Map of Children's Global Alliance Travels 2014

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

I sat swinging in Austen's hammock in the open air of Phnom Penh. The sounds of the city happening all around me. Aerobics at the Olympic Stadium just barely audible, the throngs of people barely visible. I don't want to leave. I'm not ready. A year of waiting to return, and suddenly the trip is over. So much has happened, we have all experienced and learned so much, yet there is still so much more to learn, still so much to explore. We walked around the city today for about an hour. Men stopped us to offer us rides on their moto or tuk tuk, "No thank you" we said. I wanted to walk. To wander, to find my own way, to take in every sight, sound and feeling. I wanted to learn the city. My comfort lies in knowing I will be going to Tanzania in a short 3 weeks. My next vacation slowly coming to fruition in my head... South America, Turkey, Egypt, Thailand.... So many options, so many opportunities. I find such comfort in my routine in Cambodia. I find comfort in the smiles on the streets, the strange smells, the harsh sounds. I find comfort in my discomfort here. It is all so different and weird, yet it is something I have grown to know and love. I love the strangers in the slums, the snotty kids who don't understand me, and I them. I love the kids at CPO, who hug us, kiss us, struggle to communicate with us. I know I will be back next year. Nicaragua, Cambodia, Tanzania and hopefully Nepal, all with Lisa Marie and Children's Global Alliance. I know I will continue to travel, explore, experience and love. I know I will continue to mold the minds of students, of teenagers, who like me, grew up in the bubble of Vail Colorado. I know I will bust my ass off to save money, help prepare our participants, help better lives around the world and help improve this organization. There is no doubt that this is where I belong, what I am made to do. Yet I am still not ready to leave. I am not ready for this to be over, if only for a short while. My life at home is not boring, or horrible, or lacking, but it is comfortable. And I am beginning to think I thrive outside of comfort, I thrive in diversity. No one can push me more than myself. No one can expand my mind more than myself. No one can experience life for me; I must feel, smell, taste, love and experience every moment for myself. I must not stop until I have fallen in love with every corner of this world, every person in this world, and stopping is not something on my To Do list.