I stared perplexed at a map flipped upside down with Australia as the center continent. Colorful and detailed images covered the walls. I realized then that the world is more complex than I could even imagine. Posters of the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and many others from around the world were hung delicately around the room. Travel and cultural books filled the shelves, beckoning me to come and read them. I gazed at the flags she had strewn across her classroom, wondering about all the places she had been.
From the moment I entered Lissa Wentner’s classroom I noticed her worldliness. I gazed admirably at the amazing photographs in her presentation which were taken from her years of travel.
From a young age, Wentner was accustomed to experiencing different cultures of the world traveling to Grenada, the West Indies, East Timor, and South America. At the age of 25, just as she was beginning her career, Wentner’s boyfriend died in a skiing accident. It was an incident that was both unexpected and tragic, shocking her to the core. Then, when his mother, with who she remained close with, became sick with cancer two years later, Wentner took a summer off traveling to take care of her. It was during this time that Wentner’s zest for life was reaffirmed. When the mother died, she left some money for Wentner to do whatever she wanted with it. So that’s when Wentner decided to take a year off to travel, fulfilling the life that the two could not.
In 2000, as Wentner’s plane touched down in Africa, she became paralyzed with fear. She didn't know a single person on the whole continent and only had a backpack with essentials including film and malaria pills. She even thought to herself, “What the hell was I thinking?” But Wentner picked herself up and continued forward. She called herself a taxi and obtained a guesthouse. With time she lost her sense of fear and embraced the adventure of her exploration of Africa.
One of Wentner’s favorite places during her backpacking trip to Africa was Uganda, a place she said had “soul.” The people had kind hearts and weren't trying to rip off foreigners like they did in Kenya or Tanzania. One amazing moment that stood out to her in Uganda was seeing mountain gorillas in the wild. She also had the opportunity to raft down the Nile River, the well-known longest river in the world. For a few months, Wentner camped with good friends from around the world, hearing hundreds of stories and making countless memories. With these experiences she was incredibly invigorated and inspired. Wentner believed that in life you need to “remove yourself at some point from that which is normal, safe, and predictable” in order to “see what you're capable of.”
As her travels in Uganda came to an end, Wentner sat alone in tears at a bus station in Kampala, Uganda. She had just had the most amazing experiences in a vibrant and beautiful country and now had to take a nine hour bus ride to Nairobi. Nairobi was a “big scary city with street gangs and violence and a hostel with no water.” It was often referred to as “Nairobbery.” Wentner feared this place and hoped she would never have to travel there. However, Nairobi was the hub of transportation for the sub-Saharan region. Traveling there was necessary for her to continue her journey in Africa. Wentner mustered up the courage and rode the bus all the way to Nairobi.
Wentner had to overcome her fear of the big, scary city in order to “experience the wonders on the other side.” Once in Nairobi, Wentner was able to explore the rest of Africa which offered her “incredibly invigorating, inspiring, [and] exciting” moments. She was able to climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with a breathtaking view at the summit. Wentner experienced the picturesque beaches of Zanzibar with its clear waters and lush tropical trees. She also swam with dolphins in Mozambique. And she met extraordinary people each with their own unique story along the way.
Wentner’s travels around the world allowed her to teach from personal experience, providing much more depth to each lesson and relating the information to the real world. From the wise words of Wentner, “Sometimes you have to take a chance, suffer a little, work a lot, and most importantly, open yourself up to the possibilities, to experience the beauty of the world. Sometimes, you have to go to Nairobi.”
