the photo for the story.

Laos

Hmong girl from Laos

Another Hmong girl from Laos

Belaga, Borneo

Kayan mother and child

Theodora Sutcliffe

Theodora Sutcliffe is on a longterm round the world journey with her nine year old son. Since leaving London in January 2010 they’ve visited Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia: next stop Indonesia Visit www.travelswithanineyearold.com for more travel pics and stories.Theodora is a single parent from London, England traveling around the with her son Z. Follow her on Twitter @Mummy_T.

Bangkok, Thailand

From a train ride from Bangkok to the border of Cambodia. It was a 5 hour train ride on wooden benches and cost 50 cents so we were the only foreigners on the train and no one spoke English. Unlike in North America where we'd never give our children to strangers, we were greeted warmly by the people on the train who offered their baby to hold. Although we didn't speak a common language it was one of the most memorable events of my trip.

Ayngelina Brogran

Ayngelina left her job, apartment, boyfriend and friends to travel solo. You can read about her adventures at Bacon is Magic, as she eats her way through Latin America and beyond.

Granada, Nicaragua

Guatemala

Mexico

Lainie

Miro and Lainie (mother 43 and 11 year old son) share their adventures from the road of life, discussing issues of humanity, global citizenship, slow travel and living in the moment as they backpack through the world.Stay up to date with them on their blog & podcast at RaisingMiro.com which chronicles their nomadic adventures, Raising Miro on the Road of Life.

Cambodia

She was just a cutey. She has a huge smile on her face in every, single picture we have of her.

A couple of the younger boys just thought it was hilarious to use me as their own personal jungle gym. It got quite tiring after a while, and of course everyone wanted to try when they saw these two, so the next thing you know, I had 15-year-olds not much shorter than I trying to hang on me.

This is my boy again. It started pouring rain, and they all wanted to go out and play. In typical SE Asia monsoon season weather, it just POURED down buckets of rain, and they all had a blast.

You obviously can't tell it from this picture, but this little guy was the most surly and mad looking for the first couple hours after we arrived. Once he warmed up to us, he was like he is in this picture. Adorable.

This was the youngest girl, Nita, who was about 2 years old and as you can see, simply beautiful. Everyone was her bigger brother or sister, and they all took care of her and watched over her.

Adam & Megan

Adam and Megan set off on a year-long RTW trip in October 2008, touching down in eleven countries and ninety cities over three continents. Now back home in St. Louis, Megan is back at her career as an attorney, and Adam is trying to bust into the travel writing business. You can check out Adam’s brand new site, still a work in progress with new content being added daily, at www.worldtravelforcouples.com, or you can follow Adam’s journey to become a travel writer at www.journeyofatravelwriter.com. Adam and Megan also kept a blog of their RTW trip, at thewanderyear.com. They are both on twitter, @aseper and @wanderyearmeg.

Temples. Temples. Temples. What can I say about temples? I don’t know. Let’s just look at pretty pictures of temples instead.

Pura Luhur, Uluwatu

The silhouette of Pura Luhur sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. Uluwatu, Bali, right after the sunset

Temple of Debod, Madrid

The illuminated Temple of Debod at dusk in Parque del Oeste, Madrid. This temple was originally built in Egypt around 2nd century BC, and then in 1968 it was donated to Spain and rebuilt in Madrid.

Temple of Poseidon, Greece

The ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, Cape Sounion, Greece. Built around 440 BC.

Dina from Vagabond Quest

Ryan and Dina are a couple of permanent travelers vagabonding around the world. Ryan is a software guy from Canada, and Dina is a chemist from Java, Indonesia. They met in Japan and then lived in Ontario, Canada. In April 2009, they closed their home and since then have been living on the road with their 2 backpacks. They focus on cheap travel and ways to get more travel enjoyment for less cash. In their blog “Vagabond Quest“, they share their stories and recommendations. Follow them on Twitter @VagabondQuest.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

We often see from the other side of the lens and think the photographer was in solitude. Once I shot my sunrise for Angkor Wat I decided to shoot the reality.

Ayngelina

Ayngelina left her job, apartment, boyfriend and friends to travel solo throughout Central and South America. You can read about her adventures at Bacon is Magic, as she eats her way through Central and South America. You can follow her on Twitter @Ayngelina.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The temples and ruins of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat fascinate travelers as a look into the past, but Angkor Wat is still very much a modern sacred site as well. Pictured is a New Year celebration within the temple complex.

Kevin Revolinski

Kevin Revolinski is the author of The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey and the Bangkok expert for NileGuide.com. His website and blog are at The Mad Traveler Online.

My Son, Vietnam

Click on image to read more.

Click on image to read more.

Click on image to read more.

Click on image to read more.

Dave Dean

Dave was born and raised in small town New Zealand providing  him with the perfect beginnings for a lifelong travel addiction. After graduating from university with a degree in History and Political Science he packed his meager belongings into a backpack and headed for London. The subsequent years have seen him traveling through thirty-something countries and watching my ‘must see’ list grow larger almost as quickly as I’ve watched my bank balance grow smaller. Check out Dave’s blog, What’s Dave Doing, and follow him on Twitter @driftingkiwi.

Rome, Italy

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, built in the 2nd Century AD, was converted into a church in the Middle Age and is thus a wonderful example of the layers of History.

The Temple of Venus Genetrix was dedicated to the goddess of motherhood and domesticity by Julius Caesar in 46 BC.

Simon Los Roques

Simon is ‘wild about travel’ and as soon as possible she packs a few things and goes. Born in Italy, growing up in a small village in the Swiss mountains and at 18 back to Italy, in Milan, she remained a nature lover. Simon loves adventure travel and wilderness, and she is wild about scuba diving, hiking and skiing. She started blogging for fun, while she was jobless, but soon got passionate and continues writing her ‘Travel tales by a Travel Addict’.

Visit Simon’s blog at Wild About Travel and follow her on Twitter.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor is a location that lends itself to black and white pictures, I think. The contrasts of the landscape to the ruins seem to show up better in that format. Plus, I think it gives a better image of the age of everything.

Pre Rup, Cambodia

Pre Rup, which is one of the oldest of the temples in the main Angkor Wat area. A nightly traditional is climbing those steps to the top and watching sunset from up there. It's wonderfully peaceful.

Michael Hodson

Michael just completed a sixteen month, round-the-world trip without taking a single plane.  His blog — One Lap, No Jetlag — is at www.mobilelawyer.blogspot.com and you can Twitter him at @mobilelawyer.

Phenom Penh, Cambodia

Royal Temple

Matt Preston

Matt Preston is an English travel photographer and co-founder of Travel With Mate. He has also created a book entitled “Portraits of Asia.”  Matt is currently living in Sydney, Australia before going to Borneo.

Beijing, China

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven

Prayer Cards tied to a bridge at the Confucian Temple

Burning incense and praying at the Lama Temple

Emily Hyndman

Emily Hyndman is a recent college graduate who never leaves home without her camera. A recent trip to Beijing left her with a desire to explore Asia. A big fan of slow travel, Emily hopes to eventually live and work abroad. Until that day comes, she enjoys exploring and living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, starting with her new home in Seattle, WA. You can follow her on Twitter @eehyndman.

New Delhi, India

Baha'i Temple

Lumbini, Nepal

Mayadevi Temple - Birthplace of Buddha

Sravastlup, India

Myanmar Monastery

Aye, Jack & Emma

These pictures were taken during a mother-daughter Buddhist Pilgrimage to India and Nepal in early 2008.  Follow this fabulous family of three on their inspiring blog Got Passport: Will Travel. Will Serve and follow them on Twitter @gotpassport as they prepare to move to Chiang Mai, Thailand this summer.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Japan

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Buddhist temple complex consisting of over 30 beautiful, old buildings that rest on a hillside full of trees and natural springs.

Java, Indonesia

Prambanan temple complex near Jogjakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia. These Hindu temples date from the 9th century and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bali, Indonesia

This temple is known for its spectacular location as it rests on a cliff about 70 meters above the ocean.

Jenna Francisco

Jenna works as a professor in Sacramento, California, but loves to get away whenever she can.  She studied and lived abroad and has traveled extensively through Europe.  She has a multi-cultural family and spends time every year visiting family either in Brazil or Indonesia, or both.  As the mother of a toddler, she is learning new ways to travel and looks forward to sharing her adventures with others.  Check out her blog at Adventures of a 21st Century Family.

Guest post by Garrett from @hosteldog

Is it really always the right choice to go somewhere that no one else goes? If a traveler knowingly goes with the easier, more popular destination, should they be thrown the proverbial stone?

These are questions that every traveler asks of themselves. We all hope that we have the capability and strength to go where no one else goes. But should the goal of the independent backpacker really be to pick the road less traveled?

When you first start traveling, most likely, it will be to some place closer, cheaper, easier.

The likelihood that you take the road more traveled happens because, like any leap, travel is easiest to do with beginner baby steps.

But right after that first trip to Paris, London or New York, I’d bet that most of us started asking ourselves – shouldn’t I now be setting my sights on some place more adventurous? Laos, Cambodia, Turkey all jump to mind.

Any chance these locations are on your list?

And for the even more off-the-grid, throw Tunisia, Colombia and Belarus in to the mix. These places, well off the main travel grid, wet the mouths of most folks who yearn for a sense of adventure.

But what does it REALLY mean to go somewhere less traveled? In a place like Paris, Amsterdam or Auckland, you’ll find well-organized hostels packed with travelers and people of similar interests. Drink specials are common and it’s all too easy to find a new friend on the hostel bed across the room.

In the less traveled destinations, you’re going to find things a tad bit more different and, probably, more difficult. It’s more likely that you’ll be a novelty, so you’ll attract a tad more attention.

Add on to that the likelihood that your native tongue is most likely not spoken and you’re starting to see the challenges of venturing away from the tried-and-true haunts of the main backpacker trails.

On top of that, you’re more likely to encounter spotty internet, unpredictable travel, less trustworthy hostel owners – you make the list. Along with adventure, comes relative discomfort.

Far from being a travel curmudgeon, I embrace the uncommon destinations. As someone that has visited the more popular destinations, I’ve got my fair share of off-the-grid spots as well – Bolivia, Malaysia and Latvia dot the list. I went to these locations mainly because they were as different an experience I could find as possible from the hostel haunts of Western Europe.

But once I visited, I realized that I missed the sense of community that I found in those great hostels. I missed the friendships that grew over happy hour beers but lasted so much longer.

The only way to find out the type of traveler you are is to try both the popular and unpopular destinations. Get your sense of adventure and realize what that experience is like first hand. And it’s true, the grass is sometimes greener on the other side.

You just have to decide if it’s your type of green.

About Garrett

Garrett is the man behind Hostel Dog, a travel apparel company.

“Our inspiration for our shirts comes from remembering the idiosyncrasies of travel: the overnight trains, the packed hostel rooms, the late nights.Traveling isn’t just a momentary experience, it’s a way of life. When you come back from your travels abroad, it’s the little things that went right (and wrong) that you remember down the road.” (taken from www.hosteldog.com)

Be sure to follow Garrett on Twitter (@hosteldog).