there-she-travels-blog

[there-she-travels-blog]

school's out for summer

school’s out for summer

“Travel is not reward for working, it’s education for living.” Tuesday evenings are spent working around the base camp. Sarah, Melvin and I are tasked with getting the fire pit ready for the cold months ahead. We spend an hour or so pulling the over grown vegetation from the summer, tilling the soil and smoothing rocks. By then end, it started to look like a somewhat functional place to gather…

[there-she-travels-blog]

trashy tuesday

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”― Gustave Flaubert Again, the early wake up time didn’t seem to bother me. I got up and got dressed, tidied up my room and headed out for some toast and honey. Tuesday mornings were for picking up trash alongside the 80 km of road on and around the main highway the reserve is responsible for. We started where they left…

[there-she-travels-blog]

does any one have a pen?

does any one have a pen?

After a layover in Virginia, we finally made it to our destination (12 hours and 145 stops later). We walked in the doors and unpacked our weeks worth of luggage at 11:30 Sunday night. After a well deserved nights sleep we woke up to snow-covered fields, 3 degree weather, and a mother with the flu. That’s right. My mother had woken up with chills and a fever and was having hard time getting up…

[there-she-travels-blog]

2000 miles and counting

2000 miles and counting

“We’re leaving December 16th and we’ll be gone for a week. Get ready.” My mothers most famous last words… Get Ready. She had taken it upon herself  to plan a family road trip the week before Christmas to Brownsville, Vermont (don’t worry…I have never heard of it either). An 18 hour drive with 4 kids, 3 teenagers, an aunt, a grandpa, me, her, a 15 passenger van and the Benz (I insisted on bringing…

[there-she-travels-blog]

doubled back and snuck up from behind

doubled back and snuck up from behind

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a story-teller.” – Ibn Battuta I was up at 7:30 and I couldn’t believe how well I had slept. I awoke refreshed and ready to start the day. After a couple of slices of toast with peanut butter and honey, I wandered into the classroom where the newbies were to have our orientation. In addition to Sara and Cara, Melvin and myself, our group…

[there-she-travels-blog]

lets be friends

“I didn’t know where I was going until I got there.” – Cheryl Strayed I was met at the airport by one of my guides-to-be named Damian. In my excitement to be done with airplanes for the near future and relieved to have finally made it through customs, I threw my arms around his neck exclaiming “I have never been so happy to see someone in my life!” Ya’ll…I wish I could have taken a picture of his…

[there-she-travels-blog]

its a waiting game

its a waiting game

“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” – Chris McCandless 10 hours later I made my way from the lounge I had taken refuge in towards the gate that housed the plane that would take me way from Europe and into Africa. It had been a whirl wind of…

[there-she-travels-blog]

one is the loneliest number

one is the loneliest number

“You’ll feel so homesick that you’ll want to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it apart from endure it. But you will, and it won’t kill you.” – Brooklyn (2015) I think forcing myself to get on the plane to London was one of the hardest things I have ever made myself do. I thought I was prepared to leave the comfort of my home, family and friends…but clearly I was wrong. This was evident…

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its only 8,000 miles

its only 8,000 miles

“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” – Hugh Laurie I took the first steps out of my hiding spot (aka the handicap stall in the international terminal…

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to go or not to go...

to go or not to go…

“Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway.”  – John Wayne To say that I was scared is an understatement…I was terrified. The moment I left my mom at the security gate the butterflies that had been fluttering in my stomach all day turned into rabid dogs threatening to jump right out of my throat. It didn’t help that I forgot to take my laptop out of my carry-on (rookie that I was)…

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so you think you're educated...

so you think you’re educated…

“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.” – Tom Brokaw (The above quote has enspired every adventure that I have ever had the courage to take. I hope it inspires you the way it did me.) When I graduated college, I was at a crossroads. I had…

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