Landing at Maputo International Airport for the first time, the temperature was so high and my body was sweating. I thought of removing the pullover that I put on while at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. As I was trying to do so, I realized that I had another thing to overcome, the Portuguese language. Therefore, I had to endure the heat waves and started figuring out the Portuguese puzzle. After picking my bags before clearing, I was given a paper to fill in some information as required by the immigration authorities but then everything was in Portuguese. At this moment, the sweating was not because of the weather but the language. The Portuguese basics I had learnt earlier vanished from my head. I knew someone was waiting for me outside but I did not exactly know who had come to pick me up and those welcoming others were not allowed to enter the clearing room. As I wondered why I was not given a document in English, I felt beaten. I had to ask for someone working at the airport to help me translate. Even though her English was not standard but she managed to help me. The mistake I made though was not asking for her name or contact.
I understand we all may not have the same experience and hence the reasons for travelling. Some travel for business purposes, others for health reasons or study, and others for meetings or religious purposes, and the most spoken one about especially at the close of the year; travel for leisure or tourism and holidays. All these reasons are important provided one can afford and get a positive outcome from their journey. One unanimous author said, “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” This is very important to note because oftentimes we travel intending to better our situations at hand.
Read – Falling Wind – An Article by Justin Nagundi, Uganda
My travelling experiences have yielded positive results and have helped me to change the way I look at life. I have learnt and understood several things from people and from the different cultures I have encountered. Travelling makes one civilized and open-minded to understand others and things easily without being judgmental. Now that the world has become a global village and people can easily interact, move, and communicate, travelling has become so easy with many means of transport always available.
Experiences vary from one person to another, place to place and situation to situation. Some have found their soul mates through travelling, while others have been conned. This implies that there are always two sides to the coin when it comes to travelling but we always hope for the positive side. However, whenever we travel, we should not forget about our origins. We need to manage our space and improve where we hail from to attract others there. Often human beings are known to always look for a better place to settle just as nomads and pastoralists do. This has prevented most of them from contributing to the improvement of their countries of origin thus rendering them unattractive.
When travelling was restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many people got stuck in places they never expected or wanted to be. Initially, things were not easy, as the situation itself was new and uncomfortable, but with time people got used to it. Life started taking a different shape and many people realized that they could manage their situation in their space without having to travel. Many people realized that life is not always about travelling. These unprecedented circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic opened the mind of so many people that even after the travel bans were lifted, some people chose not to travel anymore. They probably realized that good life could be found anywhere; we just have to make it happen.
Back in the day, I always longed to travel from place to place and to visit people. This was always at the back of my mind, especially during holidays but then the grown-ups at home did not allow us the kids; they always referred us to the future. Now as a member of one of the international organizations, I have travelled to several places, even those I did not think of back then. Perhaps this could be the future the grown-ups pointed to. As of my experience, travelling is very interesting despite the challenges it may bring.
Read – Dreams of Tomorrow – An Article by Alliance Ankiambom, Cameroon
As you think of travelling, as you plan for your next destination, what comes to mind? Whether you aim to get to your final destination or to achieve your travelling goals, remember to enjoy the process as you travel. Always be open to accommodating new ideas and try to avoid referring to your place of origin and practices as best compared to others.
I understand, home is always the best and that is where we all belong to, but remember home is not a physical place, even on a journey you can be and feel at home. This is very important to note. Learn to embrace new ideas without jeopardizing your own beliefs; keep the purpose. I have tasted food that is considered inedible at home and interacted with people who cannot be easily welcomed in my localities on some of my journeys. This is life and that is how it turned out. I share these experiences with my friends and they find it hard to believe; it sounds strange to them but these are some of the life situations we must expect and understand should they arise. Life is considered a journey and so from conception to death, we spend our entire life travelling from one destination to the other. I wish you all the best in your travelling endeavours. Enjoy the process.
This article was published in the April 2022 edition of the WSA magazine.
Please click here to download the Magazine.
The WSA Magazine is published by a team of professionals and downloadable for free. If you would like to support our work, please buy us coffee – https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wsamagazine
