back experiences. It’s about embracing your surrounds, be-
coming a part of it, soaking in what it offers, what the peo-
ple offer. Days later, while I sat out the front of the Sydney
fish markets, the same place he’d had that profound discus-
sion with his friend, Lincoln experienced what was being
said as he found that the impersonal nature of the area was
becoming therapeutic. Could this be home?
Nearing the end of his journey, Lincoln was finding that
he had changed, he found that he was now longing for a
place. Unsure whether it was a physical place he needed,
he knows that he needed emotional support, and perhaps
somewhere to have his spiritual needs fulfilled. He neared
a familiar place, he’d promised his family he’d be with them
for Christmas.
Approaching his families house, Lincoln says he began
to become emotional, his eyes welling the closer to his fam-
ily he became.
“I must’ve bit into a chilli that miraculously manifested
in my mouth,” he laughed. “My body reacted to one; the
waterworks started. Few times in my life have I been this
overwhelmed with emotion. Tears of joy. I was laughing
hysterically. Or was I crying?”
“A bit of both,” Lincoln laughed, he confirmed it didn’t
matter.
His parents had been waiting for Lincoln to return, his
father pacing the driveway, his mother and sister sat in the
garage. Reunion. A family embrace, a hug that was warm,
comforting, loving … it went on for what seemed forever, a
beautiful moment that would never end.
“I still don’t know why you did it,” Lincoln’s father ques-
TRAVERSE 106