The Best Trips Are Built Around You
Darren, Charlie, and Soren did not take the typical family trip to South Africa. They took a trip built around what is theirs.
There were matches to watch, waves to surf, old friends to reconnect with, and a whole lot of rugby to soak in. For this American family of rugby lovers, it was a chance to follow something they love all the way to one of its spiritual homes. Charlie even missed the start of fourth-grade tackle football to make the trip.
The best trips are built around what is distinctly yours.
In South Africa, rugby is not just a sport. You feel it everywhere - in the welcome, the pride, the physicality, the friendships. It’s woven into the culture and the communities that make the country what it is. For Darren, it also meant reconnecting with old friends and familiar places. For Charlie and Soren, it meant seeing the game they love through an entirely different lens.
Then came Manenberg Rugby Club. A nonprofit and vital community hub in one of Cape Town’s hardest-hit communities, Manenberg uses rugby for something much bigger than what happens on the field. The club gives young people purpose, belonging, mentorship, and a path forward.
Their work is producing remarkable results. One young female player developed through the club has gone on to be selected to represent South Africa. A rugby club creating opportunity where there was not much opportunity before…and helping a young athlete reach the highest level of the sport.
Bringing Charlie and Soren to Manenberg made the trip personal in a completely different way. They were not just seeing rugby in South Africa. They were seeing what rugby can do.
That is one of the greatest gifts of travel. It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.
The most memorable journeys are often built around the things that are uniquely yours - your obsessions, your history, your people, your curiosity.
For Darren, Charlie, and Soren, South Africa was a little bit of a homecoming and a whole lot of discovery. A return to something old and a new story for the three of them to share.
