I Almost Didn’t Make It

After traveling through Taiwan and South Korea for two weeks, I was back in Tokyo for one more night to regroup with my music gear and get ready for a long journey to join the Resilient Lady Cruise ship that would be docking in Durban, South Africa on April 14th. So I took the red eye flight from Tokyo on April 13th so I could arrive in Durban a day before the ship arrived. I had a layover in Dubai, and I was there at 6:30am, and my next flight wasn’t until 10:15am so I thought “I have a lot of time.” So I spent some time getting a coffee, and exploring the Dubai airport. Around 9:30am, I decided to walk over to my gate, and right next to the gate was a Shack Shack, and my stomach growled a little bit. After an 11 hour flight, my body was confused on my eating schedule so I was hungry. I got a spicy chicken sandwich and a side of fries and patiently waited for my delicious meal. While I was waiting, just a stones throw away the flight to Durban (that I was supposed to be on) was starting to board, and around 10am, closed the gate. I savored every bite of this chicken sandwich, and slowly chewed each french fry into my memory banks of flavor. So when I arrived to my gate, sleepy and tired, they informed me that the gate had closed. I was so confused. Then I looked at my ticket: “9:30am boarding, 9:55am Gate Closed, 10:15am Flight”. I just looked at the 10:15am and thought I just needed to be there 10 minutes ahead. My tired brain wasn’t registering what I needed to do. Anyways, I tried not to freak out, but I needed to be in Durban before the next day before 7pm. I had to walk back to the main gate which was a miserable 20 minutes of uncertainty, and then wait in line at the reception desk for 45 minutes until I finally arrived at the counter. The lady at the desk was really helpful, and helped me book another ticket for the following day, which was at the same time in the morning: 10:15am. But this also meant I had about 20 more hours. So I found a spot to relax for a bit, I explored a lot of the international terminal at the Dubai Airport, and at midnight I booked a sleep pod that allowed me to sleep well for about 7 hours. When the morning came, I made sure I was at the gate right at 9:30am. Soon I was on the flight. But I wasn’t out of the woods just yet. The Resilient Lady would be docked in Durban from 9am to 7pm. My flight landed at 4:45pm. I still needed to get through immigration, gather my luggage, get through customs, and get a driver to take me about a 45 minute drive from the Durban airport to where the ship was docked. I found myself a little anxious, but everything worked out to plan, and I arrive to the ship right at 6:30pm. So I almost didn’t make it.