My niece came out to intern at our office, so I’d convinced her to come to Gambia too. A week before the trip, my son said he wasn’t up for the trip. I swallowed hard, accepted it, and called the airline who let me reschedule his flight for June. Good thing I still had my niece for company. I packed for the trip and reminisced about my backpacking years . . . India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Guatemala, etc., my sister’s hand-me-down backpack, my Birkenstocks. I tried to remember my list of items to pack: malaria pills, small towel, money belt…
I flew to Gran Canarias and met my niece flying down from Barcelona. We met a friend who had brought the 5 boxes to Gran Canarias, and joined the line of passengers also with loads of boxes. In the plane, flying down to the Banjul airport, preparing my money belt, and feeling giddy. It’s been so long . . .