The Adventure Above Awaits

From where I stand in Kigali, I can see the airport. It’s visible from the streets I walk on my way home, from the grounds of my university. It feels as though, no matter where I go, it’s always in sight. And sometimes, when I’m lucky, I get to watch as planes ascend into the skies or descend gracefully back to the ground. There’s something mesmerizing about it, the way they break free from the earth and disappear into the clouds. Every time I see one take off, a part of me longs to be in it. I imagine myself onboard, leaving everything familiar behind, just... going.

Airplanes, for me, represent freedom. The possibility to go places, meet people, and see something new excites me. For us as mankind, bound by gravity, airplanes are our defiance against nature. And through these flying machines, we can travel distances once unimaginable. I want my life to feel like that—like a journey where every day offers the chance for discovery.

Of course, it might be naive to imagine life as one endless flight to new adventures. Freedom, exhilarating as it is, isn’t the full picture. I don’t confuse the idea of constantly escaping with living a full life. Freedom, after all, isn’t love. It isn’t stability or the deeper elements of life that truly give it meaning.

You can’t build a life in the air. You can’t build on the flight itself or on constantly seeking the next escape. A full life requires grounding, a place to call home. A nest where love, trust, and honesty are nurtured. A life needs balance. It needs roots just as much as it needs wings.

Still, while we’re young, it’s easy to feel like freedom is the most important thing. And that’s okay. As long as we don’t confuse freedom for the only thing, we’ll be alright.

Airplanes also carry another kind of freedom: financial freedom. I’m not talking about wealth in the luxury sense—fancy hotels or exclusive parties. No, I’m talking about the ability to change your surroundings. Imagine waking up one day, and before you know it, you’re on a flight to Rio. Or maybe you’re wandering through the ancient pyramids in Cairo, tasting the rich flavors of West Africa, or watching hot air balloons float across the skies in Turkey.

It’s about the freedom to pick up your passport and go—to explore and experience the world, not just for extravagance, but for the thrill of discovery itself.

But in chasing these adventures, it’s important not to lose sight of what really sustains us. The exploration is thrilling, yes, but life isn’t lived entirely in motion. There must be moments of stillness, of grounding. We need a place to land.

It’s a balancing act, really. Keeping our heads in the clouds, dreaming, exploring, imagining—without losing our footing on the ground. The sky calls to us, but the earth sustains us. And in the end, we all seek that balance.

For now, though, I want to fly. I want to see what’s out there, to experience life’s vastness while I can. So I’ll let myself soar for a while—knowing that when the time comes, I’ll find my landing. Until then, I’ll keep my head in the clouds, but my feet on the ground.