Sunday, June 12, 2011
My Traveling Companion
Hopes for My Trip
I've already flown 5 hours today, catching a red-eye from Seattle to Dulles. Now I'm waiting for a 14+ hour flight to the continent of Africa. I'll have another layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia before arriving at my end destination of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Overall, it amounts to roughly 24 hours of travel time... The things I do to try to satisfy this travel bug of mine.
Once there, I get to spend three weeks in Tanzania and its island republic of Zanzibar. The first few days will be spent on safari, shooting animals... with my trusty camera. Then a quick hop over to Zanzibar for some beach time. The latter two weeks will be spent volunteering at a couple Young Life camps, playing with kids and building relationships.
On a deeper level, I know the camps will be energizing, especially in a spiritual aspect. But I'm also hoping that my time away from my regular life will help provide some clarity and direction of what's next in my life. I feel like I'm at a crossroads, and decisions need to be made, but my brain is so bogged down that I can't move. A mental paralysis of sorts.
I live a very charmed life, and have been blessed in many ways. But I often lose sight of that-- I see all the distractions, and lose focus of what's important. It reminds me of the movie "City Slickers"... Billy Crystal's character leaves on his annual trip with friends, struck in the rut of everyday life. But as the trip progresses, he begins to renew, and by the end of the movie, he "finds his smile" again. That's what I want-- to return home as a new and refreshed man.
So there you have it-- the thoughts of a man who's going on three hours sleep and an avenue to share them. Definitely not what I expected to write when I started this "test" post. But it's what I'm hoping for on this trip. That and great photographs to share with you all. :-)