How Eating Snails Changed My Life

As I grabbed my backpack and walked toward the van taking us to SeaTac, my friends and I were surrounded by crying, fear struck family members. There was this nervous air surrounding us, yet I didn’t quite understand why. Was going to North Africa really going to be that scary? 

When I get asked as to why I like to travel, the first thing I say is, “To experience new cultures and meet amazing people.” Having lived in America all my life, I started creating this safe little bubble. The starving kids or hurricane-ravaged cities seemed so far away. Those countries and people living in them started to become “others” to me.

When I began to tell people I was going to North Africa back in March 2016, the first thing they’d say to me was normally along the lines of, “Is that really safe?” Or “You should probably go somewhere more welcoming.” Yet, not one of these people had visited the country I was going to. 

While on my trip, some of my friends and I visited a woman living in one of North Africa’s larger cities. Without even knowing who we were, she welcomed us into her tiny home with open arms. Right away, we were sat down and given food. We laughed together as we watched Saudi Arabian soap dramas and drank mint tea. Through a translator, she told us her story, crying as she held up pictures of her loved ones. Her story was a sad one, with her husband having another family he lives with and the struggle to provide for her children, yet there was so much giving in her. Even with the language barrier, I felt so connected with this lady. Leaving was the hardest part, for as she gave me a kiss on each cheek, I couldn’t help but think that I would never see her again. 

This woman was one of the people my friends and family were telling me was unsafe, merely because she lived in North Africa and didn't have the same privileges many of us in Western cultures have. 

This is why traveling is so valuable. The people I met along the way showed me just how ignorant of a life I had been living. Suddenly, they became real people with real problems, feelings, and families. People with real lives. No longer was I an outsider, living on the other side of the world, pretending to know how these people live, act and interact with one another. Instead, I was being welcomed into their homes and treated like one of them. And not because I asked to, but because they wanted me to.

As I prepare to leave for North Africa once again in the fall, I call out the crying and the “it’s not safe over there.” I tell my friends and family about being welcomed into homes of strangers and being taught how to make traditional meals, or being brought to “secret” local places and tricked into eating snails. I talk about the friendliness and love I experienced by almost every single person I met. The laughs, tears, hugs, and blessings. But most of all, I urge them to go. 

I urge them to go out of their comfort zones and greet the world like friends. To not deem places of being unsafe because of appearance, the media, or prejudice. I urge them to go experience the world outside of the tiny bubble the people of America have created for themselves. Because that is what changed my life.

Will you let it change yours? 

What will you do? Don't feel like traveling is scary, or even unattainable. Go experience this beautifully diverse world we live in. Don't shy away from sharing the gospel and loving the people in every corner of the world you travel to. Step out of your comfort zone. Do it! You will never regret it.

If you would like to learn more about my upcoming travels, shoot me an email at whimsicalthoughtss@gmail.com

Happy Traveling!

Elizabeth

Travel Diary: Oregon Coast - Part 2

Hello friends, 

I'm back with another photo bomb of my trip. (Check out part one here). I went to a few of my bloggy friends and held a little poll. Should I post round two right away, or put up something else before. Round two won out, so here I am with more pictures from my trip down to Oregon. Bare with me guys, for when I was uploading everything, I realized they were all pictures of the ocean. Oops. So you've been warned, this may give you the urge to go travel and sunbathe on the sand. 

About twenty minutes away from where we were staying was Heceta Lighthouse. Guys, this place was so beautiful! We went there about three times, and my mom and I even took a few senior pictures there. Seriously, there were so many perfect pictures to be taken  and we had to take every opportunity to do so. It was a really great place and I had a lot of fun exploring the beach with my family.

Look at these beaches. LOOK AT THEM!! They're so beautiful. I want to live there. I loved the variety each beach had. Some had lots of rocks, others were super sandy and had driftwood to climb around on, and then there were some with a little bit of everything. It was really cool to explore each one and see the things that made it different than others.

One of the last really cool places we got to scout out was Devils Churn. This place was beautiful, and a little scary. I made an extra effort to respect the ocean, for if I fell over, I would be a goner. My brother got a little too close, and a huge wave hit the rocks and soaked him. He wasn't so amused, but I was laughing pretty hard about it.

Overall, I had a really awesome time spending a week with my family and exploring new places. I'm beyond blessed to have the family that I have and the opportunities we've been given. Life is pretty good, guys.

With love,

Elizabeth

Travel Diary: Oregon Coast - Part 1

Hello,

So today I bet you can't guess what I'm writing about...oh? What? How did you know I went camping with my family? We NEVER do that, psh. 

Oh alright, yeah I guess we do. But in my defense, it's not my choice, seriously! My mom forces (yeah, FORCES) us to do this. If it were up to me, I would way rather spend the summer in my room, away from my weird family and cool adventures. Because, like, who really wants to do that. Not me, totally not me. 

Yeah guys, I'm pretty lucky. I love my family and we've been so blessed to be able to travel around the PNW a lot this summer. So yet again, I come to you all today with a Travel Diary. Where did we go this time you ask (except you didn't because it say's it in the title). We went to Florence, Oregon. A cute little town right off the coast with lots of sand dunes, eccentric diners, and freezing wind. 

But this wasn't just a camping trip, it was a road trip. A very eventful road trip. Before entering Oregon, we stayed in a sketchy Walmart parking lot, not the best camping spot, but we made do. BUT GUYS, there were cops everywhere, I was expecting some big scary man to ambush us any second. And then my brother looked up the crime rate, 100% being the safest, the city we were in was at 3%. 3 %!!! Miraculously, we got out alive and unscathed. 

Then another long day of driving began, but this time, we were able to make pit stops along the beach. Even with the intense fog and sand spraying wind, we had to run around a bit and dip our toes in the water. A certain unnamed person (totally not me) got a little more than their toes wet and had to change, but we won't embarrass anyone by revealing who that was.

See those two beautiful ladies right there? Yeah, that's my best friend, aka my amazing mom, and my future sister-in-law, Nichole. That's right guys, my brother Zachary got engaged!! I may be a little excited, besides the fact she's kind of coming into our family and steeling my name, but whatever, I'm getting over it.

There was a car show going on in Old Town Florence, so us girls had a gal date and got some much needed coffee and treats while the men of the family gallivanted around the town in search for cool looking cars. The bakery was such an adorable little place, I'm so bummed I forgot the name, but it had great coffee and their bakery items were delicious.

I was not kidding when I said Florence had an abundance of sand dunes. As Nichole said, "It's like we're in Egypt!" It really was quite the sight. I hadn't even known such a place existed in Oregon until we made the huge trek up one of the sand dunes and emerged at the top to this. It was amazing! Probably one of the coolest places I've been this year. If you ever find yourself in the area, this is a must see, definitely worth the stop. Just be prepared to find sand in everything you brought over the next three years or so.

And that's part 1 of my trip! I have so many more photos to show you, especially of the ocean, so I thought I'd save your eyes and not bombard you with a ton all at once. Look out for part 2 coming soon. In the meantime, have a lovey day!

With love,

Elizabeth

Travel Diary: Silver Lake + Artist Point

Hello beautiful people,

I'm so excited to share with you all a wonderful trip I just got back from. My family and Christine and her family joined together and set up camp for a few days of fun card games, sitting by the lake, and beautiful day trips. Christine and her family are some dear friends of ours and I had such a blast hanging out with them. If you haven't checked out her blog, you totally should! It's tons of fun. 

We stayed at a pretty decent sized campsite right on Silver Lake. It was a really nice place! Although I didn't go swimming while on this trip, they had a really nice beach for wading out into the water and a cool bridge you could jump off of. Sadly, I was a little too cold the first couple days we were there to actually work up the nerve to try. Never fear though, if you don't like swimming they also have different types of boats you can rent. 

I really enjoyed this campsite. It was nice because we were able to have electricity but also still feel like we were camping. Natalie, Christine and I all hung out in my trailer and watched Sense and Sensibility while eating chocolate and playing cards. It was pretty great! Our site also backed up onto a large field where us kids were able to pass around the football or baseball. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and enjoying the time we had together. 

Christine's family brought their puppy! She was so adorable. Libby and Murphy are brother and sister, so it was a lot of fun having them both together. They seemed to enjoy the camping life and being together. Every time we went anywhere, people would get so excited to pet them. Rightfully so, puppies are so freaking cute. 

Our last day there, we drove over to Artist Point, which was about 50 minutes away from our campsite. It was so beautiful up there! As I've said before and will say again, I am beyond blessed to live in the state of Washington. It has so much variety and beauty and I'm in love with it. Almost anywhere you go, you can find a gorgeous piece of God's creation.

Poor Natalie and I are seniors this year, and every place we stop, our moms are like, "Oh this would be such a nice senior picture!" Sadly for them, we weren't quite dressed for the occasion, so instead they had to settle with just taking group pictures and shots of the mountain. I think it was a fair trade though. 

It's so much fun to bring Murphy new places and see him sniff around excitedly. He was quite enjoying himself as he explored and got cooed over every time someone passed. So many people asked if they could pet him, it was so cute. 

"Awww your dog is SO adorable." 

"I know, isn't he? I mean err, thank you! I think so too."

Again, can I say how beautiful it was up there? If you ever find yourself in the area, you need to take a drive up to Artist Point. The views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan are breathtaking. These picture can't even compare to the stunning sights you can see with your very own eyes. Everywhere you turn there's another wondrous sight to feast your eyes on and take a snapshot of.

On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at Nooksack Falls and looked around for a little bit. It was another beautiful spot, but in a completely different way. I loved how shady and green it was in there. There were so many huge rocks to sit on and just listen to the rush of the water and the chirping birds. Being in nature and listening to the different sounds just brings you a sense of peace. This was one of those spots.

What are some of your favorite places in the state/country you live in?

With love,

Elizabeth

Travel Diary: Baker Lake

Hello friends,

I'm back! The past four weeks have been crazy, but an awesome kind of crazy. Although summer have been flying by (say's everyone and their mother), it's been a great one. God has blessed me so much with all the wonderful experiences and amazing friends that have filled my summer. Today I'm here to show you one of the camping trips I've been on. I had such great time! My family and two other good family friends of ours all went camping at Baker Lake. It's a tradition that's been going on for five years now. We always reserve the same spot every year, a quiet place right next to the water. It's basically perfect. 

Did I mention that this place was beautiful? Since our campsite is right next to the water, we can push our kayaks easily into the lake and quickly paddle over to these amazing views of the mountains. I love kayaking in the morning with all the mist covering the mountains, but being out on the water is also stunning in the evenings when you can see the complete beauty of the hills. The first mountain you see, the large one with all the snow, is called Mount Baker, hence the name Baker Lake. All year round it's covered in snow and always makes for a pretty photo. 

When we're not kayaking, you can probably find us swimming or sitting by the fire. Our campsite has a rope swing and it's a blast! Although the water is a bit cold, I can't help but not swing into the lake at least once or twice. We also take out the inner tubes and swim around, because my family kind of sucks at swimming and we need assistance. It's kind of silly looking, so let's move on.

What would camping be without campfires? It would be a crime if you went back home without smelling like smoke. Also, it saves my skin from multiple red, itchy dots. Seriously, mosquitoes, I'm pretty sure, are demons in their physical form. They're awful! I've come to find I'm irresistible to them, so when there's a fire, I'm standing right there. I also read and played a lot of card games over the course of this trip. Thank you Lord for friends who don't tire of my predictable ways and stubbornness to not change them (or at least don't show they're tired of them).

Also, there's lots of forest that you can run around in while playing cops and robbers, or take a relaxing morning stroll. This is probably where all my mosquito bites come from, but it's peaceful nonetheless. It rains a lot here in Western Washington and I'm so thankful for it and the greenery it creates. I think forests and trees are beautiful, and if it wasn't for all the rain we get, our state wouldn't be nearly us lush and green.

This was Murphy's first official camping trip. He was a great camper and we all had so much fun playing with him, watching him test the waters, and taking him on our kayaks. He is so darn cute stuffed in those small boats, sometimes he'll even squeeze down into the tip of it and take a little nap. It's pretty adorable.

And there you have it, that's my camping trip to Baker Lake. It was a grand ole time and I'm excited to be sharing a piece of it with ya'll. Have you been on any fun trips this summer? Let me know down in the comments below.

With love,

Elizabeth