A few weeks ago, some of my American friends went to Mumbai for the weekend. They ended up meeting these two Swedish guys who were travelling, and became friends with them. This past weekend, the two Swedes, came to Hyderabad and we all got to hang out together. Daniel and Markus are some of the coolest people I have ever met. They are both about 21 and worked two years to have enough money to travel the world.
And that is exactly what they are doing.
Over the course of seven months they will see most of the world together. When we met up with them in Hyderabad, they had already been gone two months and had gone through Africa. I planted myself next to Daniel and listened as he told me about riding a camel through pyramids and wandering around Tahrir Square while protesters handed them signs in Arabic.
After that they went on to Kenya and spent time in Nairobi. I was most interested to here about this, did they just see touristy things, or did they see any of the real Kenya, the Kenya that I knew? I was not disapointed. Daniel and Markus spent a full day going through Kibera slum and playing with the children in one of the schools. They then took a trip out to to Masai village and danced with them around a fire at night. I loved hearing Daniel describe the Masai and how fascinating they are. Even just a day in Kibera was enough to change him he said.
After Kenya they headed to South Africa and saw as much as they could before flying to India. After they left us they will head to Thailand and the area around before landing in beautiful California. The journey that they are taking is one that most people dream of their whole lives but never actually get to take. Markus said that they were just joking around one day looking at maps and planned out a route that they would want to take. Then they started working harder until the day they quit their jobs and left for an adventure of a lifetime. The stories that they can tell about the people they have met, the food they have tried and the situations that they got themselves into are unreal. When I met them, all I could think was that I cannot wait to be a journalist and go on adventures with people like these two guys.
At the end of the day, Markus and Daniel were asked what they best and worst parts of their trip had been so far. The answer to both was Kenya. They said that the poverty that they saw was worse than they had ever imagined and will stick with them for a long, long time. But that they people, the land, the culture of Kenya, was they best and most beautiful that they had seen so far on their journey.
After they left, some of us just sat and thought about our lives, how dreaming can lead to incredible adventures and how much of the world we have left to see . :)
And that is exactly what they are doing.
Over the course of seven months they will see most of the world together. When we met up with them in Hyderabad, they had already been gone two months and had gone through Africa. I planted myself next to Daniel and listened as he told me about riding a camel through pyramids and wandering around Tahrir Square while protesters handed them signs in Arabic.
After that they went on to Kenya and spent time in Nairobi. I was most interested to here about this, did they just see touristy things, or did they see any of the real Kenya, the Kenya that I knew? I was not disapointed. Daniel and Markus spent a full day going through Kibera slum and playing with the children in one of the schools. They then took a trip out to to Masai village and danced with them around a fire at night. I loved hearing Daniel describe the Masai and how fascinating they are. Even just a day in Kibera was enough to change him he said.
After Kenya they headed to South Africa and saw as much as they could before flying to India. After they left us they will head to Thailand and the area around before landing in beautiful California. The journey that they are taking is one that most people dream of their whole lives but never actually get to take. Markus said that they were just joking around one day looking at maps and planned out a route that they would want to take. Then they started working harder until the day they quit their jobs and left for an adventure of a lifetime. The stories that they can tell about the people they have met, the food they have tried and the situations that they got themselves into are unreal. When I met them, all I could think was that I cannot wait to be a journalist and go on adventures with people like these two guys.
At the end of the day, Markus and Daniel were asked what they best and worst parts of their trip had been so far. The answer to both was Kenya. They said that the poverty that they saw was worse than they had ever imagined and will stick with them for a long, long time. But that they people, the land, the culture of Kenya, was they best and most beautiful that they had seen so far on their journey.
After they left, some of us just sat and thought about our lives, how dreaming can lead to incredible adventures and how much of the world we have left to see . :)
