Long Haul Travel Isn’t For The Weak

A trip from Cape Town to the US takes anywhere from 28 to 35 hours, multiple flights, multiple airports, and multiple countries. Long haul travel requires everything to go like clockwork to get from one side of the world to the other.

In the last couple of long haul trips, things have. Even during Covid, the biggest inconveniences were sore ears and forehead from having to wear a mask and a face shield while on the plane.

This last trip to the US and back for my daughter’s wedding was a different kettle of fish.

• The flight out of Cape Town was delayed almost two hours due to ‘technical issues’.

• No free booze on the long haul from Cape Town to Zurich and a plane with ridiculously small seating space (thanks, Edelweiss Air!)

• Finding out the connecting flight to the US was cancelled upon landing in Zurich.

• Airport staff in Zurich trying to find my luggage so I can check it in for my new flight.

• Going through customs in Zurich twice, leaving the security area to check in my luggage and then back through to get to my plane.

• Realizing I lost my paid for window seat on the flight from Zurich to San Francisco.

• Finally getting to Phoenix and finding out I made the car rental reservation for the previous day (stupid time zones!)

My first thought when finding out the flight was cancelled was “Well, I guess I live here now!” Definitely a panic inducing event.

Fortunately I didn’t have to pay a second time for my overweight luggage (thank you United!) and there were plenty of cars at the rental place (thanks Hertz!). After leaving Thursday afternoon Cape Town time, I finally arrived at the Airbnb at midnight Friday Arizona time.

Back In The USA

I’ll be honest. It was weird being back in the US. You tend to forget how fast and busy and expensive life is in the states. It was a bit of a reverse culture shock. One positive, however, is that it didn’t take long to adjust to driving on the other side of the road from the left side of the car again. The only hiccup was consistently turning on the windshield wipers every time I wanted the turn signal.

Driving around my old stomping grounds, it was interesting to see how not much has changed. Yes, it’s a little bit more built up, but overall, Mesa is pretty much the same city it was back when I was in High School.

The day after the wedding we went out to breakfast before the happy couple headed off on their honeymoon. It was a bit of a shock to the system that it was a grand total of 40 minutes from the time we sat down until they brought the bill. After a few years of living where a meal is an event, it was shocking to the system.

Family Time

It is difficult being halfway around the world from family. I miss my kids and my parents all the time. Although we keep in touch through email and WhatsApp, there is nothing that replaces being in the same room, seeing your kids laugh, telling the same stories and jokes you’ve told a million times before, and being able to give them a hug. That’s probably the hardest part about living in a different country. Even though the trip was short, I am eternally grateful for every moment with them…and my dad’s amazing fish piccata.

My heart was filled being able to visit with people I haven’t seen in years, catching up on all that’s happened in our lives, telling stories, and laughing. I met Jonah’s family, and Jonah, for the first time the day before the wedding. They were gracious and openly welcomed me into their gang. (I still can’t believe I’m a father in law!).

My only regret is not taking more pictures. I had even brought my fancy camera with me and still didn’t take near as many photos as I should have. I’m glad I got the ones I did, but I do wish there were more. It was such a short visit and the hours just flew by just being present with each other that picking up the camera didn’t cross my mind.

There’s something about being in the same space, even if it’s for a short time, that strengthens the connection between people. Sometimes it’s easy to go for long periods without talking, being separated half a world away. Life gets busy, the days turn into weeks turn into months, and next thing you realize it’s been way too long since you’ve talked.

Since being back we all talk much more frequently. The time difference is still rough (9 hours) to plan phone or video calls when both sides are awake, but it is nice to wake up to WhatsApp messages from time to time.

And Just As Quick, The Trip Was Over

Soon it was time to head back to Cape Town. Aside from the turbulence that I thought was going to crash the plane over the Atlantic, the trip back was uneventful. It was nice to be back home in the Mother City, back to the amazing life we’ve built here.

With my visa renewal coming up soon, and the travel restrictions that come with the wait for approval, it will probably be another year or two before we can visit again. In the meantime, my daughters are talking about coming to South Africa to visit. Their trip is still in the ‘thinking about’ stage and we’re doing all we can to encourage them to visit soon. Having them under our roof will be amazing. We’re looking forward with great anticipation to showing them all that South Africa has to offer when they come over.

On the next visit back to the US, we’re already planning a ton of things to do and see… and not one of those is having our connecting flight cancelled! There’s still things on our bucket list we need to cross off.

To many of my Arizona friends, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to catch up. I promise we’ll return again, this time for a much longer trip.