Travel Reflections from Kenya

by Kristin Caldwell

My recent trip to Kenya was filled with joy from the very beginning. I was traveling in a Land Rover with five other women on a tour I had put together, and the days were full of laughter, connection, and shared excitement. 

From the thrill of the safaris to the beauty of the landscape, the experience was everything I had hoped for, but the most meaningful lessons were the ones I did not expect.

As we traveled through towns between game reserves, children would run up to our vehicle, smiling and waving, their happiness unmistakable. One woman in our group had done her research and knew what to bring. She showed me something I will never forget. She shared her bounty of small, simple items with us to hand out to the kids. They were thrilled to receive gummy bears, coloring books, crayons, pens, and pencils, and the fruit we stopped to buy. 

 I watched the children’s faces light up with pure joy. I remember handing an orange to a little girl and seeing how carefully she held it, as if it were something truly special, and in that moment, I realized how many things we take for granted at home that can mean so much elsewhere. While some areas of Kenya face real poverty, what stayed with me most was not hardship but joy, a joy rooted in simplicity and gratitude.

I also learned about a local orphanage that needed clothing more than anything else. By the end of the trip, I left most of the clothes I had packed to be put to good use, along with basic over-the-counter medications from my travel bag that were far more valuable there than they would have been to me at home. 

Before this journey, when I thought about what to bring to Kenya, I focused on myself, the right clothes, shoes, and gear, but what Kenya taught me is that the most meaningful things I could bring were not for me at all, and that generosity does not have to be grand, because sometimes impact looks like crayons, an orange, or leaving space in your suitcase not for souvenirs, but for kindness.