...live everyday like your last, and that way you can do things that you never thought you could do, and in the process, you can inspire and motivate others!

The ultimate trip of my life will start from the night I tuck into my loving bed for the last time until 4 weeks later when I come back home and unpack my bags as a changed man - thinking about all the things I will be doing in the weeks which will follow from the next morning I board that life-changing flight.
Thing is, I won't get any sleep - as those thoughts of boarding a plane for the second time in my life, and the first to go overseas, overwhelms my senses.

All the excitement will ensure I make up for all that lost sleep when flying, window side, to my African Continent destination courtesy of the great people at i-to-i !! ....however i will set the alarm for halfway so that I can see the gracious clouds and the ocean from my window while listening to U2 - 'beautiful Day'. Also another alarm to wake me up half an hour before I reach the African continent so that I can get a chance to see it happening...me landing on a stretch of land that I have never set foot on before!

Packing my bags that week and in the lead up before my 'trip of a life-time', I'll pack some good ol' nutritious Aussie, Up and Go brekkie drinks and some Nutri-Grain cereal bars for the curious kids that I will encounter in Moshi. I might chuck in a few packets of snakes so that the kids can tell each other that they have eaten snakes before....well the yummiest kind of snake that is!

Also I won't forget to pack a few rugby and soccer balls for the young'ns at Moshi, I am sure given the opportunity that there will be a few Andrew Johns', Johnny Wilkinson's and David Beckham's amongst the promising crowd. Maybe I will come back in a few years and start a sports scouting agency based in the town and perhaps create a few jobs in the area and give the kids something big and aspiring to aim for.

In the bags..in will go as little clothing I may possibly need, I will purchase my clothes on my trip from the locals in Tanzania so I can support their incomes.

The Selous Game Reserve will be an experience. Seeing maybe the next biggest youtube clip and natural event that has ever taken place...maybe I'll call it the Battle of Selous so it can go up with the Battle of Kruger on youtube.. so I'll definitely have my camcorder courtesy of i-to-i, ready to shoot some epic mother nature at her best.

The Masai experience will surely be an honest taste of a totally different culture, a traditional culture. I would definitely make the photo of me and my arms around the Masai chief as my facebook and my i-to-i profile pictures!

Above all, the children at Moshi will touch my hearts. This experience would be the ultimate one. This would be the main reason I chose to come to Tanzania.
I would put my junior rugby coaching clinic skills to use and be the best possible mentor and friend and i-to-i volunteer to the children and the Moshi community. At this point, my luggage will be much much lighter as my many packets of Up and Go and boxes of Nutri-Grain bars will be shared amongst the village children, not to mention those snakes, they will love them.

The most hardest and difficult part of my ultimate trip will not be when the lactic acid accumulates in my legs whilst climbing the almighty Kilimanjaro or trekking through the thick of the N'Gorongoro Crater...it will be when I say goodbye to the young ones at Moshi and when I farewell and thank the Masai for their great hospitality.
Yes I will shed a tear.... or two.

The beach paradise at Zanibar will recover my hard worked mind and body, as i will definitely not leave anything in the tank when I trek or when i spend my time with the Moshi mob. Chilling in the waters of the brilliant Zanibar will be the ultimate finale as it lets me look back on the great 4 weeks or so that I had had.

Just thinking about my ultimate trip makes me wonder, the best way to give to charity or help out the most to a great culture in need is to give by taking a trip of a lifetime in a place that will interest you in every facet.

I will leave my ultimate trip physically, but never spiritually, knowing that I have done my best in my capacity to help the local people of Tanzania and that I have represented Australia and i-to-i to the best of my ability.

I will come home with a new perspective in life, and the motivation will be there... I will look to change the world for the better.

... I'm gonna live everyday like my last, and that way I can do things that I never thought I could do, and in the process, I will inspire and motivate others.

Tanzania here I come!

- Dan

:D

• Tanzania
• Ultimate Trip