Barcelona, Spain - Creativity

Barcelona was an excellent way to start the trip. I had fantastic food, met amazing people, and saw beautiful architecture. Learning more about creativity is one thing I can take away from my time here. It was mind-blowing to me to see Salvador Dali's work in person. I have always thought that his work was fascinating, but now, seeing the backstory behind it, I can genuinely appreciate it. He got ideas for his paintings from his dreams, and he was able to portray these dreams on canvas. This is another level of creativity. It really made me think how, in a way, he is working while he is sleeping. It would be like getting business ideas or even writing songs in your sleep, and when you wake up, you can work straight at it. Dali inspired me to be more creative, and when I get home, I am going to begin my own art. I will start with painting pictures from this trip, and then I can move on to painting a physical representation of emotions I will feel while skydiving in Dubai or Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Cairo, Egypt - Curiosity 

Moving on to Cairo, I had a fantastic time here. From when I first landed, everything was so foreign to me, from the food, the traffic, the city, and the language. It was a completely new experience for me. Initially, driving through the city looked quite dirty to me, but as the trip went on, I started to appreciate these differences and embrace the moment. My time in Cairo was an explosion of curiosity. The reason I went there was that I was curious about the pyramids, to begin with, but as the trip went on, I was curious about their leaders, the Pharaohs, and the current life in Egypt. As I created more and more questions while wandering around the city, I learned that King Tut was only 18 when he died. I also got to see some of the mummies of important figures from the past, such as some of the Ramses Kings, and I also saw a mummy who was killed with an Axe, and the blow in the skull is still visible and on display in the Museum. While being curious about the history, I also became curious about the faith of Islam since Egypt is a Muslim country, and I became curious about the quality of living and the lifestyle of the people of Cairo. I met some friends who took me to lunch and took me around their home village, which was an unforgettable experience because that is a side of Cairo that many travelers do not see. Lastly, when I left Cairo, I remained curious because it is so unbelievable how the ancient Egyptians had the technology to build the pyramids. Although I left still curious about this, I learned a lot about the history and the people, and I can't wait to come back.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Confidence

Dubai was nothing short of spectacular; it is such a modern and clean city with buildings that look like concept art. The food was terrific. There was a complex mix of cultures from all over the world, and it also taught me a lot about confidence. The purpose of me going to Dubai was to face my fears of skydiving and to gain the confidence I will need to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro in my next destination. To start with heights, I decided to do something less intense first, so I decided to do Xline Dubai, a zip line that starts from the top of a skyscraper and goes straight through the harbor of the Dubai Marina. Getting up to the top, I was a little nervous, but nothing I was going to back out of. As I got strapped up, they laid me flat on my stomach, and as the zip line released, I was gliding through the sky, and it was an incredible time. This was a great stepping stone for heights because I realized it wasn't so bad, and I then gained the confidence to skydive the next day. So the next day rolls around, and I keep tossing and turning in my sleep with the realization that I will be jumping out of a plane bright and early in the morning. I decided to wake up around 6:30, and I watched the sunrise over the Burj Khalifa. I then got ready and took an Uber over to the flight location. As I was riding in the car, I had a terrible feeling of fear and uncertainty in my stomach. I arrived at the building, and they were getting my harness ready and going over safety regulations. We boarded the plane and started flying up to 15,000 feet to jump. Luckily, I could be in tandem with an instructor, which calmed my nerves more. When we got to the cruising altitude, the door opened, and fear struck me more than ever. They slid me to the edge, and I closed my eyes, and they counted down, "3, 2, 1..." I began falling from the sky and at that moment, and all the fear disappeared. I was utterly in bliss, enjoying the free fall and the view; it was an incredible experience. When I got down, I had a sense of accomplishment and also realized how fear is essential to overcome because by facing it, you can experience some of the most amazing things. This experience taught me a lot about confidence, making me confident to face my fears and do so much more in life. Whenever I doubt something in the future, I always think back to this moment for motivation.

Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania - Resilience 

Now, it is time to test the limits of my mental and physical capabilities. Although I was not as nervous as I was for skydiving when I reached the first lodge, I was more likely to fail in this situation because altitude sickness could strike at any time throughout this long hike. I had been training for the last four months for this hike, doing long hikes, stair masters in the gym, and running every morning. When we started on the first day, it was really awesome to see all the wildlife and take in the smells and atmosphere of the jungle. As each day went on, my confidence grew and grew. Each hiking day was fantastic because we were able to travel through five climate zones. One thing our guide kept reiterating to us was a phrase in Swahili, "Pole Pole," which means "slowly, slowly." They say this because it is essential to move slowly to avoid fatigue and altitude sickness because the faster you rise in altitude, the more likely you are to get sick. I was not really physically challenged until the summit day; this is when I learned true resilience and how to use my mind to keep going even though I wanted to quit. Summit day was an interesting day for me. We arrived at the last camp earlier in the afternoon, and we got a snack before we went to sleep because we were going to be woken up at midnight to begin our hike to the summit in order to see the sunrise and make it back down to camp before sunset the next day. I could hardly sleep with the anticipation of climbing to the top. I was also extremely cold, and it was more difficult to breathe because oxygen levels were only at about 50%. They woke me up at midnight with a warm cup of coffee, and I was ready to go. We strapped our headlamps on and began our ascent to the top. The first couple of hours, I was doing great, but when hour 3 hit, I was in severe pain. My quads were burning, my ankles were killing me, and at that moment, I realized the true level of difficulty this was. I wanted to quit so badly, but I could not let myself down. The porters and guides were cheering us on as we all were in so much pain, but we had to keep going. As each hour went by, I knew I was so close to the top, and nothing would stop me but my own mind. So I ignored the pain for three more brutal hours in the cold, dark night, and finally, I saw a beam of light come over the mountain. The sun started shining, and I knew we were close now. Just a little bit longer, and I finally made it to the top. When I reached Uhuru Peak, I dropped to my knees and had tears of joy knowing I had finally made it, and I fought through so much pain physically and mentally. This experience taught me so much about resilience. I learned about coping with setbacks when dealing with altitude issues; I learned about motivation, interdependence, and personal growth, which all tie back into resilience. Overcoming the physical challenge but also fear and doubt taught me so much because I know what I am capable of, and I can use this achievement to fuel any adversity I have in the future.

Zanzibar, Tanzania - Brings it all together