A Guide for Your Journey

Many of you know that we talk about working with our client/families and being “A Guide for Your Journey”.  For some that may be a throwaway phase. It is not.  There is a story behind it. 

In 2012, my family and I went to Tanzania, Africa, to the Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti is 12,000 square miles that contains the world’s most massive land animal migration, as well as lions, elephants, wildebeest, rhinos, leopards, hyenas, baboons, giraffes and many more animals. It was just my family (of 7) and a guide.  We were not traveling or around other people.  It was just us-in a topless 4-wheel drive extended Toyota.

This trip was on the top of my bucket list; it was something I had dreamed of since I was a kid.  So I went without hesitation.

Only while on the way over did I realize the concern some of my family had: how much danger would there be; would we be eaten by animals; what about snakes; what about malaria; could we get stranded; could the laws in an African country put us at risk? 

When we arrived inside the national park, we were met by our guide, Elston.  Before we started, and as we traveled, Elston spent time sharing with us the rules and expectations:  he knows what he is doing; follow his instructions; understand these are wild animals and not pets; always stay in the vehicle, for if you get out, you will be considered prey; the animals have come to adjust to seeing vehicles; and if there is danger, he would get us out of it. 

One day, we were close to some elephants.  My oldest son, Josh, was in the front seat with Elston.  One bull started acting aggressively, moving in our direction.  As he did, Josh rolled up his wind while Elston backed us up.  When there was distance between us and the elephant, Josh rolled his window down.  The elephant again charged, and Josh rolled up his window, and again, Elston took evasive action.  We all laughed later that Josh thought rolling up his window was going to protect him from a charging elephant.

On another occasion, we built a campfire while camping in the park.  We could hear a male lion roar in the distance. Everyone went to bed, except me and Elston.  I told Elston to take off and that I would turn in after a while.  He informed me that he could not leave me alone; his job was to be sure I was safe.

Finally, on our first night in the Serengeti, we had four different housing quarters for my family.  That night was surely exciting as the first night in the Serengeti.  The next morning, I got up early, charged up for first full day.  Standing outside my quarters was a Maasai warrior standing on one leg, with a spear.  Later at breakfast I ask Elston about the warrior (only then did I understand he was a Maasai warrior). Elston responded there was one posted outside each of our quarters.  There had been a leopard coming through the compound and he wanted to be sure we were safe.

At the end of our trip, we had a morning good-bye to Elston.  It was very emotional. Over just 7 or 8 days we had bonded so closely to him.  He guided us, he protected us, he was our travel companion, and he shared his life and his story. 

When I got back to Hays from that trip, I sat down with my office team and shared our experience with Elston.  I shared that I wanted us to be that guide for our client who were going through a challenging time.  We want to be their guide; to protect them; to be their travel companion; and allow them to share their story while we shared ours.

I want you to know that your allowing to “be your trusted guide” means so much to us; you mean so much to us. So whether it is something as simple as transferring a car title, or more scary like a charging elephant, we are going to be there for you.