"Why Africa?"
For every person who has asked this aloud or thought it to themselves...
(though I would be lying if I didn't say it was nice to do some reflecting myself).
"Why Africa? Why don't you take your money and use it instead to [insert practical/good idea]?"
I made the decision to leave Bay City before I decided where I would go and what I would do.You should see my personal journal... lists upon lists of potential plans and ideas... pages of pros and cons as I debated all my options...
Over time it became clear: the travel bug bit. I had to go somewhere, and it had to be far, and it had to be different. Because I really believe that to not travel is to be caged. Even if the cage I'm in has all the bells and whistles I need for survival and comfort and enjoyment, I refuse to stay within its confines and remain ignorant to the world outside its boundaries. So I am going. I am getting out.
The opportunity to go back to Africa kind of fell into my lap. I currently have friends staying in three different countries, all of whom are willing to host me, some for even months at a time. Another well-traveled friend of mine is willing and able to join me on my journey--and how often am I going to find a travel companion to Africa?
And when you consider where I am in my life right now, the timing is perfect. I would be an idiot if I let this pass.
"Why Africa? Why go somewhere you have been before?"
Well, the network of people I have there, for one.
And then you have to consider that for the first few months I will be visiting over five countries I have never been to. Westerners have a tendency to view Africa as a single entity though Africa is diverse continent of more than 50 countries.
But, yes, by November I will be back in Ghana and there I will stay for the bulk of my trip. Only this time I will not be attending university, so I will be able to focus more on other things.
I have wanted to return to Ghana since the year I left. I love Ghana. Ghana changed my life. Ghana taught me patience and inner peace and flexibility and spirit and grace and style and language and rhythm and cooking and community and hospitality. Ghana opened the door for me to learn about racial identity and white privilege and my own "Americanness" in a very intimate way. Ghana gave me extensive practice in being blunt with people (men) who were bothering me, which has since become an invaluable tool ;-). Ghana coached me on how to stand out and how to be different from everyone else and how to be okay with being different rather than afraid of it. Ghana helped me discover more of who I am and how to love and accept that person.
I think... I think Africa has more to teach me. I think there is more to see. I think I have forgotten some of the lessons I first embraced so dearly. So, yes, I am going back. And this time I am going further and deeper.
"But why Africa? Why not somewhere like Europe?"
This question is usually rooted in a lot of misconceptions about Africa, this false image of Africa being all poverty and war and danger and disease and huts and starving children and no electricity and corruption... those things do exist, in Africa and in every other continent. But that is another conversation...
Myths of Africa aside, I still think this is a valid question. I pondered it a lot when I first traveled to Ghana in 2010 and I continue to ponder it today. I mean, all of my ancestral roots are in Europe. Europe is culturally rich and diverse. Europe is accessible and technologically advanced and would probably be an easier and more comfortable journey. I wouldn't have to deal with immunizations or anti-malarial medication or extreme heat or being a racial minority. So... why am I going to Africa?
A lot of people who decide to travel to Africa do so with this idea of saving her or exploring the exotic, and I have been guilty of this same sort of romanticism. But it's not about that for me. Africa does not need me. I need Africa. Not necessarily to "find myself" (though that has been quite the project over the last few years, a project I am sure remains incomplete), but more to remember things that I have forgotten since my last visit, to get in better touch with myself, to open my eyes up a little more... I need simplicity and I need challenge. I need to distance myself from certain luxuries because it humbles me. I need to take a break from the intellectualism that has enveloped much of western culture and get more in touch with my heart and spirit. I need to see the Africa that the media does not show us and share that Africa with everyone else. I need to get out of the cage I'm in.
Why Africa? I don't expect everyone to understand. I won't even fully understand, not until after I return. But I appreciate the question and I am thankful for it because it pushed me to look deeper into this whole quit my job and travel to Africa thing that I am doing :-).