A Thousand Kilometers

If there is one thing I have been doing a lot this period is traveling, last year I traveled around so well, not out of Nigeria though but to different States in Nigeria. Most times I have this urge to travel because I do not like staying in the same area for a long time, I grew up around a particular area and spent all my life there, my Elementary School, High School, and even Tertiary Education.

I started traveling out of my state when I was done with my Tertiary Education. The first time I traveled, It was fun and I loved every bit of it. I think it was because it was my first time, so the excitement covered the stress and everything I encountered that day.

When it comes to packing, I am sure I am terrible at this because I do not know how to pack, I always have a full box even when the journey isn’t going to last for a long time. There was a certain time I was going for a short travel and when I came out of my room with my bag, the first question my mom asked was “How long are you staying again?” I said “A week”, She gave me that look an African mother will give to you when you are out of your mind.. I knew it was because of how big my bag was, she had to help me repack…
When she was doing this, I was shocked I didn’t need 40% of what I was carrying in my bag😂

When I was posted for my NYSC that was when I realized I didn’t like long-distance journeys, the journey was so long and we were meant to spend less than 24 hours on the road, as I was leaving the South to the North. I honestly didn’t find it funny.

When the journey started there were a few times we made a stop to either get food or use the toilet. We even had a breakdown of the vehicle so we spent more than 24hrs on the road, I left Port Harcourt at 11am and got to Kano by 9pm, I just didn’t find it fun. I realized immediately after I got to the camp, that I became sick due to the long distance of travel. I saw many corp members enjoying the view from traveling, but not me. I think I was crying inside because I didn’t want to embarrass myself.

With this, I realized that I didn’t like the stress that comes with traveling. I got to feed my eyes with lots of things happening on the road but I said to myself that I wouldn’t want to embark on a long distance again instead I would prefer it short distance because I can’t cope with staying on transit for that long. It makes me feel sick and weak.

After my three weeks camping in the North, I was to return home but this time, I tried to make my journey short, I traveled by road from Kano to Abuja, and no matter how I wanted this short, I still spent a long time on the road. Kano is extremely big so leaving Kano to another state takes 3hrs most times. So most times I spend a long time traveling from Kano to Abuja but that can not be compared to the time I spent when traveling from Kano to Port Harcourt.

Anything to make my journey a bit shorter and more comfortable. So I traveled from Kano to Abuja then I used a flight to go back to Port Harcourt, this made the journey easier for me, and I did not encounter any sickness afterwards.

I was able to realize that I only enjoy traveling when the distance is short for instance, from Port Harcourt to a nearby State like Bayelsa State. I do not think I will ever want to travel a long distance where I spend almost 24 hours on the road.

_{All images used are mine except otherwise stated}

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Cheers 🥂