By Steph!

This blog was written by Steph, my first-ever guest blogger!  More than a mommy and wife, Steph is an avid bike polo player, an expert of public displays of nonsense, and an exceptional friend.  Thanks for sharing, Steph!!

The last eight months I have been lucky enough to add “mommy” to the list of titles I hold.  No one really gives you any direction how to keep your own identity while you try to selflessly become someone else’s everything.  There are days that go by when you realize you didn’t do a single thing that wasn’t centered around your baby.  I am honored to be in this position, yet I know myself well enough to know that in order for me to be my best self, I need a few things: adventure, laughing, friendship.  Enter Katie!  

Kalk Bay, Cape Town Peninsula

I had been following my old buddy’s travel blog for 6 months when I started to have this underlying feeling that she could really use a familiar face.  But this was a crazy thought.  I’m a new mom with, like, responsibilities.  And I hadn’t been in close contact with Katie since high school.  That’s sixteen years!  So, what do you do when you are tight financially, have a 7-month old baby, and are in the middle of taking classes to get your real estate license?  With full support and encouragement from your amazing spouse, you buy a plane ticket to Cape Town South Africa to see about your friend.      

Almost instantly we were “peas and carrots” again.  Our cab driver from the airport actually raised his hand en route, telling us he didn’t want to interrupt two people who were clearly so happy talking.  That about sums it up.  Over the course of the next six days, Katie gave me the gift of an adventure that has helped remind me of who I am at my very core.  We’d walk out the door in the morning with a backpack and somewhat of a plan, and come back at night after a full day of exploring, laughing, learning: we were Iiving.  How special it was to visit the museums, climb Table Mountain, tour the prison where Nelson Mandela spent eighteen years of his 27-year sentence, all while catching up with such a dear old friend.  

I can’t even put into words what this trip meant to me.  Travel is so very powerful for my soul.  It gets me out of my bubble.  It expands my awareness.  It resets everything about me that is able to be reset, in the most magical way.  Whether it was aimlessly walking around the city of Cape Town, interacting with the locals trying to decipher which of the eighteen buses was the one we wanted, trying to not get killed crossing the street since they drive on the other side of the road, or declining the offer to pay an arm and a leg for a cider beer to be personally delivered to us on the beach, it was ALL done with such joy in our hearts and smiles on our faces.  Sure, we covered the hard stuff from our pasts too, but even those conversations were interrupted by shrieks of laughter and looks of, I wish I had been there for you during that time.

I have to admit, it had crossed my mind whether Katie would still be the same Katie I remembered.  Mind you, she has been traveling the world for 8+ months.  She’s seen some difficult things and has had to come to grips with the realities of some very small children in heart-breaking situations, among other things.  I knew by day 1 of my trip that Katie was still Katie.  I knew it watching her ask someone for directions with that big smile and irresistible positive energy.  I knew it hearing her nervous-yet-endearing giggle when she contemplated talking to “that guy”.  I am so happy to know that Katie’s travels haven’t hardened her: her heart is bigger and juicier than ever.  Thank you, mon amie, for being you, and allowing me to be me.  Thank you for allowing me to be a girl with a backpack and an adventurous spirit.