The stuff we did .. travel!

It might seem selfevident (but then again.. it might also not) but we travelled. A lot. And of course, we had to travel in order to see our family so the annual flight home provided by the company was a given. But after my divorce, the girls had to travel as unaccompanied minors so by the age of four, they went from Africa to Europe to Middle America (and back) several times a year, labelled like baby cattle with a big UM. I remember the first time they left, I hated it, and I was so nervous. And even when they came back, I had arranged a tarmac-pass so I could meet them directly from the plane. We did get used to it quickly enough though. I was releived and glad that they did too, we all still take a plane as if it is a bus. As a result, we had three clocks in our living room telling the time of different places in the world, and my eldest did her show and tell about jetleg. And you might be surprised to hear it, by I actually enjoy flying, it relaxes me. And I think that if you ask my kids where they are from, they will reply: from Zaventem. ​ 

But of course we also travelled within the country. From the moment we arrived, I was keen to see the country (strangely my partner was not) but then, years later,  I started working in tourism so we were given such fantastic opportunities. To list but a few that will always stand out for me: we stayed at an authentic mobile safari camp at the rim of the Ngorongoro crater, we were lucky enough to stay at the Four Seasons in (bam smack) the middle of the Serengeti, we walked from Empakai crater to lake Natron in three days (I really need to spend a post on that, that was utterly gorgeous), I got my PADI (diving certificate) in Dar es Salaam, my eldest slept in a hut in a Maasai village, we went wild camping in a dry river bed in Tarangire, we went to Zanzibar several times (in both low budget places with hamacs on the beach as beds and in the Hyatt Regency with a overflow pool that seemed to run straight into the Indian ocean), the girls walked to base camp on Kilimanjaro, we stayed on a farm on the western slopes of Kilimanjaro, I was lucky enough to see the chimps in Mahale on the shores of lake Tanganyika.. oh and I would almost forget to mention Fanjove, a desert island straight from your dreams..  Basically, we did a whole bucket list before we even made one. 
Do people like travelling because they were introduced to it young? Or do they seek the opportunity at all costs because they are curious? I don't know. But I do know we will never stop.
But the most important thing is not ticking off things of a list (or boasting about them on a blog). The privilege is that you start seeing the world as a small place with all people as equals. And for my girls, it also caused an intrinsic love for animals. I am grateful for that. 

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