When frazzled twentysomething traveller Jennea arrived at London’s King’s Cross railway station on December 15, 2013, the station was absolutely packed.
Carol singers in one corner were singing with gusto, collecting money for charity in brightly colored buckets. Gathered in the middle of the Victorian concourse, crowds of travellers stood, wrapped in coats and scarfs, looking up at the departure boards, waiting for their platform to be announced.
Passengers jostled past each other, armed with bags of gifts and large suitcases. Exhausted and a little overwhelmed, Jennea still found time to be charmed by the festive atmosphere. She took a moment to put down her heavy bag and check the departure board, searching for her train.
Jennea, who’d grown up in the U.S., had spent the last 18 months in Mozambique, where she’d been volunteering …