The Words I Once Received, I Passed On in Hawaii

Aug. 13, 2026
Pacific Ocean, en route to Alaska

A rainbow over the ocean in Hawaii.

Some time ago, during one of my TikTok Lives, a young woman from Los Angeles told me she was planning to travel alone to Kona on the Big Island.

She was excited, but she also admitted that she was a little nervous and a little scared.

I told her that Kona is not a very big place, and there are many things she can do on her own. We talked about places she could visit, things she could see, and a few areas around Kona worth exploring.

Then, while we were talking, I suddenly remembered something that happened to me many years ago.

I had just left my hometown and moved to Beijing for work.

One evening, my boss took me to a dinner with a delegation visiting from the UK. One of the women in the group learned that I had left my hometown and come to Beijing on my own.

She said something to me that I never forgot.

“If you can leave your hometown and come to Beijing, you can go anywhere in the world.”

At the time, it was simply a few words from a woman I had just met.

But I remembered them.

So many years later, sitting here in Hawaii and talking to this young woman through my Live, I found myself telling her the same story.

I said, “Look at me. I left my hometown for Beijing, and since then I have traveled to many places. Now I’m living in Hawaii.”

Then she told me that she had already traveled to Japan by herself.

I laughed.

“Then you definitely don’t need to be afraid.”

She told me she felt much better after our conversation.

A few days later, I was Live again when I saw her come back.

“Rebecca, do you remember me?” she asked. “I’m the girl who was going to Kona.”

Of course I remembered her. She had gone. She told me about seeing the volcano, doing a fruit tasting, exploring the island and enjoying the trip. And she had come back to my Live just to tell me about it and say thank you.

I was really happy to hear that.

Over the years, I have always enjoyed sharing my experiences with other women. Not because I think I know more than they do, but because I know what it feels like to receive a little encouragement at the right moment. Sometimes that is all we need.

What stayed with me most that day was the connection between those two moments in my life.

Many years ago, a woman gave a few words of encouragement to a young woman who had just left home for Beijing. Many years later, from Hawaii, I passed those words on to another young woman who was getting ready to go somewhere on her own.

Some words may sound like only a sentence when we first hear them. But sometimes, they travel with us much farther than we ever expected.