Walk4Water

I just had some money lifted from my bag.  Not a devastating amount, but enough to hurt.  Live and learn, I guess.  I’ll keep a closer eye on our stuff from now on.

Learning how to drive on the left side of the road can be challenging to say the least. It’s one thing just learning how to drive on the left side and completely another to do it while driving a stick shift in a foreign country with people walking in and out of traffic. Your heart can jump a few times going around a corner and seeing a car coming right at you in the right lane (or at least your first thought is it’s heading right for you). Yesterday I challenged Amy to drive the rental for the first time. She mentioned that she felt like she was 16 again. It really does feel that way though. When you first get into the car for the first time, your heart starts pounding and you become nervous. You begin to wonder if you’ll be as good of a driver as you were back in the states.

Customs was a piece of cake… they glanced at our passports and away we went.  We arrived at Riverlodge Backpackers hostel (which, by the way, is the most awesome hangout around) and settled in.  It’s a kinda hippie-ville corner, with near daily dj, bar, fire-spinning, trampoline, etc…  This would be our home for the next few days until jet lag wore off, supplies were rounded up, and a vehicle bought.  Oh, and until we adjusted to the culture as well.  We spent a lot of time exploring, either by foot or by rental car.   And speaking of cars, they drive on the left side of the road here in South Africa.  This slight variance from the norm offered us a couple near-life experiences (my apologies to Fight Club).  Yeah, anyways, we’re feeling pretty comfortable now and are looking foreward to what tomorrow brings. 

Hey guys,

We’re going to try to keep you updated as much as possible!!! We are safely in Cape Town and enjoying the weather and scenery here. Today we did an awesome hike! Tomorrow we are land rover hunting and praying for a good one! Loving the people and culture here so far.

Here are Aaron’s thoughts as he reflects on the past few days:

Pen in hand. Mind is blank. So, where to begin? One does usually begin at the beginning, but where does that beginning begin? Was it when we touched the earth in Cape Town, or was it when we boarded the plane in Newark? When I hopped a bus to Dayton, OH after an emotional farewell to my family? Perhaps it was more than two years past, as I sat reading an email from a stranger. My eyes saw words, but my heart heard adventure calling….

And so it was, that I began this journey a much younger man. Now, even as I write, we are readying ourselves to climb a mountain here at the cape, just as our spirits have been readying to climb for years to come. We are ready.

People travel for all sorts of different reasons.

Some people are running away from their current reality.

Some people are running towards their dreams.

Some people are just looking for a place to belong.

Some people travel for special occasions, the happy, like weddings, and sad, like funerals.

Some people travel for work; business suits, expensive dinners, fancy wines.

Some people travel to “find themselves”.

Have you ever watched the people in the airport, bus station or in their cars? It is fun to wonder what people’s stories are. Who they are; where they came from; where they’re going.

In preparation to travel to Africa and start our 7000 mile walk; I have read and watched many stories of people who have done long term treks, domestically and abroad.  For me, the most interesting piece of all of their stories; is their motivation(s). 

For some, the pure unknown is what drives them. For others, it is the challenge, to do something ‘out of the ordinary’. A few have been looking to prove a point, that ‘people are good’, or that ‘YES it can be done’. Some feel driven by their faith, and feel a specific calling on their lives to complete the task. Others seem to be on a quest, searching for something, they’re not sure what they’re looking for, but I would venture to say that it probably falls within the spaces of ‘community’, ‘belonging’, ‘completeness’,  or ‘peace’.

Since we have a few people involved in our walk, I think we gather a bit of all of these motivations. For me, this all started as a mission driven by my faith. But that’s not the whole story, for everyone on the team. There’s part me, of us, that want to prove that impossible doesn’t exist. There is part of us that is quite excited for the adventure of a lifetime. Although I’m not sure we’re “looking for something”, we know that this experience will be completely transformative within our own lives. And we do want to tell the story of the people we see, especially the story of clean water; and ITS transformative power in the world.

Our main objective is to make a difference for the cause of clean water; to raise funds for charity: water, so that others might have access to the most BASIC resource of life.

But I would be lying if I didn’t admit all of those motivations were at play in this journey for us.

One of the best pieces of advice I got when starting to plan this whole thing was, “You better be 100%  sure that you are committed to this walk, and know WHY. Because on the 16^th mile when your legs are aching, when you are emotionally drained, and what to curl up into a ball in cry, but you still need to walk another 5 miles, you better have a reason to continue to put one foot in front of the other”.

So, as people have considered over time whether or not they should walk with our team, that was always my question to them. Are you REALLY sure? Are you REALLY committed to seeing this through? WHY are you doing this?

I knew if they couldn’t answer that question of WHY, I didn’t want them on the team.

I knew if I couldn’t answer that question myself, I shouldn’t go.

But I AM convinced that we have STRONG motivations, STRONG convictions to continue on. There is a great reason WHY.

Even when we are tired. Achy. Sweaty. Mosquito bitten. Drained. Hungry. Thirsty. Weak.

WHY? Because this is bigger than us. I know that this walk has the potential to be effective beyond our wildest dreams, to inspire others, to make a difference for the cause of clean water.

The potential of that reality is worth it EVERY TIME to me.

And when I doubt the potential of the dream, I still have other motivations to drive me. My faith, the adventure, the others we walk in honor of, so that hopefully they don’t have to walk every day, and be tired, sweaty, achy, sick, for water.

These past few weeks have literally felt as if we are running towards a starting line. It’s the mad dash to the beginning of the unknown.

And it’s all worth it.

As we challenge ourselves to keep going, I challenge you. WHY do you do what you do? What drives you? What motivates you? Do you know? Know WHY you do what you do. It gives it meaning.

Here we go.