I waited eagerly for the limo to arrive at the front door of my great grandmother's quaint house. The limo would be taking her and I to the airport which would be taking us to the airport where I would begin a new adventure. I was going into the great unknown, I was going to Africa. 11-year-old me had never been out of the state of Texas before this grand journey so I was slightly nervous to go not only out of my state, but across the globe. The limo finally arrived and I leapt into the air full of excitement running towards the limo at full speed dragging my suitcase across the yard and putting it carefully into the trunk of the vehicle. My grandmother climbed in shortly after and we drove to the airport. When we got to the airport we went through the line and went to the terminal. The plane ride was 18 hours which were some of the most excruciatingly painful hours of my life. I couldn’t sit still. When we finally arrived at the airport in Nairobi, Kenya I sprinted my way out of the plane and into the airport finally stepping foot in the airport I grew more and more excited. Studies show that when traveling you become much less stressed and happier almost instantly and believe me I was experiencing bliss. We checked into our hotel shortly after and began exploring the downtown area slightly. We saw trinkets and other goods in the many shops we visited until we had to go back to the hotel and sleep. The next day was our first safari where I saw many different species of unique animals such as water buffalo and hyenas. After the safari was over we made our way to a wildlife reserve where we got to feed the giraffes and also "kiss" them by putting food pellets in between our lips and them licking us to get them out. The next day we went to the next hotel and our day was mostly the same. The food there was exotic and different than what I was used to. I tried many exotic foods such as ostrich and water buffalo. The fourth and fifth days were the most fun. On the morning of the fourth day we went on a hot air balloon which took us over the African Sahara, then we were taken to one of the small villages and we got to stay there for the night with them. Our sixth and final day was a blur for me.

I was taken to many different places and saw even more animals and indigenous people. When we eventually had to go back to the airport I was very sad because I had grown accustomed to many of the new things I experienced there. I learned basic Swahili, how to start a fire and many other basic things that I did every day on that trip so when I got back home I once again had to get used to it. Having traveled to Africa allowed me to learn the beauty in everything around me and how very blessed I am to have the things I have while many people like the ones I met don’t. I have since travelled to many other places such as Bermuda, New York, Venice Italy, 3 Greek Islands, Turkey, And Madrid Spain. Through all these experiences I've fully began to appreciate everything and everyone around me.