The African Expat

December is always that time of the year when a lot of nationalities working and living in Grand Cayman take some vacation time to be with their loved ones for Christmas and New Year’s day, and this year was no different. I normally take all my vacation time during December simply because I have to travel some 22,000 kilometres to be with family and friends and it is quite a mission in terms of getting the right flights and at a decent cost. A round trip to South Africa from Cayman Islands can cost anywhere between US$2,300 and US$4,300 depending on when you book and which airline you use. I have plenty of family in the United Kingdom so I tend to pass through London and then onto Johannesburg, South Africa. There is only one direct flight to London from Cayman Islands and that is the daily British Airways flight in the evening landing in London the following morning.

This year, my journey was a bit of a mission mainly due to the fact that many airlines in the northern hemisphere were behind schedule due to the severe weather that was being experienced in the UK and the US. Our BA flight was delayed in Grand Cayman by some 2 hours (could have been worse, given the weather situation in London that caused our plane to arrive late in Grand Cayman), and the thing about it is, that you never want to get delayed at Owen Roberts International airport as there is absolutely nothing to do in the airport lounge. We did, however, manage to board and take off with no further incidents and I was now on my way to a much needed vacation in my beloved Africa.

While I was waiting at airports for my next flight, and even on the long 11 hour flight from Cayman Islands to London, followed by another 11 hour flight from London to Johannesburg, I decide that I would revive my blog writing hobby. There is nothing like “me-time” to get one thinking and acting on what one believes to be important in one’s life and writing has become just that for me – important. I had stopped writing my blog sometime in mid-2009 due to work pressures and just general lack of inspiration but having now had time to read the positive comments from various people all over the world who had read and were continuing to read my articles, I was once inspired. I was also encouraged by my wife, who also believes that I have some kind of writing talent (obviously biased off course, but I will take the compliment). So 2010, will be the year that I will focus on this great little hobby of mine that gives me such pleasure.