Meeting the TL Team

Last weekend the 20 Trainee Leaders for the British Exploring India and Amazon 2015 expeditions met for our first training session. Despite going on two different expeditions, the two TL groups will be doing all of our training together.

We met up at a scout camp in Lichfield on Friday evening, arriving in dribs and drabs because of major train delays and traffic - I was the first to arrive, so I made the most of the tea and coffee provided and chatted to James and Sam, the two guys taking our training.

We started off the weekend by talking lots about leadership, what it means, what makes a good leader, what our leadership style is at the moment and how we're going to develop over the course of the TL programme. It was interesting to hear about other people's experiences with leadership and their expectations for the programme. We all shared our favourite quotes -

"Leaders are not born or made - they're grown"

"Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups"

"Be the best you can be"

I'm sure lots more quotes will come out of the time we all spend together! (especially if we carry on playing Cards Against Humanity..)

We split into different 'syndicates', groups that we're going to stay in to complete our training (we're working towards a certificate in Basic Expedition Leadership, Expedition First Aid and Offsite Safety Management, as well as doing the expedition to the Himalayas), which was a great way to get to know people better (and learn names!).

We had a look at different tents and tried putting them up, then cooked our lunch on some different stove options. The dehydrated ration packs weren't actually that bad, but a 1,500kcal lunch definitely wasn't necessary!

We then learnt more about what's required to be an expedition leader - lots of risk assessments and planning, as well as the ability to be adaptable and motivational once you're out on the expedition. It's made me even more excited about developing my leadership style and putting it all into practice out in India and afterwards on other expeditions.

Our next training weekend is pretty soon - off to the Lake District in three weeks' time. A blog post will follow :)

Being a lone wolf

After I finished school, before I went to university, I decided to try something new, exciting and scary, and go to Uganda for four weeks, by myself.

I went to a place called Fort Portal, in Western Uganda, to 'volunteer', with IVHQ. Now, I can see both sides of the story for voluntourism, but in all honesty I don't think I helped much in the school next door or the orphanage over the road.

Yes, I taught some maths lessons and hopefully inspired some of the kids to work hard at school and get further with their education. Yes, I washed up some pots and collected water in the orphanage, so that the staff there could spend more time on other important jobs. And yes, I painted a wall in a hospital ward that would otherwise have been left looking tatty and unclean, so that builders could fix more important things.

Decorating a room at Ibonde Children's Home

I also, however, was just another Western person to come into the orphanage, make great friends with the kids and form a bond, only to then leave again and not come back. I painted in a ward where people were dying because they couldn't afford the hospital food, and didn't actually help anyone.

The main thing I got out of my trip to Uganda was personal development - but I don't actually think that's a bad thing to admit.

I recently read a great blog post by my friend Maia, who I met in Uganda. It says how every woman should travel alone, at least once in her lifetime, and explains all the reasons why it's important.

I completely agree, and I thing more people should do it.

When I stepped off the plane at Entebbe airport at 3am, I felt more alive, excited and free than I ever had before. I had to think for myself, be alert all the time, and look after myself in a completely new place. I met tonnes of new people from around the world in that month, many of whom I still keep in touch with, and had so much fun. I learnt so much about myself in a really short amount of time, and gained so much confidence, I'm still amazed by it.

I even learnt the valuable life skill of how to milk a cow!

I'm going to India in less than six months (eek!) and although I won't actually be by myself, I'll still be with new people, in a new environment, challenging myself and learning new things - I can't wait to go. I'm unbelievably excited to see how the expeditions goes and what I get out of it.

I'll then be embarking on a whole year of travelling (and working to raise money for flights, at some point..) before I start my first real grown-up job in September 2016. I'll be going on my own, mostly, as my friends are either still at uni, starting jobs or not interested, which is why I found Maia's blog so interesting and inspiring. I'm going to have an awesome time. Keep following my blog (which will change its name when I get back from the Himalayas) to follow my journey of countries, friends, food, stupid ideas and self-discovery..