I'm leaving town for my girlfriend's wedding in Botswana this weekend. We went to undergrad together at Stanford and have been each other's family in NYC for the past couple of years. She's from all over -- South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Botswana -- and is marrying a white boy from Oklahoma that's so down everyone assumes he's at least Puerto Rican. They met at church and it's been history ever since.

It's about time that I took a vacation. Every now and again I get that itching to flee the US as fast as possible. I've been to quite a few places -- Brazil, Belize, and S. Africa, among others. My first really major trip, outside of family trips back home to Nigeria, was the summer after my sophomore year of college that I spent in Accra.

I was there for 9 weeks, studying plant medicine at the University of Ghana-Legon. At the time, I was a fearless and naive 19. Not speaking a word of Twi, I rode a tro-tro every Tuesday and Thursday to class with folks from the Ghana Dance Ensemble and National Theatre; took a bus ride down to Cape Coast with some friends for Panafest; and a bus tour to Kumasi just to see the sights.

I have some video of myself dancing at a rehearsal, whirling round and round, my hair cut in a short afro. Man. I had so much gumption! Actually got into a taxi once and told the driver that I didn't know where I was going, but could he please help me find it. LOL.

I think it's only when we travel that we come to understand ourselves and our place in the world better. Here's to more travel and life lessons.