It's time to wake up. There are no more excuses for not travelling. Money? Save up for a couple months, buy a ticket and stay in hostels. If I can do it, anyone can, I PROMISE you that. No one to go with? I'm sure you have friends or family you can convince. If all else fails, go on an adventure program with strangers...if they're all weirdos at least you'll have fun stories, right?
So here's my deal. Going on travel adventures is my most favorite thing ever (yes, even more than fashion, shocking right? ha ha). I'm no travel-elitist, but I've had my fair share of excursions and trips. And, I believe that whether it's a weekend getaway or a month long vacation, everyone deserves to leave home for awhile and experience something new. My goal with this post is to inspire people to save their $$ and vacation days and go do something wild, spontaneous, and most importantly, FUN. I will tell you about my previous trips and categorize them accordingly.
IF YOU'RE INTO ADVENTURE, GO TO AFRICA:
Trip #1
My first trip was to South Africa and it was pretty...umm...interesting. It was during college, Lehigh University. We were all talking late at night and my friend who happened to be in the Orchestra (please keep side comments to yourself) was telling me about this amazing trip that they planning in South Africa. She convinced me that a TON of non-members would be travelling with them as well, and that I should definitely go. Lets just say that when I arrived at the airport, I was THE ONLY person under 30 not in the orchestra ha ha ha, oops!
Because this was a "school trip" it wasn't as adventurous as I'd have liked but the safari was unimaginable and the educational stuff made me appreciate the country 10x more.
If you're in Africa, you must do a REAL Safari! We went to Kruger National Park. I swear to god it's what Jurassic Park must have been modeled after. We had to go through electric fences when entering our campsite. It was pretty badass...But the best thing were the little huts you slept in, see mine below.
We would wake up at 6am and pile into our "cars"...I have never felt more exposed in my life. Goal of the safari, see the BIG 5: Lion, Rhino, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo.
THE only way I can describe the safari is by comparing it to one of the best movie scenes of all time- Ace Ventura When Nature Calls, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang scene. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. The second another car on the safari sees one of the five (cars drive miles apart from each other), you are radioed and off you go, chitty-chitty bang-banging through the tundra.
Highlights/Scariest Moment of my life:
Buffalo stampede of about 200-300
Elephants playing in the water
Elephants crossing infront of us with a baby (reminded me of Dumbo)
Seeing a lioness run infront of the car.
Trip #2
ZAMBIA/ZIMBABWE: I went here with one of my best friends while I was staying at her dorm in Capetown. SUPER cheap trip. We stayed at the Jollyboys in Livingstone, Zambia. It was a glorified hostel with a private shower (if you could call it that), pool, and mini-restaurant. Pretty legit.
Activities you MUST DO:
http://www.thezambeziswing.com/
We did the Gorge Swing, Abseiling, and the Flying Fox, and had them all video taped. (Side note: If you ever wonder whether or not you need to loose weight, put on a harness and videotape yourself...shocking, just shocking). See picture below, that's the Zambezi Gorge Swing!! Glorified bungee jumping...
Elephant Riding in Zambia.
This will only interest you if you like elephants, they're my 2nd favorite animal after dogs, of course. Although I was terrified because I've watched wayyyy too many episodes of When Animals Attack, it was something I had to do. The animals are trained to sit, shake your hand, etc. It was cute! See picture below.
And last but not least, something you MUST do, is walk across the border into Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls. As long as you don't mind crossing the border alongside men with machine guns and baboons, you'll be fine.
It's so weird...once you start walking, before you can see Victoria Falls, you start getting drops of mist on you, it's so exciting! Another thing to do while over there is go to one of the markets. Although they prefer US $$, you can usually trade ciggs, clothes, etc. One of the people I was with even brought her old crutches to barter with, no joke! They have cool, hand-made sculptures, clothes and paintings.
Trip #2.5
Gansbaai, South Africa.
Wake up real early, get picked up in a sketchy van, and drive to your doomsday destination...Gansabaai, the Great White Shark captial of the WORLD!
I will just say two words and then show you some pictures, and if this doesn't inspire you to go, I don't know what else will.
Shark Diving
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