Mpls to the Badlands

My friends and I were about to embark on an eight-hour drive to the Badlands in two fully packed cars of camping supplies and the obvious sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, etc. Plus we had plenty of Tang, (you can’t forget the Tang!). We did our best and tried to overpack, just in case something went terribly wrong.

The experience produced some amazing photography opportunities. But wearing the same clothes for days on end did start to get a little unpleasant. There were although showers available near our campsite, but we all thought it would defeat the purpose of camping if we were to shower. The Badlands was also incredibly hot and dry so that also didn’t help our hair (or the bodily smells either).

Poverty, Waste, Cats & Dogs in Sri Lanka

Having never been to a third world country, I didn’t really know what to expect. This was my first big trip out of the US and our first stop was a long layover in London which made our flight to Sri Lanka an even longer journey. Once we arrived in Sri Lanka, I was surprised to see all of the garbage in the oceans, lakes, and rivers. It was a very sad experience for me being a young teenager. I tried to focus on the better parts of the trip, but the constantly polluted waters were always in the back of my head.

• Seeing the poverty amongst the children and the stray dogs and cats roaming the streets was difficult to see and it opened my eyes to how other parts of the world experience day-to-day life.

• I finally got to see elephants in person! After visiting an elephant orphanage and petting them in the wild up close, I was blown away. Then later the same day we watched as they were all lined up in a single file line and escorted down the main street of this village and into a river for their weekly bath. But we also witnessed them being whipped (and borderline tortured) by their handlers. That was definitely difficult to witness.

• On top of all that, seeing people throw away their garbage into the rivers and lakes they bathe in was also difficult to wrap my head around.

Although we had an amazing trip, the waste, pollution, and animal cruelty was incredibly vexing. I’d like to go back someday and see how I could try and make a difference in those communities.