The Adventures of a Little Penguin

Jambo, good day, bonjour, buon giorno, and hello!

Thank you for all the good wishes while I was traveling.  It meant so much to get to leave with such encouragement and support.

One of the objects of my time abroad was solitude, so I corresponded very little with anyone and posted nothing here.  But now that I am back, I hope to write a bit about where I was and what I saw.  I hope to provide those curious with the stories and pictures.  I also want to share my experience and advice with anyone who plans a trip like mine.

Here is where I went.

Where I Went:
(with medical mission team from Lubbock, Texas)
June 4 --- Home - Dallas, Texas - Houston
June 5 --- London, England - Nairobi, Kenya
June 6 --- Nairobi, Kenya - Malindi, Kenya
June 7 --- Galana Ranch, Kenya
June 8 --- Galana Ranch, Kenya
June 9 --- Galana Ranch, Kenya
June 10 --- Galana Ranch - Malindi, Kenya
June 11 --- Malindi, Kenya
June 12 --- Malindi, Kenya
June 13 --- Malindi, Kenya - Mshongoleni, Kenya
June 14 --- Malindi, Kenya - Mshongoleni, Kenya
June 15 --- Malindi, Kenya - Mshongoleni, Kenya
June 16 --- Malindi, Kenya - Mshongoleni, Kenya
June 17 --- Malindi, Kenya - Mshongoleni, Kenya
June 18 --- Malindi - Nairobi - London
(with Dad and family friend)
June 19 --- London
(only with Pingu, my stuffed penguin)
June 20 --- London

Pingu at DFW airport

Pingu at Buckingham Palace during the Changing of the Guard

Pingu and Buckingham Palace

June 21 --- London - Portsmouth, England - Caen, France
June 22 --- Caen - Paris - Lourdes, France
June 23 --- Lourdes - Nice, France
June 24 --- Nice - Ventimiglia, Italy - Genova, Italy
June 25 --- Genova - Rome, Italy
June 26 --- Rome
June 27 --- Rome
June 28 --- Rome
June 29 --- Rome
June 30 --- Rome
July 1 --- Rome - Milan, Italy
July 2 --- Paris, France
July 3 --- Paris - Calais, France - Dover, England
July 4 --- Dover - London
July 5 --- London - Houston, Texas
July 6 --- Houston - Dallas - Home

All told, this is a distance of about 36,000 kilometers, roughly 4000 kilometers short of the circumference of the Earth.  I am not, of course, in the running for "furthest distance in a single trip".  That belongs to those who flew to the moon, which is nearly 400,000 km!

My dad and I laughed a good deal over our boarding passes:

According to British Airways, I am Sarah, WORLD TRAVELLER.

My grand overseas adventure was actually two separate trips, put end to end.  The Kenya trip was a medical mission trip organized by Monterrey Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas.  We spent two weeks providing medical care to the Kenyan people.  This trip alone was life-altering.
In the months before the trip, I noticed that our connecting flight was through London.  I began to think about postponing our trip back and spending a day in London with my dad.  This evolved into spending a couple more weeks in London after that.  At the suggestion of my mum, this then evolved into traveling about Europe. It seemed silly to pay for the flight across the Atlantic Ocean and then never do anything.
Thus, a solo trip through Europe was added at the end of the Kenya trip.

I hope to write about everything I saw and did.  But for readability's sake, I will plan to break the account up into more manageable pieces and post it a bit at a time.

So this is where I have been.  I picked up words in four languages in four weeks and saw bits of culture and history that blew my mind.

Next time: Kenya, Galana Ranch, and extensive musings on stewed goat.