Traveling is one of the activities I love to experience as often as I can; unfortunately, I haven't been exploring new places like I used to do in the past. Through traveling, discovering new places, meeting new people, and trying out new activities are almost inevitable and fun. No wonder the popular saying that traveling is a part of education. My last trip was in April 2023. That's like a year and 7 months ago since my last trip to a very far distance, my hometown, and I will tell you my experience of the place.
It was the traditional marriage of my younger sister, and I needed to travel from Lagos State, Nigeria, to the East for the marriage celebration. The journey is usually around 10 hours, but due to bad roads and traffic, you might be unlucky to spend more than 10 hours on the road. I once spent 16 hours during the festive season over a traffic jam on the road while traveling to the same destination, and so one of the things I dread about traveling is the amount of time spent on the road. It can be tiring and fun at the same time only if I meet lively people in the bus who will engage me in hot discussion till we arrive at our destination.
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This particular trip was very fun. It was as if the people in the bus I boarded were selected kinds of humans. I loved how everyone was sharing different traveling experiences within our country, and at a point, we could get to where these hawkers are selling different snacks, and some passengers in our bus would order things for everyone. More of strangers turning into relatives. It was exciting, but my experience with the traditional marriage, which was the sole purpose of my traveling, was more exciting.
I knew the trip was all about fun and merriment, and more reason why I traveled alone without any of my kids. My people were surprised that I came home alone, but it was quite intentional. I wanted to have uninterrupted fun at the ceremony, and I really did. It was an opportunity for me to revisit my culture in terms of marriage rites. The experience was quite refreshing. I got to have lots of stories to tell over the Igbo traditional ceremony.
There were many of my relatives whom I hadn't seen for many years ago, but they traveled down to grace the occasion. This brought about moments of reunion, sharing ideas, catching up, and more. I felt the event shouldn't just end, and that's how much I enjoyed this trip to my hometown.
The only downside of this trip was the Internet interruptions in my hometown. The network issue has existed for years; sadly, with the whole development currently in my hometown, we are yet to experience a great network. I was partially cut off from the Internet world those days I traveled. It was messy, and I really hope that this issue in my hometown is changed for the good of everyone.
I am looking forward to repeating this trip to the same destination, but this time in the festive season, and it's sure going to be an amazing experience. Hopefully I will capture every single moment as a travel blogger.
Image 1 was taken from canva, other images are mine.