Hello, everyone from the Hive Niaja community, Welcome to a new week and another exciting moment where I get to share what my travel habit is like.
whenever I'm to go for a trip, I have the habit of meticulously planning for that strip. I learnt that habit from my Dad. Left to me, I'll pack the night to my journey and believe me this method never goes well for me. I end up forgetting a lot of things I'll need. My dad had to sit me down one day when I arrived late from a journey I embarked on and explained the need to plan weeks before time. That was the day I developed a new travel habit. Some of the travel habits I developed were based on the experiences I had.
How I get to plan my journey
Transportation system: The Transportation system is the very first thing I look out for whenever I am embarking on a journey. I travel mostly by road, and I have had bad travelling experiences with different transport companies because I failed to do my research concerning those companies. One I will never forget was a popular transport company here in Nigeria; their price was quite low compared to others. The price of the transport company I normally use was 8,000 naira. A new one I heard of was 10,000 naira. And this particular transport company was 4,500 naira. I was wondering why the rest were that expensive but since I saw one that was less expensive, I went for it. The estimated time for my journey was 8 hours. If the vehicle is slow, 9 hrs 30 min max.
I got to the park early that day and we started our journey about 2 hours after my arrival. I was not feeling comfortable with everything happening already. But I told myself that in no time we would arrive. 3hrs into the journey, our vehicle broke down that was about 11 am. The driver told us it was a minor incident and in no time, the vehicle would be fixed. It was 6:00 pm already and we were still at that spot. Everyone was already angry and tired but nothing could be done about it. You either board a new vehicle or wait for this one to be fixed. How am I so sure of this?
The driver called the manager and told him the situation at hand when everyone was fed up with what was happening and the manager told the driver to manage the vehicle till we arrived at our destination. The driver explained to the manager that the situation could not be managed. He requested a replacement vehicle but the company denied him. I called the manager myself and he told me nothing could be done about our situation. If only he sounded nice, I wouldn't have felt so bad. That man was so rude. Image asking a driver to manage a knocked engine; how less they value the lives of their customers. To cut the long story short, the car was fixed past 7:00 pm and we hit the road again. The driver was driving very slowly by this time. I don't know why but it felt as if a bicycle was way faster than that speed.
We had to spend the night on the road that day and as early as 5:00 am, we continued our journey and around 7 am, the vehicle broke down again. That was when the company agreed to send a replacement vehicle to come pick us up. And sadly, we will wait for that vehicle to come from where we left to where we are. I took a different vehicle and went to my destination. Thank God I had extra cash on me. I ended up spending way more than expected.
I swore that day that never use that transport company again in life.
Money: If I don't have additional money, I will never travel. I learned from the aforementioned incident to constantly plan for the unexpected, especially when travelling. On that particular day, some passengers couldn't afford to take a different transportation. They were forced to wait for the replacement car to show up. What they had to go through that day was beyond my comprehension.
Food: I fast whenever I am about to embark on a journey. I have had terrible experiences with drivers when it comes to going to ease myself whenever we are in transit. Most drivers find it difficult to stop on the way, no matter how pressed you are. So I better not eat than eat and act drama with drivers.
Packing: I always make sure I pack everything I will need for that journey. When packing, I create scenarios in my head and prepare for them. For instance, if I'm going to a hot city, I would carry a light dress and a thick cardigan in case it gets cooled. I get to also carry stay-at-home outfits and dresses for occasions in case any comes up, I shouldn't be taken unaware. I always make sure to carry a heel, a flat shoe and a canvas whenever I am travelling.
Books: I get bored easily when embarking on a long-distance journey so I always get new books to keep me company. My dad taught me never to engage in conversations with passengers. He narrated a story of how a man got kidnapped on arrival because the people he was conversing with about his business and wealth were kidnappers. So it's better to keep quiet when travelling than to engage in conversations with people you know nothing about. Since that day, I barely make calls when travelling. I don't talk all I do is laugh at funny incidents and stories from passengers. All I do is read and sleep till I arrive at my destination.
When It comes to travelling, I love long-distance journeys cause you get to meet different calibres of people. I think most of the funny stories I've heard and experiences I've seen are from passengers. I remembered an experience I had with Fulani couples. Those couples were amazing. This one is a story for another day