_{“Don’t Deny Yourself the Pleasures of Travel” was written by Millicent Kaimenyi and submitted to Afro Tourism in 2016.}

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“Eisshhh! No! You cannot travel alone. You will look desperate for sponsors like those girls do.”

In my country sugar daddies go with the brand name “sponsors.” They provide funds for the girls that they get; whether they are the ones who got you or you (the girls) are the ones who got them. This post is not about them (sponsors), so I will leave it there.

The opening comments were from a close friend with whom I was sharing my ideas of exploring my passion for travel. We have always planned for trips with our circle of friends, but many have never materialized. The few that did, ended up being poorly organized and at the end it felt like a waste of money and time.

Napoleon said if you want to get things done do it yourself so I took my travel passion into my own hands and decided to make it a reality. Expect more of the quotes on this post because they are my source of motivation when I get “itchy feet.”

“There are no strangers; only friends you haven’t yet met” a quote by William Butler Yeasts which I have traveled to see its manifestations. My first destination after making up my mind to travel as a blogger was to the Kenyan coast with a new colleague.

One day over lunch time break, I raised my intention to travel and she decided we say hi to Malindi beaches. She had a friend down at the coast and to our advantage accommodation and transport around the town was covered. With my “normal” friends that would never have happened. (Not to say that my friends are not good but it would have taken forever.)

Country wise, Tanzania was my next destination and here I made a bunch of new friends. We had converged from different parts of the world for a common good and it turned out to be an amazing Christmas holiday despite not having my family.

From this visit I can proudly say that I can visit Uganda, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique without worrying about accommodation because they got me covered. What a relief? While some people’s main worry, while traveling is accommodation, mine has been lessened by this global family. 

During my travel adventures in my beautiful country Kenya I have met many people. Some we have had good times and it ended there, others have inspired me to travel more through networking and others have become my mentors by offering blogging tips.

Online platforms have also been my motivation in regard to travel. Through following other established travel bloggers I have learnt how I can safely travel solo, how to organize my trips and most importantly how to get cheap deals. Who doesn’t like cheap deals?

Can you imagine staying in your bedroom forever and not going to the other parts of the house? This is what happens when you do not travel. Some people are okay with staying in one place due to the comfort they find but traveling is like self-discovery.

On my first visit to a franchise holder of the Spur Corporation in Kenya, I ordered a chicken espetada and what I was served was nothing compared to what I expected. I had never heard of it before and my experiment left my colleagues dumbfounded at the sight of it, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Learning new things is one of the best exposure from travel. I have learnt of different kind of meals some very delicious and some not so tasty. A girl has to be honest! You will not like everything you encounter. Language is a major barrier when traveling and this has made me take up Spanish lessons. I have noticed locals will receive you with joy and help you when if need be when you show efforts of learning their culture especially the language. La felicidad es aprender un nuevo idioma (happiness is learning a new language).

Other languages I am learning the common phrases just to be prepared when an opportunity comes my way. Through traveling I have learnt the art of patience. Things will not always work as they do at home and one has to adapt to such changes.

Patience is a virtue that I have fully embraced. On one of my trips the bus I was in broke down due to bad road and we delayed by three hours. Usually I would get mad and be annoyed the whole time, but this time I took it up as a chance to mingle with my fellow travelers.

An Asian girl who was seated in front of me told me about how she is going for a holiday with her husband who will later join her. She seemed to be the same age as I and upon further conversing, she told me she got married at twenty out of love.  Maybe I will meet my prince charming on my travel adventures. Who knows!

If you get a bite from the travel bug, don’t ignore it. Embrace the bite and follow your instincts. Friends and family may not be ready to support you with this dream but follow it regardless. You will get to know things that you would not know staying in one place and this will reveal the inner you. AFRICA has amazing places to visit and people to meet why would you deny yourself this pleasure by staying in one place?

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Millicent Kaimenyi is a Kenya travel blogger. She submitted this piece to Afro Tourism in 2016.

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