By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
It was Monday morning; I was up before the sun had even touched the sky. The thought of this flight was daunting to say the least. Fourteen hours? Don’t get me wrong, I was excited. This was my first big trip. I didn’t know much about the trip, call it my lack of attention to detail or my willingness to let the universe decide but I was ready to have fun. But no matter what I felt, nothing prepared me for this trip. As a loaded up the car and looked at my two huge suitcases, I thought to myself, all my life I’d called this place home and my entire life fit in these two suit cases. The drive to the airport brought some unexpected thoughts. Everything was going to stay the same. The most life changing day of my life and everyone was going to move on with their day like nothing happened. Well I guess because noting did happen. The earth didn’t stop spinning the sun would still raise. Everything was seemingly the same, for everyone but me. After making it through the airport and checking my bags in, I stepped on the flight, I couldn’t help but look back. This was goodbye, I’d never see this place again or at least for the foreseeable future which definitely felt life forever. As the plane took off, I sat back in my seat and started to imagine my new life that waited ahead. After what felt a couple of hours I was awoken by a sudden jolt and the air hostess’s voice over the intercom telling us to fasten our seat belts. What on earth was going on? I looked at my phone and to my surprise it had been a solid 12 hours. Partly confused and partly amazed at how quickly the time flew by, I sat up in my seat and fastened my belt as instructed. Bang bang! Another jolt. WHAT WAS GOING ON! At this point everyone on the flight was awake and just as confused as I was and as if reading our minds, the pilot’s voice suddenly blasted over the intercom. He explained that we had hit some bad weather and might have to make an emergency landing. “Oh no”, I thought to myself, “This isn’t going to end well”. And just like that, ten minutes later, after a lot of pray and nail biting, we landed safely. We later found out that we’d have to spend the whole day on the island we landed until flight arrangements could be made. Slightly annoyed I made my way to the hotel room they booked for me as freshened up. I called my friend back home and told her what happened. After some venting and a little reassurance from her I decided to not let the day go to waste and go on a little adventure. I quickly got ready, grabbed the spending money they gave us and set off. I was determined to have a good day. The first thing that hit me when I stepped out of the hotel was the heat. I really didn’t think it would be this hot considering it was still pretty early in the day. As a walked the streets I was greeted by fruit vendors lining the streets selling everything from the most basic banana to the most exotic fruits I’d ever seen in my life. A little shy to ask what they were, I grabbed a nectarine, gave the friendly lady some money and proceeded on my adventure. After walking for a bit, I realised I had to see the beach. I somehow managed to hail a cab. “Where to?” he asked. “Take me to your prettiest beach” I responded. He smiled and nodded and off we went. An hour later, I was there. I walked through the bushes; I didn’t know what was on the other side. And as I pushed the few aside there it was. The bluest water and greenest trees I’d ever seen in my life. Every colour was ten times brighter than I had ever since before. Then I realised, this was exactly where I belonged.