I'm a DC native. Here's why I keep coming back to South Africa

I grew up in Washington, DC. I went to Howard. I know what it means to come from a city that is proud, political and complicated all at once. Maybe that's why South Africa made sense to me from the start.

My story with South Africa starts with family. My American mother married a South African man who was living in exile, fighting apartheid from abroad. In 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison, and everything changed. That year, my parents, my brothers and I went home with him to South Africa. I was 12 years old.

What I saw first

I remember the raw beauty of the place first. Big skies, mountains, a light I had never seen in DC. The weather was immaculate. And the people were wonderful: warm, curious, and quick to make a 12-year-old American kid feel like he belonged.

What struck me early was how familiar it felt. The music, the church on Sunday, the way elders are greeted, the way a family gathering spills into the street. I had never been there before, and yet I knew the rhythm.

Why I keep coming back

Three things keep pulling me back.

• The history is close. In Johannesburg you can stand in the cell block at Constitution Hill, then walk next door to the court that replaced it. The struggle isn't a museum piece here. People who lived it will tell you about it over lunch.
• The future is being built in front of you. Sandton, Rosebank and Maboneng are full of Black-owned businesses, creatives and entrepreneurs. It is not the Africa most Americans picture.
• The welcome. South Africa is a melting pot, and it welcomes people of every origin. The food, the music and the culture felt naturally comfortable to me from day one, and they still do.

Why we built this trip

Over the years, friends kept asking me the same thing: "Can I come with you?" They wanted to see South Africa, but they didn't want a scripted tour, and they didn't want to guess about safety.

So Sydney Hall and I built the trip we would want for our own families. Two hosts who live there. A capped group. A Safety Ledger that says who is responsible at every step. Time to sit with the history, and time to enjoy the country.

If you've been waiting for the right way to go, this is it. Come see it with me.