The Rookie Traveller

On Monday, I successfully planned and executed a solo trip without getting lost, missing my appointment or failing to catch any of the four perfectly timed trains and planes.

Amazing right?

I was so chuffed that I gave myself a very generous pat on the back.

Haha

Turned out the pat may have been a little bit too generous.

On Tuesday, ladies and gentlemen, ‘things fell apart’.

You see, I made a rookie mistake – I bought the cheapest ticket I found. At the time, I felt I was saving loads of money and gaining yards of wife material.

Twenty-four hours layover? No problem. I’d sleep on one of the super comfy sofas at the Airport.

However, I made one good decision. Actually I made three; I wore warm clothes, remembered to pack my favourite novel (Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett) and loads of mint.

The journey was okay at the beginning. The last time I passed through Schiphol, the airport was being renovated and I didn’t like it very much. Now, I loved it. That airport has almost everything; library, ‘green area’, hotels after security, massage chairs scattered around, vibrant colours and restaurants where you can sit in actual teacups!

There’s also the craziest thing- A ‘real-time’ giant clock where a man paints the time minute by minute by hand. It looked so real that I couldn’t help wondering whose brilliant idea it was to waste scarce (lol) human resource this way. It’s actually a video which you see here.

The perfumes at the duty free shop were cheap compared to the high street and the two other airports I passed through so I got a really good deal.

However, I was unable to charge my phone because I did not have a Europe complaint charger. Maybe I didn’t search hard enough. Also, I didn’t sleep through the night because I found the chairs to be quite hard.

The following morning, it all went downhill. Or uphill depending on whether you are a realist or optimist.

Turned out I could not fly with the ticket I bought (long story), so I had to get on another flight. This was after I spent a considerable amount of time explaining to the extremely handsome officers that I had made a genuine mistake with my booking. The most painful part was that I didn’t even have time to put on some lipstick and spray some perfume beforehand. But I popped some mint so that was good.

I finally got on another flight to Lagos instead of Abuja. This was not too bad because I had planned to go to Lagos anyway.

Got to Lagos after approximately 36hours or travel to find that one of my bags had been totally wrecked and the other was lost in transit. Like everything that could go wrong went wrong.

But thank God...

-          Found my bag the following morning; nothing was stolen from either bag.

-          Got to spend 10 days with my favourite people- family, friends and loads of babies

-          Made new friends yay!

-          The weather behaved throughout... I even got some Abuja thunderstorm lol

-          The food

So yeah I had an awesome holiday and I am grateful to God for life, journey mercies and everything in between.

Psalm 121:4,5 Indeed, He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord Himself watches over you (me)! The Lord stands beside you (me) as your (my) protective shade.

Doors

I never learnt to shut the door behind me. I remember Aunty Bimpe scolding me for leaving the door open. I must have been five or six years old at the time. The freshly made pot of Ogbono soup had been left on the cold kitchen floor, with the lid covering half off the pot. We had not had electricity in months; this was how we preserved our food. I left the back door ajar so the flies came in and rendered the soup inedible.

“When you do not close the doors, Sarah, the flies come in. The rats and cockroaches also...” Aunty Bimpe said.

I shuddered.

I am afraid of rats.

Two weeks later, I was home alone with Aunty Bimpe. I was asleep and Aunty Bimpe wanted to go to the market for some groceries. So she put me in her bed, locked the door, and went out.

She met me in tears, screaming and banging on the door when she returned.

When you left the first time, I didn’t shut the door behind you.

Things had changed forever.

You could no longer be mine.

I could no longer be yours.

But I left the door open.

You slipped in easily that Saturday night.

We talked about the past:

The suya spot where you kissed me for the very first time,

The park; where the words ‘I love you’ slipped out of your mouth for the first time. You looked as shocked as I was.

The church, during Jide and Toyin’s wedding. You looked at me and your eyes echoed my thoughts – ‘Soon’.

Then you left before midnight.

You always leave before midnight.

The preacher walked by my window at exactly 6am yesterday. Five years and he has never missed a day or been late for his early morning sermons.

“Do it for the pounded yam and egusi soup in your future; not the suya in your past.” He said.

I smiled.

The preacher always has the right word for me.

I shut the door last night.

The monsters crept out from the shadows reminding me of that unforgettable day so many years ago.

“You are alone. You will always be alone.” They taunted menacingly as they closed in.

I shut my eyes and tried to remind myself that the voices were only in my head.

Then I heard his voice.

“Do not be afraid, I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

The preacher, for the first time ever, was preaching at night.

Bible references: Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6,8