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I have followed people off trains and into their homes to eat with them in Beirut, Bombay.

Surprisingly, my gut instinct for stranger danger is actually very finely tuned for an autistic person, and I feel reasonably comfortable with being able to read situations.

It wasn’t always this way, but connecting with people because I am super interested in how different people live became something of a fixation for me.

In 20 years of doing it, I feel I’ve gotten the chance to have very rich experiences everywhere I’ve been in the world. I find it difficult to go immediately to threat mode (I am almost never in it).

I know that’s a function of a privilege I have: I was brought up in a loving and secure environment, and I was rarely (never) afraid. Increasingly I find myself wondering if that was the single most important thing that led to certain outcomes for me, more than anything else.

Even today, I am deeply afraid of knowing what will happen, but knowing I can always go home, to a warm meal, makes me feel safe. And sometimes I want to try to help others feel that way, as best as I can.