These are the days that we'll remember

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

After 30 hours of flying and 40 hours overall being stuck in an airport, we finally saw the landscape of Nebraska. There were no opportunities to look out the window and see giraffes, zebras, elephants or jackals, but instead bunnies, squirrels and the occasional cardinal. It is so hard to believe that the trip is over. It seems like only yesterday I was telling Katie only 56 more days...32 more days...10 more days, and the next thing you know you are on a plane bound for Africa. Now I have traveled abroad before and nothing compared to Namibia, and that is saying a lot, I used to think nothing could rival Australia, but it seems that other places in the world are just as gorgeous, who knew?!
Before the trip I had expectations that Namibia would be this scary place where you would have to keep a third eye out every second, but it was relatively safe. The food was a lot different than I imagined it would be, but it does not hurt anyone to step outside of their comfort zone and try a "smiley," even if secretly you were clicking your heels together saying "there is no place like McDonald's." The people were just amazing, they were so interested in hearing where you were from in the United States, the basic question was usually "east coast or west coast" they had no perception that there was anything in between. But another thing that amazed me was the different viewpoints that we got from each different place we stayed. Such as the "farmers suck" guy, to working with wildlife, to having every organism play an important role in the ecosystem, and appreciating them.
Namibia you treated us well, and I think I speak for everyone when I say, that the second it hit us that the trip was over, was when we were waving goodbye to Tanner and Larkin from our shuttle driving us back to their airport. Or when we took our step onto the plane, where you literally were not touching African soil anymore. We became a family, we all enjoyed watching the sunset over the hills, and watching Oryx cross the road in Etosha. Namibia was a once in a lifetime experience to have, and I am thankful for every second I spent there, I took a lot of experiences home and am even more thankful for everything that I have. Thank you Larkin and Mark and thank you Namibia.