Imagine finding out your maternal lineage homeland is Guinea Bissau, West Africa and then running across a video clip from that very place (which up until then you’d never knew existed) inviting you to come home. That’s what happened to me. Remember the video in my previous blog, Africa, that lit me up? That 3-minute clip is entitled, Decade of Return. I ran across that video on You Tube shortly after receiving my DNA results from African Ancestry. I felt as if that video was made just for me, it literally invited me back to my ancestral homeland!  I immediately sent an email to Daiana, the founder of RepatBissau and Coordinator of Decade of Return, which was founded by her partner Siphiwe. Those emails and eventually Zoom calls, between the three of us started in early May of 2022. Within a month, the dates were set for February 2023, and a beautiful 7-day customized solo itinerary was designed for me. Check out the itinerary below and notice what was going to take place on my 60th birthday! So, you can just imagine how excited I was. Right?

Following the finalization of my itinerary, I spent the next several months planning and preparing. Yes, I was going to spend 7 days in Guinea Bissau, but afterwards, I would travel to Egypt, and spent 14 days there. That story will follow as we continue this journey together. Both were life-changing experiences. My journey to the continent of Africa was calculated, intentional, and unbeknownst to me at the time, predestine.

Traveling is stressful, international travel multiplies that stress 10 times over. The day finally arrive for me to begin the first leg of my trip (Guinea Bissau) to Africa. That morning while my son was driving me to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, I realized I had left my ID on the table back at his house. We had to turn around and haul ass back down the freeway to retrieve it. Atlanta traffic is not one in which a person can easily speed. But my son thankfully, is a very skilled driver and he made it happen. I arrived at the airport in enough time to check in and relax at the gate before takeoff, even with that hiccup. My flight itinerary was Atlanta ———> New York

— ——>Lisbon, Portugal ———> Guinea Bissau, West Africa. There was a total of 26 travel hours.

The adventure really began once I reached LaGuardia International Airport. After arriving in New York, I needed to find Terminal 1. It’s where the airline Tap Air Portugal resides. That’s the airline I booked, to fly into Guinea Bissau. This sign below is the first sign I ran into after debarking from my ATL flight and attempting to find Terminal 1.

Oh, what fun! Thank goodness I wasn’t checking bags. But here’s the kicker. I didn’t pay enough attention to the airport codes they printed on my itinerary. I just assumed I would fly out of LaGuardia International Airport heading to Lisbon, right? Wrong! I was to fly out of NYC-New York Newark! I discovered that little tidbit when I finally made it to Terminal 1. A nice man explained to me that yes, the terminal in which we stood did have a Tap Portugal ticket counter. However, it didn’t open until 4pm that afternoon. The Tap Portugal ticket counter that I needed was in Newark. He explained that I needed to take a shuttle to Newark, but it only ran once a day, since the pandemic. He pointed to where I needed to call the shuttle, and if I missed it…a taxi. He left me with, “hopefully you don’t miss your flight.”

As it turned out, the shuttle would be arriving in an hour, but I would really be cutting it close as far as checking in, going through security, and catching my flight into Lisbon. The ride to Newark from LaGuardia is an hour with normal traffic. Of course, traffic wasn’t normal that day. There was an accident which slowed traffic down to a turtle’s pace. I shared the shuttle with 8 other very diverse passengers. The driver was pleasant and more than happy to explain historical facts, and trivia as we drove through Queens, the Bronx, and over the Statin Island Bridge into Newark. I arrived at Newark airport without a minute to spare. Again, I was thankful I wasn’t checking bags. I guess by now you’re wondering, what did I carry? I carried an Addias duffle bag and a backpack.  I zipped through check out, pleasantly asked for cuts in the security line and made it to my gate just in time.

That flight would last 12 hours. I departed Newark at 5:40pm and arrived in Lisbon at around 5:00am the next day.  I was in business class seating, and it was lovely. In my seat was a gift bag which included socks, toothbrush, lip balm and an eye mask). I also had a pillow, blanket, bottle of water and earphones. The seat laid back completely horizontally to form a comfortable bed. After a wonderful dinner and a few glasses of wine. I reclined my seat back then slept off and on, mostly off though, throughout the remainder of the night.