Haken Anderson is an AFS-USA Study Abroad Alum who lived in Thailand during his 2023-24 exchange year with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad program. He’s currently embarking on a six-month solo cycling trip from Morocco to Singapore. Crossing through 35 countries and traveling over 14,000 miles, Haken will be the youngest person in the world to complete this route. In this testimonial, he discusses how his exchange year in Thailand prepared him to embrace the kindness of strangers on his once-in-a-lifetime journey.
People often ask me how I gained the confidence to bike solo across most of the world, from Morocco to Singapore. It certainly wasn’t a trust in my own problem-solving skills (I’m actually a pretty terrible bike mechanic), or the security of a large budget (I have been known to sleep outside in a tent with a hotel right across the street). Rather, I have confidence in people; in the kindness of strangers. I have a belief that no matter where I go, there will almost always be somebody ready and eager to help. And time and time again, I have been proven right.
This confidence in the kindness of strangers is rooted in my experience as an AFS student in Thailand [through YES Abroad]. As a high schooler from a small midwestern town who had never before seen the world outside of North America, I didn’t have much experience with people from across the globe. But, in my small host town of Nan, I was repeatedly shown that the default human condition is kindness. Even, and especially, when you are a stranger.
When you really think about it, the whole idea of being an exchange student is an extraordinary exercise in kindness. Not only are you reliant on the generosity of classmates and teachers to help get you through the school day in an unfamiliar language and location, but you are invited to live in a stranger’s home and to become a literal piece of their family. The intimacy of that sort of benevolence is unique, and something I think everyone would benefit from experiencing.
Given this background, when I set off on my six-month cycling journey, I had confidence that if and when I needed help, wherever I may be, there would be a stranger standing by, eager to offer a helping hand.
From a random family in the [Czech Republic] spending over an hour on a Sunday afternoon to help me fix a snapped cable when all the nearby shops were closed, to the mayor of a small town in Kazakhstan who gifted me a delicious meal of goat meat and camel’s milk and bought me a place to sleep for the night — I have witnessed that when people have the choice to be kind, more often than not, that’s exactly what they decide to do.
When I was taken in by a family in Türkiye, [I couldn’t help but get flashbacks to my time in Thailand]. It was a hot August day in Denizli, near the western coast of the country, and I was sitting alone in a cafe after dropping my bike off at a repair shop. My wheel had developed a crack and I was stranded. Then, out of nowhere, a man walked up to me and introduced himself in perfect English. His name was Alper. We talked for a little while and I explained my situation. Without hesitation, Alper invited me into his home for the night. Once there, I was fed an incredible Turkish meal of home cooked lamb and bread expertly prepared by his mother.
I ended up spending two nights in Alper’s home, but with the connection we gained, it may as well have been two years. An Instagram post from his mother, translated from Turkish, summed it up perfectly, “Today, Haken will be our guest. Tomorrow, we’ll move on, perhaps never to see each other again. But I know that every act of kindness leaves a mark on our journey…Good luck, Haken. I hope you always meet good people.” And I have.
Through my experiences as an AFS student in Thailand [on YES Abroad] and from cycling across the world, I have come to develop a faith in humanity that seems all too uncommon in today’s world. I believe that people are inherently good. I also believe that in order to spread this faith to others, I too now have the responsibility to offer a helping hand, whenever possible, to strangers in need. You never know the impact you might have.
You can follow Haken’s story on Instagram at @haken.anderson.