A beautiful encounter I had with travel has changed my life , my perspective and my narrative on the world and how I see it. Travelling was never in the plans I envisioned for my 20’s and/or my 30’s but to my defence, I didn’t really envision much of my 20’s and 30’s. Traveling happening to me was a true example of how life works out the way God planned it and not how we imagine it.
Here is a fun fact, I travelled outside of the country before I even stepped foot in Durban or Cape Town. I was studying to be a Certified Accounting Technician and the institution I was studying in was certified for that course by ACCA, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants which is a finance company based in the United Kingdom, now i have always been a lucky girl but also I have always been willing to try almost anything that appeals to me, so after my registration there was an opportunity for a scholarship, and we had to write a test to qualify for the scholarship. This was for a very selected few students whose matric results were impressive.
To cut the long story short, I passed the test and came out with the highest marks, so I was scheduled to go for an interview at the ACCA offices, which was a fully sponsored trip. There I was, 18 years old and traveling to London with nothing but my very curious brain. I remember vividly being more curious than scared because I have never been a person who knew what fear felt like.
I had no idea that it was the beginning of a life that has surpassed expectations. I have since travelled to countries that are more than my age and some of these travels happen in ways I cannot even explain to people because even I don’t believe it myself. I have also had the honour of working in an office that had me out of the country more times than I saw my mom in one year, and that is a very weird stat for me.
Traveling the world has taught me so much about myself, moreso because most times that not, I was traveling with people. I realised that I was a people pleaser and had to spend some years working on that but beyond the negative, I am a really amazing travel partner, I am fun, fair and fantastic, especially when I am out of the country. It has also taught me that, being a person who gives people grace makes me a much better person than most, you will think i’m praising myself but I am just being honest.
One of the biggest lessons traveling has taught me is that we live in a beautiful country with the most beautiful people and cultures, We are funny and probably have the best food in the world ( don’t believe the countries that say they have the best food, most of them don’t even have six gun). I have and continue to struggle with food when traveling, I went to china for 3 weeks and ate fruits everyday for 2 weeks and 4 days. I ordered a greek salad in Greece and still regrets it to this day, I tried peanut rice in Zimbabwe and got sick for 2 days ( shame I didn’t know I was pregnant), I had fish in Slovakia and couldn’t taste what I was chewing but the great food stays with me, The food at Emerson on Hurumzi in Stone Town, The Goat Meat in Morocco, The Sushis at Dahana Restaurant and Sichirin in Bali, The Kyenam in Ghana, and a few others. I can count my good food experiences in 2 hands.
what traveling has also taught me is that I am not an extreme sports type of traveler, I am happy to cheer and encourage people to try all the extreme stuff and I will take them the best pictures and videos (because I am always ready to photograph people, even strangers, that my extreme sport) but please count me out of most of those stuff, bunjee jumping at the Victoria Falls? go for it, Kayaking in the middle of random bodies of water? nah fam, I have only snorkelled once and thats a bucket list I ticked, never to be repeated, but I will hold your bags and belonging and arrange a towel for you for when you get out of the water.
One thing I can promise you is to make sure everyone has fun and everyone gets over their grumpy moods quickly. One of the things I always tell travel enthusiasts is that the world is one big village, none of the countries I have been to is 100 luxury, its called life, but you need to go see it yourself and if you are thinking of joining a group trip but your friends want to stay behind, please leave them. traveling with friends can be such an obstacle if they have a dependent personality, because you are going to meet people who bring you alive and want to do everything you want to do and much more and your friend will want to sleep in and might catch feeling, next thing go awkward, leave them and go, in a group or solo.
Anyway I am giving hosting trips a try because a lot of people have told me I am exceptional at peopling. If it doesn’t make sense or drains my energy in 2 years, I would have trained someone else to run it already. If you would like to support me or refer some people, please check out our new baby “The Coolest Escapes” Our website is under construction and will be live very soon. you can also email us on info@coolestescapes.co.za.
See you all over the world in 2026 and 2027.
Article by : Kea Bapela
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