Flying and sailing are among my biggest fears. So I’m yet to set foot on a plane or a boat. To be honest, neither do I have the means nor a reason to travel by air or water. People head to South Africa, Dubai or London among other places to study, visit family or conduct business. While I would like to pursue post-graduate studies from a far off university or become one of those powerful businesswomen who shop at designer boutiques in Europe, I still have a long way to go; yet I can’t really say I envy frequent travelers. I told a friend that while I’m intent on living the ‘American Dream,’ I would not hesitate to return home a moment I make enough money to start up something at here. It must be my love for stability and things I’m familiar with. I like going home to my tiny house and bed. I don’t mind taking the same route every day. My typical itinerary is home, work, home. On weekends, I’ll go to Church and maybe drop by a supermarket and that’s it. Once in a while, I will attend a wedding but only if I am invited. I have friends who will gate-crash any party. I also have friends who will travel out of town, even when they don’t have money and when you ask how they plan to make it back, they tell you that if they can make it to the party, they can surely find their way home. I don’t do that and often, I end up staying home alone even on long weekends. I do this because I’ve had some not-so-great past experiences and I learnt from them. I remember going with a friend to their company’s end-of-year party once and while the food was great, the rest of that Friday evening wasn’t as memorable. I don’t drink alcohol, but everybody around me couldn’t seem to get enough. By 10.00pm, I wanted to leave but the venue was way out of town and we had to wait for the gentleman who had dropped us off earlier. He was having a good time and there was nothing we could do to get him off the dance floor. It wasn’t until the DJ turned the music off at 1.00am that we were able to leave. There I was, heart in mouth riding with a drunk driver. I decided I would never put myself in such a position again. Back to travelling, I feel sad for the victims of flight MH370. That is the one thing that plagues my mind. I know I will have to get on a plane someday but every time I think about it, I worry that I may perish in a crash. I lose sleep over bus trips to Kampala or Nairobi. While fellow passengers sleep soundly, I remain wide awake, looking out for the next corner and the one after that. I can’t imagine what it would like on a ship or my first flight. I’ve heard about people who draft their Wills before taking those long trips and I think I would do the same. I don’t have much to give away but still... It doesn’t help that there are increasing accounts of pilots and air control personnel sleeping or drinking on the job. Weren’t there reports that Francesco Schettino, the flamboyant Captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia was distracted by a pretty young woman he was trying to impress? Therefore if some of us are skeptical, we have good reason. I know what people say, that if it’s your time to die, there’s nothing you can do to stop it. But then again, tell me how I’ll crash and burn or drown if I’m nowhere near a plane or ship! To be continued...
