Connectnigeria Articles

It was January 31st and I still had not taken any steps toward achieving my goal for the year- to see 12 new places (one for each month). I had planned to see Orole Hills at Ikere-Ekiti but the problem was that I had not gotten allawee for February and I had just 500 naira in hand, home and abroad. I took out 120 naira to get to the ATM and the ATM said I had insufficient funds…aha, just like I expected. lol. So I started thinking… What do I do? Missing out on this first month goal would mean that I would have to see two places in February. As a sharp Delta girl, I decided to see the palace just within walking distance from the bank. I had heard that it could be visited, so I set out with my camera. I got to the gate, introduced myself with my corper cap and said that I wanted to sight see the palace. I was warned not to pass a certain gate though. I didn’t even go near that gate when the men there started speaking angrily in Yoruba. I thought that I was in trouble. If they used me for sacrifice who would help? Ah! Mogbe! All in the name of seeing new places… I quickly walked back to them, listened to their grievances (apparently one of them was against my coming into the palace) thanked them for their help and left the palace. It didn’t feel like I had seen a new place, so I started thinking. With 300 naira left, where could I go? And then I remembered, I am in the land of hills… There is even a hill behind my street. Aha! Light bulb moment! The only problem now was that, though I had made the challenge one where I could travel alone if need be, there sure is something about the Nigerian mentality that believes that two is more fun. I checked on a fellow corper and was told that he went to church… well, talk about the universe conspiring to make me go out alone. So I set out alone, bag and camera in hand.

I didn’t go to the hill behind my house though, that looked too steep/difficult to climb. I went to the hill some distance away from my house and had to introduce myself to two guys who were sitting in front of their house. I asked them to please accompany me to climb the hill as I needed a photographer and I dare say that they did a good job 🙂 I always meet great people when I go out alone. So the climb began… I must say that I am out of shape, the hill climbing was much needed exercise. The hill was really high off the ground and I was kind of scared at first. One of the guys kept urging me to “come up” and I decided to put away fear and let my wings out (after all I had climbed Olumo rock before and that was higher than this hill). There were trees on the hill and the scenery below was just awesome. There’s just something about being high up there and looking at the world below (I wonder how God sees us, but I digress). There was also a Church on top the hill… The way Ekiti indigenes do things, yeah, they build houses atop the hills and I was just scared for nothing about climbing the hill. The guys I met did a good job with the camera though. They did not complain and I even snapped pictures of us together. I sat on a little rock when it was time to go home and told them to go home, I will meet them up later. I just sat there in the quiet, filmed a video of my wild and single day in one of the hills of Ekiti and smiled.

Someday when I am tied down with kids, I will look back on such a day like this and smile at the days of taking off into the hills without having to answer to nobody. I will even show my kids the pictures and the video and tell them that mommy was an adventurous young girl who will hopefully still be adventurous when she is married (fingers crossed). So finally, I didn’t need too much money to fulfil my January goal to see a new place as a single lady this year. If money is the reason why you are wasting off your single hood without going for adventures, then think again. Sometimes, what we need is around us.

If it’s lack of company that’s the barrier also, then think again. That’s what traveling alone is for. You walk up to strangers and you ask for help. You smile with people you’ve never met before. Don’t ask me about security (I know there are those scared to death about meeting new people), but somehow, I always meet great people on my trips alone; people who even offer to buy me snacks and drinks and free coconut. All I’m saying is, if you are single, your time’s running. Make this time count. Stop sitting on your hands and wasting all the time you could use for adventures on television and your smartphone. Travel. See new places. Go for new adventures. Even your kids would love to see pictures of exciting things mommy did before she met and married daddy. Till my next memoir on my February travels, Much Love, Frances. About the Writer: Frances Okoro is a Lawyer, writer and blogger. She dreams of living a full life, complete with traveling the world and sharing her beautiful smiles with everyone she comes across. She is however, more enraptured with a desire to fulfill her God-given purpose on earth. It is her utmost desire that everyone know that they are on earth to fill a niche, impact the world, manifest their light and glow. She tries to spread this message across to everyone(mostly ladies) by speaking to young girls in secondary schools and hopes to advance this goal further with her current status as a Nigerian Youth Service Corp Member(NYSC). She shares the words in her on www.imperfectlyperfectlives.com. You can keep in touch by liking her page on Facebook. Follow her on twitter @FrancesOkoro And on instagram @frances_okoro