Travelling is one activity that I enjoy doing regardless of my mood. Aside from the potential of helping you escape the stress that is probably due to you being Nigerian, aesthetics is the next reason to travel! There is beauty in nature. I know it sounds cliche. Although it requires considerable planning, trust me, it is a great way to gain control of your life again.

In those years when travelling in Nigeria did not require seven-day dry fastings and a visit to your ancestral shrine for journey mercies, I visited many states in Nigeria—every state in the country's South-South and South-Eastern regions, to start with—but one state stood out: Abuja, the country's capital. I had seen beauty and order before, but Abuja was a discovery. I usually do not travel alone; every trip I made before 2019 was generally with my father, who will drive no matter how long it is; the longest I can recall is Akwa-Ibom to Abuja by land. Either that or my father makes the travel plans. I am my father's child; you will always find me touring behind him in the boarding space, trying to fix the travel itineraries. This helped me travel independently later on.

I could tell you the story of how I travelled in the company of three ladies or how I toured the states in Nigeria, but first, let me tell you about my first turbulent experience. 

In September 2019, it became a normal thing to travel by air, and I overcame the pressure, the fear, and the sneak-in thought of whether or not the plane would crash, so nothing was new to me anymore. Anyway, this time again, we were to travel back to Akwa Ibom State—where I live—from Abuja. 

This blessed Sunday morning, my parents' typical African style made us leave the hotel by seven, even though our flight was scheduled for eleven. We got to the airport a couple of minutes past nine and got checked in. Since we left the hotel early and missed breakfast, my parents insisted we had to take something. Usually, I don’t eat before I travel, but this time, I was persuaded by my parents to have something. After eating, we sat back down and waited for our flight to be announced.

The boarding call for our flight was finally announced. That takeoff was probably the second-best moment of that journey, next to the landing. It was also when everything started to go wrong. The exhilarating experience still got the best of me, and I was happy to see us gradually reach for the sky and watch all the buildings disappear through the window. By the way, I maintain that the window seat is the best seat. This is a “hill-da-t” I am willing to die on!

A few minutes later, the captain's muffled voice came on the radio and said, “ mmphmnnnn Cabin crew, fssfshsh return to your fafafaf Seats”. Then the instructions to fasten the seat belt came on, we would not have needed that anyway, because I was alive and well, when the air hostess had to fight to keep the trolley and its plenty content from hitting the passenger in the seat just close to mine. 

 I made the mistake you should never make as a window seat traveller: looking out the window in turbulence. The movement of the plane wings almost made me heave out the breakfast I had that morning. It moved more than the national broom in Abuja. All my hard guy went through the window. I got scared and shut my eyes for a few minutes. I am unsure if I reached out first or she reached out first, but I know that my mom and I grabbed each other's hands so hard that the force could successfully blend Afang! I looked at her, but she had her eyes staring straight forward into space, and I knew we were in sync. My dad, on the other end of the three-seater row arrangement, looked relaxed and calm, as though he had been through this before. Maybe he had, but that didn’t bother me because, right at that moment, my life was on the line. 

Through the next five minutes, the flight was full of people asking for forgiveness, confessing sins, promising their parents to stay in school, and partners promising to be faithful. Thinking about it now is quite funny. The fine lady in the row next to us prayed in such fluent Akwa Ibom native dialect, it was as though her dear Lord and Saviour could not understand English at that moment. 

In her defence, It seemed like it was our last minute on Earth. I couldn't scream as I was in shock, and then the thought I had when I first boarded a flight came to mind: “Are we going to crash?”. There were so many mixed emotions in the plane that one could conclude that we were going to crash. I guarantee that what you see in the movies is true to some point, but it’s more emotional than it seems, and I wouldn’t wish for anyone to experience it.

Our captain was able to manoeuvre through the storm and get us to fly above the clouds into the crystal-clear blue sky. It was a dazzlingly beautiful sky to see after such a terrifying experience. Anyway, the cabin crew returned and handed out our snacks, but no one was able to eat them until we landed. The plane became silent, and everyone was focused on catching their breaths. I've never had any reason to fear or get nightmares about travelling by plane, but after this happened, I couldn’t sleep well for a couple of days. 

Terrifying and worth having PTSD? Yes, certainly, but was it thrilling? Yes, it was thrilling as well, because after the storm came the thrills.

While it was PTSD for me, I am sure for some, confession must have been made. I imagine the husband of that woman who confessed to cheating be like, “So honey, when did it start?”