Currently I am sitting Pearson Airport. I arrived my obligatory 3.5 hours early to ensure I got through security without any issues and have time to saddle up to the bar for a pre-flight drink.
I think this will be the longest journey of my life. In my previous travels to Africa or SE Asia, I flew from London so I avoided the long trek getting from Toronto to…well…anywhere that isn’t stateside…or Mexico. The airport is such a spectacular place: Everyone is starting a journey or in the middle of a journey or even ending a journey. Families, friends, couples, solos, all waiting…waiting to go…go somewhere. There are people laughing, crying, sleeping, snoring…Regardless, the swarms of people make for fantastic people watching, judging… I am fabricating rich back stories for everyone who passes.
This is my first professional travel writing experience and I’m very excited. Excited is of course a euphemism for terrified. Not the experience itself- No, I relish in a new adventure but I think it is the expectation of capturing the essence of Africa in words. That notion sounds ambiguous in itself, I know, but I want to capture this once-in-a-lifetime safari not as a travel guide but a reflection on Kenya and hopefully, an invitation for readers to travel there as well. (I’m a writer- these are my issues!)
Africa holds the history of humanity, the stories of our ancestors staged across a stretching landscape of sky and plains, animals existing without the voice of David Attenborough or a Disney signature. (Saying that, I did tell my nephew that I was going to see the Lion King and yes, I would say Hi to Pumba)
I may have also gotten a bit comfortable in my house with my husband and puppy- That’s what happens when you find every piece you were ever missing in another person. My adventures now involve training a puppy, trying to have a baby and figuring out if we can grow tomatoes this year or is the soil just too darn dry?
But as I have titled my blog, The Adventures of Natty P, I suppose I asked for this. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I love to travel. I itch to get on a plane and explore something new- This is my jam! I relish in new opportunities and opportunities to expand my horizon! I guess now I have a responsibility (the R word!) to my audience (and my editor) to relay these expeditions with wit and fluency. As you may have noticed, I have a tendency to ramble…
Anyway, I’ll land the plane, as they say. I’m off to Kenya folks and I’m excited…for real excited.
Stay tuned….