Beyond Familiar exists because of a trip I took back in 2008 — a mission trip to Uganda. That trip is where I first felt, in a real way, that everyone should go somewhere outside their comfort zone. From there, I went on several short-term mission trips to Costa Rica, and eventually spent seven months there doing the same kind of work.
The moment that stuck with me
One thing from that first trip to Uganda has never left me. People there didn't have easy access to water — getting it meant walking many miles round trip, every time. And they weren't worried about it. "God will provide," they'd say. That's real faith. I don't say that to make a point about mission trips specifically — I say it because it reframed how I think about what actually matters, and it's a big part of why I do this work now, whether the trip in front of me is a mission trip or a family vacation.
Logistics can crowd out the reason you're there
My trip to Uganda was organized through a mission organization that does genuinely great work — they handled the travel, the accommodations, the schedule, all of it. What that schedule didn't leave much room for was making real connections with people, which was the whole point of going.
My trips to Costa Rica were different. They were planned through a member of our church, and later, by me when I led the trip myself. That gave us a lot more flexibility. For a while, staying at a missionary house made the logistics simple. Once that was no longer an option and the team had to stay in a hotel instead, all of that coordinating fell on the local pastor and his wife.
You don't have to control everything
If there's one thing I wish someone had told me before I led my first trip, it's that you don't have to do everything yourself. Delegation is powerful. Figure out what you can hand off, and actually give up full control over it. It's one of the hardest habits to build as a leader, and one of the most useful.
Hold the plan loosely
For a mission trip specifically, the biggest mistake I've seen is assuming everything has to go exactly as planned. There may be a bigger plan happening that you don't know about. That doesn't mean you skip preparation — it means you build in room for things to shift.
That applies to the practical side too. Flight delays and cancellations are usually outside your control, and defaulting to the cheapest airline option isn't always the safer bet — sometimes paying a little more for a more reliable airline saves you a lot of stress down the line.
A word on faith
I'm a Christian, and this business grew directly out of that conviction — but we live in a world that isn't uniformly Christian, and I don't want that to get in the way of helping people. My faith is why I do this work, and I'm not going to shy away from that. But whether you're a church group heading overseas or a family planning a first trip abroad, you don't need to share that faith for me to want to help you plan something worthwhile.
If you're coordinating a group trip for the first time — mission-focused or otherwise — let's talk through the logistics, so you can focus on the people.