Goodbye for now, Aiya

Jelle and Silke spent a few weeks travelling Sri Lanka with me on a custom tour. On their last evening before flying home, Jelle posted this Instagram story tagging me — and called me aiya, glossing the Sinhala word himself in the caption.

“Goodbye for now Aiya (brother), thank you for everything.”

In Sri Lankan families, aiya is what younger siblings call the senior boys in the house — and what people use, beyond family, for someone they've grown to trust. I don't take that lightly.