This summer I was fortunate enough to participate in the Kenya Adventure travel experience. I when I got the news in March that I was going I was so excited and everyone in my district was rooting for me to have a fantastic trip. Even though I was super pumped to go, there was a small part of me worried about going so far away with a bunch of strangers. I had traveled with school and Girl Guides before, but always with at least one familiar face. I was worried – what if I don’t get along with any of the other girls?

To be honest, this isn’t the first time I have worried about not being liked or making friends. I unfortunately didn’t have any friends in school from grades 3-8. I always had my friends in Guiding and a couple from the neighbourhood I lived in, but school was pretty lonely. Because of my experience in school as kid, I was often reluctant to participate in activities without at least one friendly face. With that being said, I was a little nervous about going 13,000 km away from home with a bunch of complete strangers.

Photo taken by Susie Hawkins

When I got to Toronto and met up with everyone, I realized I wasn’t in a room of complete strangers, I was in a room full of Girl Guides. As soon as I started talking to these girls it felt like I had known them for years. I had problems remembering some of their names because some of them had personalities so close to girls in my unit back home. We all became fast friends. Even through the two red-eye flights and the 10 hour layover, we all became friends.

This trip gave new a confidence and a new outlook on what it means to be part of the Girl Guide community. Because I went on this trip I have applied to universities outside of Edmonton, and outside of my comfort zone, because I know not matter where I go, I will have friends in Girl Guides.

Megan Lamothe

By guest blogger Megan Lamothe. Megan is a leader with the 64th Edmonton Pathfinders. She loves volunteering at camps and traveling. Don’t forget to read her previous posts for GirlGuidesCANBlog: Back to Guiding Mosaic,  My Summer of Guiding, and The Outsider Girl Guider.

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Looking for more information about trips sponsored by Girl Guides of Canada? Girl and adult members have the world at their feet through our international travel program, whether they’re attending an event at the United Nations, hiking through the Swiss Alps or helping build schools in Honduras.