Sometimes we assume that parts of our childhood are universal, that everyone has experienced. It’s easy to forget that things that seem so normal to you aren’t normal to you. To not realise that some parts of your childhood have not been experienced by others around the world.

I’ve actually come across things like this a few times. I was with a Malaysian the first time he ever saw snow. It had never occurred to me that it doesn’t ever snow in some places. I saw a friend excited the first time she saw a horse. Not everyone grew up in the country like I did.

As a Brit it’s easy to forget that we grew up on an island. The sea is never far away, and as a culture, beach trips are the norm. I’m not saying we’re the only culture, of course. What I’m saying is that it’s easy not to realise that there are people out there who have never even seen sand.

So when my wife and I were wandering Koh Tao on our first day there, she happened to mention that she had never built a sandcastle. Even though it shouldn’t have, this surprised me. So I immediately got to work.

We were on a small island with beautiful beaches. It wasn’t hard to find a shop that was selling beach toys. We spent some time building sandcastles after that. It was such a joy to introduce this to one of that day’s Lucky 10,000.

I had to teach her the basics, but we created a tiny village on the beach. Even as an adult, it was fun to play with the sand as if we were children again. It was a nice reminder that it’s never too late, and that you are never too old to just play.