Dahab, Egypt
The great Mark Twain is best remembered for his social satires illustrated in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but, during his life, he was best known for his travel writing. I've been reading The Innocents Abroad, the first true American travel novel, and have been loving it! It's amazing how little has changed in the way of American tourism and reading his passages about the still stereo-typical annoying, loud, obnoxious American in Europe makes me giggle. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has traveled internationally... when he was living, it was the work that he was most often asked to read from during public appearances.
But it's another Twain-ism that has me captured today. It's what I've been trying to say to people for the past two years since returning from Kenya, but Mr. Twain says it far more eloquently than I ever could:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
I am so excited to once again be leaving my "safe harbor" and setting sail for Kenya. Mother Africa has been calling me back since the moment I left and I have been yearning to go. I'm thrilled that an amazing group of girls are also considering this trip and I've promised them that they won't regret it - that the first step of this incredible process is to commit to it. Never have I been more confident in promising that time spent away from your "safe harbor," wherever that may be, is the time that becomes the most cherished and memorable in years to come. Mark Twain just said it better.
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