South Sudan

Getting to South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, was a mission in itself. I had to buy my ticket to Juba with cash at a small airport office in Khartoum before boarding an aging TARCO Air flight, complete with ashtrays still built into the seats. After arriving, I met my local guide, Sebit, and spent some time exploring Juba. To be honest, it was one of the roughest capitals I’d ever visited. Years of conflict had left their mark, and the city’s limited infrastructure and dusty streets reflected just how many challenges the country faced.

The highlight of South Sudan, though, wasn’t Juba. It was visiting the Mundari, a nomadic tribe whose lives revolve around their cattle. For someone living with severe OCD, stepping into a Mundari cattle camp should have been unthinkable. They bathe with cow urine and burn dried cow dung, covering themselves in the ash to keep mosquitoes away. But for me, travel had become real-life exposure therapy. Encouraged by the tribe, I covered my own face with the ash before watching the sun set through the haze as hundreds of long-horned cattle wandered past. It remains one of the most meaningful experiences of my life and a reminder that we’re capable of far more than our fears lead us to believe.