Connecting Routes: It's Time to Leap!
THE GAMBIA - ETHIOPIA - FIJI
Here’s to “Connecting Routes” ~ a space to spotlight a common theme in my travels that offers snapshots from one place to another, like the tantalizing tease of a tasting menu or a shortlist of your next dream vacation!
Top Three Places for Leveraging the Leaping
We’re in a leap year. This practice to add a 366th day was an early Egyptian tradition formalized in the 16th century to help synchronize our calendar with the astronomical one, and to prevent seasonal drift since technically, it takes the Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the Sun. The extra 24 hours (nearly) ever four years leaps us into alignment. In our personal lives, do we/how do we offset the rounding up/down, cut corners, footnotes and asterisks that accumulate and lead to wandering if not held in check over time?
The beauty of travel is that we must take the leap! Jet-setting intentionally primes us for the plethora of permutations that inherently exist in situations and sentiments, demanding for us to constantly course correct - figuratively and often literally. Regardless of the altitude, leaping is an attitude that has to be leveraged at every latitude. From staycation to safari, traveling requires a readiness to reassess and recalibrate. Sometimes these are slight shifts in the day’s schedule, the trip’s itinerary or personal preferences. At other times, a major movement in mindset is a must. This is where expectations are relinquished and instead, the experience that’s touching your toes, however tepid, is warmly welcomed in.
The Gambia: The ‘doing’ and ‘seeing’ in the Banjul occurred much faster than I’d anticipated. Fortunately, aside from some lovely humans that made the experience leaps and bounds more memorable, the clincher came from a benign convo over lunch. On hearing of the sanctuary where I could walk with lions, within 24 hours, I rejigged my route. In hindsight, leaving my trusted driver, braving the passenger ferry, communal taxi and navigating the Senegambian boarder solo without a phone, little language and a lot of hope to find the stranger (driver) on the other side confirms that indeed, this was an adventure worth jumping into!
Ethiopia: I’ve been through Addis several times, though this trip tempted my tastebuds that made me rethink my preferences. Being open to slurping up a short stop over, my tummy experienced flavours and fun that wasn’t written in the initial script. At a popular local restaurant, strong young lads leapt and leveraged their bodies on stage while I watched in awe and swiftly scooped and savoured the local dishes, noticing that after all these years, I somehow had a new found appreciation for injera and wots …
Fiji: Perhaps like many others, I was in dreamland the moment I boarded the flight to the South Pacific. Meeting Fiji for the first time however, beckoned me to move my mindset from marketing ads tattooed on my wish list, to unraveling the layers and lands that make up this diverse archipelago of 300+ islands. I used Nadi as a base to hop over to other countries, each return visit offered me a fresh start, a chance to leave the past and instead, leap forward to new prospects. In Fiji, I went from zealous to lack luster and (spoiler alert) back to zeal - after all, wouldn’t you too, if you got to dive with sharks?!
May we leap forward this year and every year, with gusto, grace and gumption,