I leave this country in 10 days. The dream for this trip was planted in my heart almost two years ago now. I trust that it came from God and I hope and pray that I’ll live it out in the way that He intended me to.
My trip will start in Argentina, continue on to New Zealand, then off to Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos perhaps Vietnam, India, Nepal, Egypt and ending in Kenya.
I will mostly be working and living on organic farms to further my education on sustainability and gardening as well as to experience the culture of a place first hand by living with the families there. I’ll also be volunteering at children’s homes and teaching English. My time in Nepal will be spent on a 20 day trek through the Himalayan Mountains. And occasionally I may be a tourist, although that is not what I strive to be. I do not see this trip as a vacation. I expect it to be the most difficult year of my life thus far. Yet, I know that the challenges and difficulties that lie on the path ahead will only teach me and equip me.
I am doing this trip on $6000 TOTAL. This includes my plane tickets and transportation to 12 different countries, all my immunizations, my health and travel insurance for the year and $1000 left over for spending money. In almost every place I will be working in exchange for my room and board. I know I will often not be able to buy things I want, but that God will give me everything I need.
Below is my original dream statement. I seem to ask myself often what the purpose of this trip is and I struggle to find the answer. I am not going on vacation, I am not simply backpacking, I am not going to have a good time, nor am I going to help people and do missions work. Yes I will feel at times that I am on vacation, I will be living out of a backpack for a year, I will have a good time and I intend to reach out my hands and offer my sweat and love to people, but I still cannot categorize this trip as any one of these things. For now, I am calling this trip an extension of my education, for I know no better way to educate and grow myself as a citizen of this world. Simply stated, I am going to learn.
Below is my original vision/dream statement.
A dream was planted inside of me.
A dream of traveling to foreign places, of holding hands with people from many lands and speaking to them in the universal language of love that is communicated powerfully although simply in a smile or a hug.
I dream of entering the homes of my neighbors across the seas and learning more about them and me as we share a cup of tea.
I dream of learning more about how to love. A love that is oblivious to any culture barriers or differences. A love that is undefined. A love that comes from above, from the simple fact that we are all in this world together and should love one another. A love that has no bounds and no eyes to judge. A love that can be shared for the sake of love itself and nothing else.
I long to fill my heart with the tales and stories of the people in these foreign places. I long to open my ears up to the hearts of others, I long to open my eyes and see the beauty in every smile. I long to create unity in the way I look at and treat everyone. I long to travel with nothing but a backpack, open mind and an overflowing heart.
I want to sleep under the stars and in the villages of new found friends. I want to seek out beauty and goodness as a treasure hunter seeks for gold. I want to come home with a better understanding of the world in which I live. I want the strengths and virtues of the people I’ll meet along the way to become a part of me. I want the beauty which I’ll see to forever romance me. I want to taste the fruit of these lands far away, have a conversation with someone who does not know my language or I theirs, I want to give what I have, learn everyday, watch the rising and setting of the sun, climb up into the mountains, swim in every ocean, play like a child, live out my dreams, and simply be wherever it is that my feet take me.
