Around the World in 30 Days

Traveling Internationally While Traveling in an RV Full-time

#fulltimerv #rvlifewithkids #uganda #backtoschool #downsizing #dowdsizing

We wrapped up 2021 with a great time having our college girl, Lucy Pearl, back home for Christmas. We hiked, cooked, ate tons of food, baked cookies for days, enjoyed Christmas Eve service together, and continued our Christmas Eve dinner tradition of "Chinese Turkey" at a Thai restaurant in Helen. If you have never watched "A Christmas Story," you must.

Georgia to Florida

After a quiet New Year, the girls and I started packing for a trip to Florida to return Lucy Pearl to UNF and visit my parents in St. Augustine. It also happened to be Ivy's 16th birthday, as well as my mom's 80th on the same day, so we headed south for a mini-vacay. Jeff and Zeke stayed behind to man the fort in Georgia while we visited a fort in Florida. In our effort to choose experiences over stuff, Ivy's present this year was a surf lesson. Mangrove Surf Shop in St. Augustine Beach is owned by a couple that I helped get married back when I was a wedding planner. Check them out if you are in the area. My dad made us all a wonderful dinner and my mom spoiled Ivy with a homemade cheesecake. We all toured the Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine and took a walk down St. George Street.

Florida to Georgia

After a whirlwind trip to St. Augustine, we sped up to Jacksonville to return Lucy Pearl for second semester. My dean's list, straight-A freshman daughter was ready to get back to work, so after a quick visit with the in-laws, Ivy and I headed back to Georgia to do laundry and pack for our next big trip. We arrived in freezing cold Helen, GA just in time for Ivy to participate in the annual polar (black bear) plunge in Smith Lake. Crazy! She was the only participant to dive in head-first and swim the entire thing, everyone else walked in and back out.

Georgia to Uganda

After the plunge, we all headed back to the RV to pack 5 trunks, 2 suitcases, and 4 pieces of carry-on luggage for our trip to Uganda!! I had been planning this trip for months and had been dreaming about it for 2 years since the last time we visited in December of 2019. Why Uganda? I have been visiting since 2017 when I was introduced to a ministry that runs an orphanage there. I went several times while working with that organization and met many amazing people, including our sponsor son, Edward. Check out this blog post for the whole story. I am no longer involved with that ministry but God used that experience to bless me with some of the most amazing relationships and a heart for the people of Uganda.

Lucy Pearl and Ivy traveled with me to Uganda in 2018 and 2019 and I can honestly say that it has changed their lives. I cannot wait to see how God will use those experiences in the future. This trip was very different as we were planning and packing from an RV. With very little extra space, large suitcases and bins do not fit inside the rig so we kept them stored in the truck and car until the day before our flight. We had beautiful weather and packed everything after the polar plunge, got it all weighed, and stowed everything in the back of the truck (Jeff had to unload the truck of all his tools and stow them under the camper.) Sunday morning dawned and we prepared to leave for the airport. Our negative C-19 test results were received just before our departure time and we were ready to head to the airport. All international travel passengers leaving the US must have a negative test, regardless of vaccination, within 72-hours of their flight. We were tested at the health department in Florida because we were down there right at the 72-hour mark.

We arrived at the airport with over 3 hours to spare. Unfortunately, this was still not enough time to get us on that plane. When we tried to check in for our flight, the agent asked for our e-visas. I had traveled to Uganda 5 times prior to this and had always gotten my visa upon arrival. When I booked the flights, this was still the protocol. I later discovered that this policy had changed on the 1st of January and an electronic visa (with printed proof) was now required. I tried desperately to apply for the visa from the airport only to realize that it takes up to a week to receive. I was completely devastated. As a planner by nature, this was a complete failure and a waste of time, money, and energy. Because of our travel plans and the end of our Campground Host job, changing the dates of our trip by even one week seemed impossible. I had been gathering items to take to our friends in Uganda, including bins we were taking over from their family members, for months. Jeff had been waiting at the airport for hours without complaint and he held my hand all the way back to our campsite while I sobbed. Ivy was a champ and took it all in stride, but I was a wreck.

The next day was one of emotional recovery. I felt so defeated and confused. I spent the day thinking and rethinking what our next step was. I had 3 bins full of stuff from other people that I really did not have the space to transport or the means to return to them. Through all of my doubts, Jeff kept encouraging me and making suggestions for how we could overcome the date changes and still leave North Georgia as planned. He suggested that he could head to our next stop on his own and we could meet him when we returned. This would mean leaving my car in Atlanta but it would allow me to still go for the same amount of time. This is what jump-started me into a new plan that I really had no control over. I had applied for the e-visas at the airport but had no idea when we would receive them. I rescheduled our flights for the following Friday and even managed to get cheaper flights on a better airline. Next, I scheduled new C-19 tests, rescheduled our hotels, informed our friends in Uganda, and prayed for clarity and peace in this situation that was completely outside of my control.

Our e-visas arrived late Thursday night, but the second set of test results did not come in time for the Friday flight, so I rescheduled it again for Saturday. This was the last possible day that we could fly with the new tests and if they did not come in, we would have to cancel completely. The negative test results finally arrived Friday afternoon and we finally knew that we were flying the next day. I had spent months planning and preparing for the first trip, relying on my own efforts and experience to have everything in place and perfectly timed. What I think I was supposed to learn through all of this is that I do not have a single ounce of control over anything, obvious to all of us when we say it out loud but impossible to live by in the moment. That week of uncertainty exploded my sense of control and forced me to rest in grace. Grace from my husband who supported every change and who took me on a special fishing trip that week while we waited. Grace from my daughter whose faith never waivered. "We're going to go, mama, relax." Grace from my friends in Uganda who were praying for us and telling me not to worry about their stuff and all the canceled plans. Grace from my friends in the US who were relying on me to take their things to Uganda but who were only supportive and positive. Grace from a God who knows that He created me with this personality that loves to organize and plan, but who is willing to show me that His plans are better.

Here are some highlights from that week and our trip:

Fishing with Jeff

Masaka, Uganda is about 3 hours (traffic & road conditions) from Entebbe, where the airport is located. Ivy and I had the privilege of staying with our friend Kelsey and her amazing kids. Because we were staying in a house, we got to experience a lot of new things. We washed our clothes by hand (we actually did this on another trip when we ran out of clean clothes,) we shopped at the market almost every day, and we cooked most of our meals.

Kelsey has a ministry in Masaka called Willow Resource Foundation. They have a beautiful compound designed to be a space for study, community, worship, and more. The staff at Willow is such a wonderful mix of personalities and abilities. Ivy and I got to spend a lot of time getting to know them and we were there to celebrate their one-year anniversary. In fact, I got to experience my first Ugandan street food at a Pork Joint. I had smelled the delicious aroma many times but it tasted even better. We also went to Lake Nabogabo with the Willow staff and enjoyed a beautiful day playing in the water and laughing. Ivy showed off her swimming skills and fierceness during an epic battle of keep-away. Check out Willow through the link above and see what they are doing to share the love of Jesus in Uganda.

Another amazing woman that I met on a previous trip to Uganda is Fay. Fay is the founder of To Africa With Love, which funds a "baby home" (aka orphanage) located in Masaka. Fay lived in Uganda for many years until right before the pandemic brought her back to the US. She asked me to take some things over for her kids and we were able to spend a little time with them in their school room as well as at a local restaurant. Check out their website at the link above.

Smiling Hearts is an organization that I really do not know much about. In 2019, both of my girls were with me in Uganda and Lucy Pearl was taking American Sign Language. We met a team from Smiling Hearts at a local craft fair and they invited us for a visit to their compound. We went and met all of the kids, most of whom were deaf, and had a great time trying out ASL with them. They use a slightly different form of sign language that is English-based, so we were able to learn some new things and the kids loved that we tried. I decided to reach out to Smiling Hearts on this trip in order to make a connection for a deaf girl I know from somewhere else. Hellen was quick to get in touch and invited me back for a visit and a chat. The young man in the first picture above seemed to remember me. He grabbed my hand, which was exactly what he did last time, and would not let go. He escorted me on a tour of their new compound and, without any words at all, let me know how welcome I was. The students at Smiling Hearts are taught skills, mostly sewing, that will help them become self-sufficient in adulthood. I was able to purchase two Gomez (pronounced Go-me-zee,) which are traditional Ugandan dresses for our sponsor son's mom. I would love to be more involved with this group and I know that I have made these connections for a reason. Time will tell! Maybe someone reading this will decide to get involved, check out their website, linked above.

Meet Edward. He is our sponsor son and we got to spend a lot more time with him this trip. During the pandemic, Ugandan schools were completely shut down for two years. Our trip happened to be right when school was starting back up so we were able to be there to help Edward get back to school. We have known Edward since 2008 when Ivy was just 2 years old. She has grown up knowing about her Ugandan brother.

Meet Rosemary. Rosemary is Edward's mom and I have loved meeting her, visiting her, and sharing her love and dedication to Edward. Each time we visit she treats us like family and welcomes us with joy. She raises the cutest pigs and grows coffee and corn.

My friend Ruth. I met Ruth when she worked at a guest house where I stayed a few years ago. She is the woman who found Edward for us and she has remained a dedicated and generous friend ever since. She also runs her own ministry in Uganda and personally sponsors many children, even taking them in to live with her in the short and long term as needed. Ruth continues to assist us in our support of Edward and went with us to visit Edward's mom so that she could translate. Love and Support For Children

We ended our trip to Uganda with a couple of days in Entebbe at a guest house called Via Via. We shopped for souvenirs, ate some great food, visited the Entebbe Zoo for a behind-the-scenes tour, watched the wild monkeys run around the grounds, and enjoyed some downtime with our friends. We spent our final day hanging out by the pool at a beautiful hotel on Lake Victoria before heading out to the airport for our late-night flight.

The Entebbe Zoo pretty much ruined us for any other zoo experience. Petting rhinos and lions; feeding giraffes from a truck in their enclosure; bowing to a Shoebill Stork while petting his head, and standing 2 feet from monkeys while they groom each other are experiences that I don't think we could ever have at a zoo in the US.

Uganda to Georgia

Ivy and I flew back to Atlanta through Dubai and enjoyed walking through all the Duty Free Shops in the quietest airport in the world. They do not make any announcements over the intercom and a lot of the chairs are chaise-style for napping. Even the Muslim call to prayer that we heard was beautifully sung and not disruptive. The shops are amazing with every expensive name brand you can imagine. Oh and the chocolate! JFK looks like a flea market compared with the Dubai airport. Maybe one day I will actually go into the city!

Georgia to Alabama

We landed in Atlanta 36-hours later at around 9 pm EST. After some confusing directions through the airport and several calls to our parking shuttle, we headed to Alabama to meet up with Jeff and Zeke. Those last two hours driving in the rain were horrible but we made it safely and fell into bed. We didn't exactly travel around the world, but Ivy did the math and we could have. And surprise, surprise, I was just as happy to get back to my house on wheels as I was to my house of the past. Home is where we park it!!!

This is where I will end our first adventure of 2022. The story continues, but that can wait for another day....