Almost exactly ten years ago I approached my dad and asked him if I could go to Africa, I hadn’t yet turned eighteen yet but I was close. I had found an organization that did short term trips and my dream has always been to visit Africa. Instead of calling me crazy and saying no, he started flipping through the catalogue and saw that they also went to Peru. “Why don’t you go to Peru instead?” he asked, I was sold. I started applying as soon as I turned eighteen, got accepted and booked a flight to Lima.
Beginning of March, 2008 found me sitting in the JFK international airport, with my dad, getting ready for my first international flight ALONE. I freaked out! I literally started crying and saying I couldn’t do this. At this point my daddy very calmly bought me a juice and muffin and just sat with me. He said “you’ll be fine. You’re going to get on that plane in a few minutes, and fly to Peru. Someone will pick you up at the other end and take you to your hotel. You’ll spend two weeks there and then you’ll come back and I’ll be here to pick you up.”
I got on that plane, and he was right, I was fine. Since then I’ve been to 22 countries. I’ve driven around Ireland,(kissed the Blarney stone) I’ve ridden in a 1948 Ford Edsel in Cuba and walked the Malecon. I’ve seen the Berlin wall, the Eiffel Tower, Corrie Ten Boom’s house, Aushwitz concentration camp, Dachau concentration camp. I’ve seen the alps, been to the top of Jung Frau, crossed the English channel, Zip lined in Costa Rica, rode a gondola in Venice, built drainage ditches in Jamaica, been to the top of the Burj Khalifa, hiked to the ruins of a village in the Iraq mountains, (which by the way was my dad’s idea that I go to Iraq) seen what happens when humanity gets out of control and creates a crisis… But I haven’t been to Africa… YET.
I am now on month 4 of the craziest trip of my life, where I’ll be adding 11 more countries to that list, and I’m back in Peru, almost exactly ten years later, for a couple days before getting on a plane and going to Asia. (Cambodia and Thailand) I’ll be seeing a lot more of this world AND I’ll be going to Africa!
My dad jokes that I should have picked better when it came to picking my parents. I told him that I wanted someone else but that when I went to choose, my guardian angel tapped me on the shoulder and shook his head. He then pointed to my parents and said I would need someone who would let me go. He was right, I needed someone who would give me a foundation for life and then let me build on it. I needed someone who would teach me to fly; I needed someone who would let me go. And they have. In letting me go however they support and encourage me and I always have a place to return to when I need it.
I thank God for my parents and for what they have taught me that has made me who I am today.
