Recently, I went on an adventure of a lifetime that I’ve forever wanted to go on. Even as a young girl, I always dreamed about this unique experience. Ultimately, this continuous dream shaped my love for taking photos, traveling, and helping others. In June 2024, I finally had the chance to mark off something from my bucket list and incorporate all my passions into one trip! I went on a trip to Kenya that involved going on a safari and then helping others in a local village. 

Known as a Giving Safari to Kenya, my mom and I spent part of the time volunteering with the Olmalaika Trust and getting to go on safaris in Kenya. When I started seriously planning this trip in October 2023 and not just thinking about it being a possibility of SOME DAY, I didn’t really know if I could make it happen. Of course, I had always wanted to go, so that really helped me explore my options and pushed me further to pursue my ultimate travel goals. Additionally, I also knew I couldn’t go without taking my Mom! Mom has traveled to so many places in Asia and a few places in Europe. Although she is a well-seasoned traveler and adventurous person at heart, planning a trip with your elderly mother to Kenya takes things to another level. Not only that, but on this trip, I had several firsts including: first south of the equator visit, new continent, and new country. From traveling with my Mom to navigating a new culture, I still welcomed the challenge with open arms and looked for ways to make my dream come true. It also meant that I needed a bit more help with logistics planning!

As luck may have it, my brother-in-law often traveled to Kenya to help with volunteering and ended up going on similar trips. This piqued my interest and the planner in me started to kick in! (I’m guessing my brother-in-law got tired of my questions during the planning stages. Somehow, he didn’t seem to mind too much. haha) When it comes to life, I love planning, especially when it has to do with travel! In fact, some would say I over plan. Do you know the lyric “I make lists in my sleep” from the Rent song “Take Me or Leave Me?” Yeah, that about sums me up. However, I can only plan for so much. If you’re like me, the biggest thing I’ve learned from travel is sometimes you have to let it go and accept whatever comes your way. 

However, I couldn’t write this blog without giving a little insight into the planning stage and how it ultimately impacted the tail end of my trip. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a blog true to my nature! Haha. During the initial part of my planning, I reviewed the best flight options and times. When I fly, I prefer to use United or partners for international trips because I am a rewards member. If you love to travel, you know that the rewards are everything. They enable you to get upgrades, lounge access, and much more. With perks like these, you tend to have a more comfortable trip and also earn points towards another trip in the future! It’s a win-win! I like to review the Points Guy and Daily Drop for more tips and tricks. While trying to price flights to Kenya, I found that I had  the best luck with Kayak and Hopper. You can use saved searches to watch airfare and try to judge the best time to purchase.

For this trip, ultimately, we ended up using a travel agent that specializes in travel for humanitarian purposes and could get us a special discount. So to be frank, we enjoyed the discount they offered because in the end, we got the chance to upgrade and gain some extra leg room in premium economy. 

Unfortunately, by using a travel agent, I gave up control of the booking. Normally, it wouldn’t be so bad, except, we had an issue for our return flight. The agent booked us through the airline a train from the Brussels Airport to Amsterdam, but we planned a 24 hour break in travel to rest and explore before coming home. While traveling out of Nairobi, we discovered the issue and without explanation, learned that our train and all trains partnering with the airline had been canceled for our planned travel date. 

On top of that, our original agent was on vacation, so we worked with a different agent at the travel agency. For some reason, the airline had automatically booked us for a different train. Here is when the issues started coming up. This train left Brussels 24 hours before we even arrived. Why would that work? The travel agent wanted to change our entire itinerary to the day before. 

Not only did the schedule change not work, but we had traveled with a group of people. This made it difficult to coordinate everything and sort through reservations. So even though the agency had our itinerary, they still tried to change our plans completely without messaging us first. Ultimately,  I said we would figure out our own way to Amsterdam from Brussels. 

I felt frustrated because without a third party involved, I could have spoken directly to the airline and gotten some answers. Also, after it happened, the agency never followed up or messaged us about the inconvenience. I booked us on a train to Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam for the same day via a different train system. 

Ultimately, that didn’t work either because when we landed in Brussels, we got the message that this train had also been canceled. As a blaring sign to give up on trains, I rented a car. We loved the drive though! (More on this later.) Finally, I would like to add that my brother-in-law used the same agent and experienced a similar issue but with actual airline tickets. They booked him incorrectly, so he had to leave a day earlier than planned. He spent an additional $300 for a small prop plane ride back to Nairobi to catch his flight home to the US. 

Like I mentioned above, sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. Even when life throws you unexpected twists and turns, just do the best you can and enjoy the ride. Although we experienced a few travel blunders, I’m so thankful I got the chance to go on a trip that I’ve always wanted to take!