The Voyage

After a month of vacation bliss, I left Hawaii and headed for San Francisco on Friday, January 22. There, I spent my last few days on US soil at my boyfriend’s house, tying up important loose ends with the bank, insurance company, and school. Fun stuff. My room in our beautiful Richmond apartment was no longer mine. Although I’m grateful we found such a wonderful subletter, it’s somewhat unsettling to feel foreign in your own home—to have to knock on a door you used to have the key to. Monday finally came, and it still hadn’t hit me how long I was going to be gone. At SFO, I met up with Kasey, my roommate and travel partner. Her family, especially her mom, was overcome with emotion as we said our goodbyes and moved through the security lines. Flight EK226, overnight to Dubai. 15 hours 40 minutes. Two Dramamines, wake me for dinner.

During the flight, we had a bout of epic turbulence. Kasey was mute with dignified terror… I wish I could say the same for the flight attendants. Two of them screamed at the first alarming surge, which considering their role on the aircraft, is nothing short of extremely inappropriate. We had thirteen hours to kill in Dubai, all of which I spent awake and desperate for sleepdom.

At 8:35 AM, after the grueling night I spent in fluorescent daylight, flight EK770 left Dubai for Cape Town. Two more Dramamine, slept through lunch. This flight was much more bearable, probably due to the exciting fact that it was the last leg of a 38 hour voyage.

I watched the monitor listlessly after we crossed the border into South Africa, ineffectively trying to physically feel being in a different corner of the world. Arrival was surreal, the two of us were like a CD single (hah, CDs!) on loop, singing the same song over and over again—Hey, we’re in Africa!


All for now...