Letter From Abiel about her trip to Paris

Abiel is my eloquent, adventurous first born. She wrote a letter asking for support for her upcoming spring trip to Paris with the school travel club. The letter is worth reading even if you can't help her with her trip.

Dear Friends and Family,

I love traveling. It has been a part of me and my family since I was three months old. I have been a lot of places, especially in the last couple years. My next trip is to Paris with my school's Passion Project class, but believe it or not, I did not want to go at first.

I believe that when you travel you should have a reason. It could be as flippant as "I felt like it" or as deep as "This location means something to me and I am going to make it a better place." When the opportunity for a trip first came up in September 2015, I had no desire to go and I did not want to put the work into something that I had no reason to participate in. Two to three months went by and I was hearing about what was happening through one of my best friends. I still had no interest. 

Until one day my friend approached me with a smile on her face. "Abiel. We are going to Paris. If anyone could get into this trip late it would be you." Apparently my skepticism was still obviously displayed on my face, because she followed it with this. "Okay. I really want you to come Abiel. Honestly, I can't imagine traveling without you. You were with me on my first trip and I really want you to come. Please ask Heather!" 

I talked it over with my mom. I thought about it. I talked to God about it. I wanted to come up with a why. "Just because" was not going to get me to Paris. I know I am going to travel later in life, so why go on this trip specifically? As I thought about my trip to Greece with this friend, a smile plastered itself on my face. We had run into cacti, wandered wide-eyed through the many ruins of Greece, laughed together, made new friends, played games, fallen asleep together, eaten together, and loved each other's company for over a week and a half in Greece. Since then, we have grown so much closer than we were even in Greece. As I thought about this, I realized that right there was my reason to go to Paris. My friend Siena. After all, if anything is worth work in your life, it must be your friendships and relationships. 

Long story short, I am now going to Paris in April with one of my best friends. She is one of the most amazing people I know and she is the reason I am working for this. 

Once again, we are fundraising most of the trip. Our last big fundraiser is a Walkathon. This means that we are going to walk 10 miles in preparation for the 8-10 miles we will be walking daily on our trip. My class has been working diligently on our academic projects which have included sketchbooks of anatomy, exhibits on French Jazz, and raps on Victor Hugo's interests and beliefs in architecture. (The last one is mine.) 

If you are interested in pledging money towards my trip, please let me know. You are welcome to donate per mile or a flat sum. Any questions are more than welcome whether you give money or not.

Thank you all! 

Love, Abiel

P.S. Attached are a few pictures of us from my trip to Greece. There is one of Siena and I with a towel swan. (A swan folded from a towel.) The "Thank You" pictures are on our cruise ship with Santorini behind us.

If you would like to support her trip, please contact me in the comments and I will be in touch with you. Thank you!