TRIP OF A LIFETIME

My thoughts before I went on my trip was anxiousness and excitement as my trip was the longest since I was doing Crossroads. This trip made me so exhilarated that I was looking at the pictures on the Reinteentour website nonstop waiting and counting the days.As the days coming up, me and couple of other girls who were on the same tour decided to talk and discuss about how excited we were about this trip. We talked endlessly about what we're most excited to see and experience and how crazy it was we were going all across the country. However I was also worried about being homesick since I had never been that far away nor that long from my family and friends. But I could barely think about being homesick from the excitement. In light of all of that I was also very busy packing making sure I had everything and my mother packing to much and having to unpack again. This whole experience before even going on the trip was amazing on its own, the anticipation of my new lifelong friends and memories gained was something almost impossible and too good to be true. During the trip my most amazing memory I made was all the hiking to Bryce Canyon and to yellowstone and to all the other amazing national parks was incredible.

I had never seen such beautiful sites in my life. The journey made and connection we all had with each other while hiking was extraordinary.No matter how scary and unknown hiking was I felt as though I had gained another great hobby or passion I want to do in the future. Also for me personally the camping days became one of the best bonding and loving memory of everyone on my tour. Most of the kids including me had no clue how to build a tent nor to help make food. But after awhile we were having competition to see which tent would be the best or the fastest built. This showed so much growth we all had from the beginning to the end and it all made us proud when we didn't need help to built the tent and we already knew the drill. Even though camping was rough and sometimes gruesome either it was the weather or the bugs to the crampedness in the tent. In away it just made the situation more fun for everyone this made it so that we would all talk and laugh and make light of the situation. The late night talks me and the other girls would have about the trip to what we were going to wear or go tomorrow was so much fun. I will cherish how easy the girls on the tour made it so that everyone was friends all the girls were so nice and considerate of each other their was never any issues. We would all swap roommates so every trip everyone would room with each other and no one was left out. Although there was ups and downs which was expected since this was a trip with 33 teenagers for 40 days meant their was going to problems sometimes. But with each problem it became easier to stop it as we all became close and problems were forgotten in all of the fun and excitement of the activities. They’re so many thing that I have learned from coming onto this trip. But the best one was that in the adventures, that I got to experience was we got to meet new people and experience crazy activities those memories change you it definitely changed me.

A quote that best describes my feelings would be “The world is a book those who do not travel read only a page”. This quote is what I best learned, before coming on this trip I had only known my page which was only one page out of hundreds and thousands.If I had never stepped out and went on this trip would I have known the great national parks or of the history of the lands or my new friends. Or would I have been able to do those activities like ziplining and surfing and other incredibly fun things. For me it was astonishing that I have lived in this country for so long yet I had never ventured outside my home to see the new places and experiences of everyone. A thought came to me that this is my country that I am going to lead and live for my entire life and future generations.This trip showed me how different each state was it was like a whole new country in each state.Traveling is incredible for young or old, travel will always inspire and provoke new thoughts, beliefs or simply a new way of life.Trip of a lifetime will forever be in my memory I am so grateful you gave me an opportunity to see things that would be insanely impossible for me to do.The fact that this program gave me and hundreds of kids a chance of a opportunity that most kids would never get is greatfull.

Thank you so much I hope more kids get to this same enlightening trip. I believe that all kids should experience this no matter what social or economic standings they have kids should be shown more than their one page of their endless book.