My Reflections on the Namibia Pre-field Seminar 2017/18

What have I thought of the Namibia Pre-field seminar? My first thought is that I wish I would have done more research on the places I visited before I got there. So far, having presented on two different Namibian desert biogeography topics and listening to my classmates' other thirty presentations, has made me even more excited on going on this trip. I feel like I have a much better starting point to my overseas travel this summer that will help me to get much more out of the trip.

This class has made me reflect on my past travels, and how much pre-trip research I have done and how I felt about my pre-trip preparation after going on my trip. I always felt like there were benefits to both sides, to either prepare nothing and go as things happen ,or to prepare heavily and know everything you are going to do. I believe that when a traveler prepares nothing, they don't hold any expectations of the place, and will go through the trip more in the moment and will go on adventures that no one could have ever planned. However, I also think that preparing and researching for a trip will make you more aware of how the things you are witnessing or experiencing impact other aspects of the place. Like for example, going to Namibia and seeing fairy circles for the first time and just kind of being like "oh okay cool" as opposed to knowing the different theories explaining fairy circles and how humans and animals impact their existence. I'm excited to go on this trip and see what I think about this amount of preparation. I'm curious to see whether I will want to prepare more for all my future trips or find a happy middle ground. Either way, I really enjoyed this class!

-- Romain Screve