As a woman who never wanted kids, I wanted to form bonds with my 6 nieces. After all, they would be my lifelines as I age. I decided to stop getting them gifts for their birthdays or holidays or even graduation. I didn’t want to bring more meaningless stuff into their world, but instead I wanted them to see the world. I wanted to awake their wanderlust and thirst to experience new cultures and ways of doing things. So the answer was easy…I would give them the gift of travel. I told each of them that once they turned 16 years old I would take them anywhere in the world they wanted to go. Originally my thought was that it would give them something that I never had – a passport and a chance to travel internationally. However once I announced this mission and it settled in, I realized that it was giving them more than that – it gave them the chance to make their own decision. It got them thinking about the world and considering their own desires.
“I mouthed the words, “It’ll be ok.” through the front window of the car as we pulled away. After all, I was taking away my sister-in-law’s oldest daughter to a place halfway around the world, a place she knew very little about, a place that was completely foreign – this was a big step. Yet Michele confidently let us go and waved goodbye from the garage, however I absolutely realized that she was not confident inside.”
Read about my niece project travels – 5 down, and only 1 to go! We’ll be heading out in Summer 2018, so stay tuned!
The hills of Las Laderas were brown and barren of trees, however they were dotted with little colorful cubes representing simple houses. Josue told me many of these houses built into the hills were filled with single mothers which immediately made my heart sink. The homes were very simple, some made of brick, some of […]
How do you find good, legitimate volunteering opportunities when you travel? I get this question all the time and like most things in life – it takes some work and some luck. When Megan said she wanted to spend some time volunteering abroad I was overjoyed. I was excited to do a volunteer project again […]
Three times every day 50+ people sit down at wooden tables with colorful plastic plates piled high with food at Project Peru, the refuge my niece and I had been volunteering at outside of Lima for a week. I knew it was no easy process to put food on those plates every day, as kids […]
From the beginning of the Niece Project it was Allie who always intimidated me. She is my brother’s middle daughter and is like none of my other nieces. I honestly was never sure if she would even want to go anywhere with me, let alone out of the country. She was the one I always […]
When you turn 16 years old you can choose anywhere in the world and I will take you there; that’s the premise of the Niece Project. My fourth niece, Allie, chose Belize for her first trip out of the country. Over the last 8 days Allie and I learned a lot about each other as […]
“Allie is ok with silence.” Michele says. I hang on to any piece of advice Allie’s mom can give me as I am quite nervous about how this trip is going to go. This new piece of advice doesn’t make me feel any better. I’m not very good with silence I think- so this should […]
All the air vents pointed towards her, blowing full blast. However, she was still hot and visibly unsettled as we got about 10 minutes into the first flight. I can feel that familiar feeling of ‘Oh shit,’ what can I do to try to make this better. How can I be supportive? How can I […]
Much of Belize is actually hollow in a way – beneath the surface can be found some of the most extensive cave systems on the planet. Caving in Belize is a way to experience the adventure and the culture of Belize at the same time. Caves were the entrance to the Mayan underworld; the portal […]
The engines revved as we left the harbor; our bodies got into the rhythm of the boat slicing through the waves and the salty wind and spray covering our faces. Belize is paradise. And when you are in paradise, at the top of the list of things to do in Belize is to get out […]
