From East to West

It was a calm, hot summer afternoon and we were in the departure lounge. We, my family, includes my 5-year-old daughter, my wife and me and we had taken a flight from our city to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We were getting ready to continue our long journey now. We were a small group of people who approached passport control. Everything went smoothly and quietly. After a long flight, we landed in another country. Our journey continued as planned.

When we arrived at Kuwait Airport there were a few travelers. We sat on the chairs and only airport crews passed by. After an hour, a big group of people carrying big yellow plastic bags gradually joined us. Most probably, they all purchased gifts for their families from the airport’s duty-free shop located in the corner. Almost all of them were casually dressed, middle-aged workers waiting to depart for their country. They looked rather tired and bored. I thought they should have been eager to get back to their home country. We passed again through the gate and had another long flight to reach our final destination.

When we arrived at JFK it was very chaotic. There were a large number of people in the line waiting to check-in, so we had to move fast. The entire area was occupied by passengers who were behind the gates, and airport crews were guiding a crowd of newly-arrived passengers to the appropriate gate. It was a busy, noisy, hot summer afternoon and we had finally arrived!

I have been travelling almost my whole life in search of a new life, a voyage of self-discovery. My lifelong quest for new opportunities continued as we walked through the gates; from a calm, even and boring life to the challenging, uneven and exciting life I live now.