The trip is not easy physically or mentally.  The first hurdle is fundraising.  That in itself took us a long time.  Then it’s planning time off school, time off work, time off normal life.  Then it’s all the pre-meetings and planning and stress and doubts. That’s all before we even had our plane tickets.  

Then we had the long plane ride.  We were ok with the time.  We planned enough things to do to keep us busy.  We packed enough snacks to keep us full and hydration packs to keep us hydrated.  The challenge was the lack of sleep.  None of us can sleep well on am airplane.  The first flight was easy.  The second flight was long.  We couldn’t sleep so we just stayed entertained.  Then was the layover in London.  We left the airport and walked downtown.  We were doing surprisingly well.  The third flight is when we were supposed to be exhausted and able to sleep.  That plan didn’t work out so well.  That meant in Ethiopia we were walking zombies.  By the last flight we largely passed out, but only for a couple hours.  And then we were in Malawi at noon.  We had customs and luggage and checking in at the college dorms.  No sleep now, we had to keep moving until night.  We loaded back on the bus to go to the village and got back after dark.  The first night passed easily.  We slept like rocks and woke up at dawn for the next day.  

Too bad we were still exhausted.  The second night jet lag set in for me.  The kids did better than I did.  Waking up multiple times a night.  Being tired, but not being able to sleep.  We landed in Malawi on Thursday.  Friday was the ground breaking for the new Grove Malawi church.  Then we met up with the next wave of arrivals and went out to the village again.  Saturday was the first full day in the village.  We largely were just playing games with the kids.  I took a fall playing a silly kids game.  I stepped into a hole I didn’t see and hyper extended my knee.  I stretched the other way and walked it off, but I was in pain all night.  I don’t know how much I actually slept. 

I wasn’t the only casualty.  Traveling to the other side of the world is stressful on your body.  There are all kinds of new germs on the plane and in the new place.  Several people got sick.  It’s now winter and we came from summer.  Almost everyone got some form of congestion.  Plus all the dust and allergies.  Sunday we went to church in the village.  I was fading in and out with exhaustion.  That evening I had the chills and was worried I was coming down with a fever.  I went straight to bed after dinner and left it in Gods hands.  If he wanted me to stay behind the next day to rest that’s what I’d do.  If he gave me the energy and health to go out that’s what I’d do.  Some people had to stay behind a day or two.  The next morning I was feeling well enough to go out. Luckily both the kids were managing surprisingly well. 

My middle son’s turn came the following Monday.  His body was exhausted from all the activities.  He stayed back to rest before our long flight home the next day.  It was a good plan because the flights were difficult.  We still couldn’t sleep and we had 7 hours in Ethiopia.  We ate pizza for a couple hours.  We walked around.  We talked.  We did entertainment.  We were already exhausted before the second flight.  Luckily the kids were tired enough to sleep a little on this one.  I was mostly restless.  London was a quick turnaround this time before the long flight to the US.  We still had enough entertainment for the flight, but sleep was hard to come by.  We were exhausted getting home and collapsed in bed again.  

Then there’s the adjustment back to normal life.  The jet lag sets in one or two days later.  Then you have to try to explain the trip to people who have never been.  Then you have to go back to work and the normal job. 

There was this long adventure that was hard, challenging, rewarding.  But it slowly fades as you settle back into the old life.  How do you hold onto the trip? How do you hold onto the joy?  A coworker succinctly told me “it’s amazing how quickly the job can negate any advantages gained on vacation”. 

It was a great adventure… with many hard things.