I’m lying on the ground in total darkness, holding a crunch position so my head doesn’t land in wildebeest poop, and believe it or not, about to have one of the best days of my life. We were about to lift off in a hot air balloon over the Maasai Mara, straight into a nature documentary. Tens of thousands of wildebeest stretched across the plains. Below us, a lion went to town on its breakfast. A pair of hyenas stalked a gazelle, hoping to catch their next meal. Everywhere I looked it was like The Lion King in real life.
Then we landed for a champagne breakfast with zebras casually walking around…and a swarm of bees who were way too invested in our meal. After politely (and frantically) shooing them away, we hopped into jeeps for a full safari day. We watched a bull elephant cross a river, a cheetah sunbathing, a pride of lions snoozing under a tree with a few very adorable cubs, and even spotted the elusive leopard.
As we pulled back into camp at the end of the day, a family of elephants was walking along a hillside in perfect golden hour lighting. It literally looked staged. It was one of those days where all you can do is sit there and think, “Is this actually my life right now?”
But as unbelievable as the wildlife was, that’s not what made the trip unforgettable.
It was the people.
I have never laughed so hard in my life—about everything from ostriches to water slides and broken-down buses. We compared bruises on our hips and sunburns on our shoulders after standing all day in the jeeps. We cheered each other on when some of us were nervous to pee outside. We bonded over lukewarm beers while playing board games at our lodging we lovingly dubbed, “The 4-H Camp”. We entertained ourselves on endless bus rides with games and karaoke – Natasha Beddingfield’s “Unwritten” will always make me think of this group.
Somehow, in just a few days, this group of total strangers turned into a family. Our Whatsapp group chat still pops off every now and then about Halloween costumes and best wishes for the new school year. We get together for seaside retreats in Maine and amusement park shenanigans in Williamsburg. And, because the FOMO is strong in this group, we’re all reuniting on the BBT Costa Rica trip in 2026.
Bookbag Tours has taken me to some unbelievable places: biking alongside zebras in Kenya, riding a camel around the Great Pyramids in Egypt, scuba diving in the Santorini caldera in Greece. In 2026, I’ll be ziplining through the Costa Rican rainforest in the summer and ringing in the new year with penguins in Antarctica.
But the best part?
The friendships.
Bookbag Tours doesn’t just take you around the world—they introduce you to people who become your people. The kind of people you laugh with until your stomach hurts, the kind you stay in touch with long after the trip ends, the kind you’ll cross states (or continents) to see again.
I signed up for the adventure.
I stayed for the community.
And I’d do it all again—wildebeest poop and all.
