So you guys know that feeling, the nostalgia, the sudden blues you have when your holiday comes to an end. It was my final day in Chatillon, a beautiful town on the outskirts of Paris.

I was preparing for my flight back to London and so I booked a cab online from my accommodation to Chatillon station in order to get the train to Charles De Gaulle airport.

Sad, and already annoyed that I was too late to pick a window seat, I hear the driver beeping his horn, alerting that he has arrived.

 

I donâ€t know if you do this, but at the end of every trip I ensure I leave with that final slay. Feeling cool with my white vest top, booty shorts and my white wedges and I almost forgot, I had a four-wheeler suitcase to top it off. Exactly, nobody could question that I had just returned from holiday, that was the aim of the game.

I digress, so as I sat in the taxi, I lounged in the chair desperately preparing my mind to get back into reality. The Taxi driver makes that small talk to get you comfortable and BAM. I look at the Taxi meter, why is the meter saying 20 Euros??? I had only just sat inside the taxi! We were stationary and had not gone anywhere yet!

Look, I had only 30 Euros left, I had not budgeted for this, I frantically asked “Why is it 20 Euros, we havenâ€t gone anywhere!!!!

After many hand gestures, raised eyebrows and lip reading to get past the language barrier he says, “Itâ€s because you requested I pick you up at your location!”

I am looking around thinking is this life? I replied “NO! I was not aware about the pre-charges, I would like to get out the car now!!!”

He gave me that death stare looked and said “no, you will pay”. And drove

Yes, you read right, he just drove, with me still in the car.

At that point I was like ei? You know when your life flashes before your eyes and youâ€re just thinking you havenâ€t even done half of the things you wanted to do in life…is this my exit? Like one of character unexpectedly axed from a sitecom.

He drove me down to Chatillon town centre and it suddenly hit me that this was low key kidnapping.

I screamed for help whilst we were approaching some traffic, a woman heard my frantic screams and so she came and asked if I was ok. I explained the situation and she immediately tried to speak to the cab driver through the window whilst we were moving in slow traffic.

As he got distracted by this woman who was pleading with him to let me go, I took this opportunity for my escape. I got out of the car, opened the boot to get my 4-wheeler and ran for my life.

Having realized this, the man drove fast to catch up with me. Now at this point I felt like Beyonce at the beginning of the dangerously in love video…where sheâ€s walking in booty shorts, such a bad ass. But in reality, I was in the middle of a road in between two car lanes in Chatillon running for my life!

Now, a black woman in booty shorts, wedges and a vest top running from a cab driver throws around all sorts of stereotypes in Paris.

 

That being – 

 

Prostitution.

A group of men began to chase me, I saw the bus I needed to take to get to the train station for Charles De Gaulle airport, a sudden sigh of relief and adrenaline rush hit me, I was thinking “yes…yes…I can actually escape this”…and so I pushed my way through to get on it.

But it was too late.

This driver caught up with me and had recruited a group of men who grabbed me and my suitcase and screamed “prostitute prostitute prostitute”…“you need to pay you need to pay”.

 

My phone smashed, suitcase broken. They were punching me and I was punching them.

The people in the town stopped and starred. I wasnâ€t embarrassed, I was disappointed. Nobody helped me. They believed the stereotype. Sniggering, disgusted and laughing.

After the commotion, I kicked the manâ€s face and threw him his 20 Euros and got onto the bus. I heard sniggers from middle class French women. Very disheartening because they were blinded by the stereotype and the assumption that I was indeed a prostitute, but they didnâ€t know the truth.

I gathered myself after the fight, caught my breath and looked around the bus, I saw the sniggers, the raised eyebrows and I stood tall and exclaimed, “Iâ€m not a prostitute”!!!

An Australian lady who understood English and French and a Black woman came and consoled me. They told me that thatâ€s how the town are towards some black women and I shouldnâ€t worry.

I then went to report it to the police station before my flight. It painted a bad picture of my trip.

My mum said for 20 Euros you suffered this ordeal, why didnâ€t you just give it to him. But itâ€s the principle, and people cannot get away with such disgusting behavior.

What would I do differently?

 

Nothing.

Stereotypes cause so much confusion and misunderstanding. This made me realise how dangerous the media is in creating stereotypes of different races. Itâ€s time to create our own narrative.

I want you to understand the power that we have in changing the narrative whilst we travel. Change requires a shake up in the status quo and indeed we will encounter many situations like this, but it is these situations that show that we are doing something right.

 

Go and be your unapologetic self in a space where many do not see you in.

 

We are all behind you,

 

Go.

 

Karen Safo

 

Founder of The Black Voyager

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Let me just describe my current situation: I’m on a plane flying with British Airways from Terminal 5 to Gran Canaria. For the last 20 minutes I’ve been trying not to throw up due to a very present coughing fit!

Everything about this trip up to this point has been a leisurely “I’ll get to it in a bit” kind of process. This trip wasn’t your typical last minute trip; I knew I was going, business came up and I had my letter of invitation in hand almost 3 weeks ago. The frequent flyer in me said “prices won’t go up too much, so, no rush, girl”… I looked at ticket prices and since they were circa £150, I was good! Even if they did go up by 1/3, I was still way under budget. When it came to my hotel, the same attitude was adopted. I booked this about 6 days ago… I planned on doing it earlier, again, monitoring prices, but “later” always prevailed. A brilliant fellow I know took me to the airport; his advice was “let me get you for 1:30pm, latest”. Only glancing at my ticket, I retorted with “I don’t need to be there that early, sitting on my jack jones (alone) at the departure gate, come get me for 2:30pm”. Last night, I revisited my flight information, only to realize I had the entirely wrong time in my head and if left to the “I got this!” attitude I’ve acquired with how frequently I travel, I would have missed my flight. Period. I humbly messaged him in the dead of night asking that we move in line with his initial recommendation.

 

Needless to say, the brilliant fellow arrives at my home EARLY(!) – I’m not ready. I rush. He is met by my family (it’s a Sunday and everyone minus Angel, my older sister, are at my parents†house) it’s a little awkward as according to my mother “I am long overdue for marriage”… so the spark in her eye lets me know she awaits a full extensive synopsis of who this guy is, his family background, credit score, church home and blood type when we next speak, but I digress… We are en route – he takes my bags for me to security, we have a bit of a chin wag, (conversation) and I leave. I then decide I have time to eat as my boarding pass says my gate opens at 4:45pm for a 5:05pm take off. I go and have a leisurely veggie meal at a restaurant called Giraffe, then proceed to the gate at about 4:40pm… I see the MAC counter and decide to take a gander; I’m all good because I have 5 minutes before boarding even starts. As I’ve seen the direction of the gates I just know I’m on time and, as I said, I’m a frequent flyer, I got this! I turn the corner from MAC and see that I need to take a MOTHER LOVING TRAIN to the C gate and I’m at the A gate! *Insert Mr. Krabs confused meme*

At this point my heart begins to race, but the “thug life” in me takes over and I force myself to calm down, I’m a frequent flyer!… I get to the C gate at 4:55 and reality sets in. How the EF can boarding start at 4:45pm for a 5:05pm take off?! I must have seen it wrong and misread that the gate actually CLOSES at 4:45pm… in a haze I push full force up the escalators apologizing as I bump and push past people. With my bags in hand I hobble through the departure gates, trying to get to gate C62. I run to the extreme end of the departure gates and I see it goes from C53 to C66… at this point I can taste my anguish and anxiety! I turn the corner only to see a girl I ran past going through gate C62 in the hazy distance, back at the OPPOSITE end of the gates I just blazed past! I see the flight attendants walking away and an illuminated sign “gate closed” shone all too brightly. I see the departure boards and my flight is no longer recorded… at this point, itâ€s over. Do I call brilliant fellow and make myself look a real unorganized numpty or do I look for a later flight and suffer the financial consequences of the ‘F.F. syndromeâ€. As these thoughts flash through my mind, the attendant turned around. At this point, I was a mustard seed distance away from thugless tears. As the apple in my throat grew bigger, itâ€s as if Sweet Baby Jesus himself shouted out “ay yo! YUSUFF, turn around fam!” because how and why he turned around with such force is beyond me! Yusuff grabs the phone and I hear him say “wait, she’s coming now!” (Yusuff may or may not be his name; my sight was blurred with sweat and disorientation at this point.) Sweet Baby Jesus flexes his infinite muscles again and I gain Wakanadan strength and fly down two more flights of stairs then run along THE LONGEST WALKWAY OF LIFE to the aircraft.

I apologize to all the attendants in sheer embarrassment, as I hobble past. I finally get on the plane, looking like I just had a shower, no towel. All eyes were on me. At this point, I am moving like a new born baby calf: my knees are about to give way, my hands are trembling, my mouth, throat and lips are Sahara Desert dry and passing out seems like the natural next step. ‘Thug Life†took over and I made it to my seat. However, ‘Thug Life†dissipated as soon as my rear cheeks and the seat met, and the coughing fit begun. I am now just shy of 1 hour into my flight and all the while I’ve been contemplating my entire life and calculating my errors to equal how the EF I got here.

 

Complacency is the death of efficiency, I tell ya!!! I remember my life pre-F.F. syndrome; I was punctual, prompt and perfect every step of the way. Now, I have suffered at the hands of a notoriously negative side effect of my condition, sitting at the very back of the plane, feeling every speed bump in the sky known to man. I’m sitting next to an older gentleman who possibly believes I have tuberculosis.

The moral of my experience is this: friends, don’t be like me. Don’t get weary in well doing! Stay humble! Fight the good fight of efficiency, no matter if flying is your most common mode of transport. Falling victim to this side effect isn’t worth it. My lungs can testify to this. Believe me. I’m currently patiently waiting for water, which will be what plantain is to rice and stew – #perfection. #Selah

Have you ever almost missed a flight due to ‘frequent flyer syndrome� Share your story with me in the comments below, or email me for banter at: info@destynee.com

 

The post Do you suffer from “Frequent Flyer Syndrome? – A Side Effect They Don’t Warn You About appeared first on blackvoyageurs.com.

If youâ€re looking for a relaxing holiday which wonâ€t break the bank, Malta is the place to be.

Dealing with the winter blues I was in search of an affordable holiday when I stumbled across Malta. To my pleasant surprise, the more I looked into this destination, the more excited I became about the trip. Malta, located in between Sicily and North Africa has umpteen options for relaxation, exploration and culture. And boy… was I glad I went.

Malta is known for underground temples, walled cities, beautiful old towns with cobbled streets, coastal walks, islands a short ferry ride away, as well as food reflecting its Italian and north African influences. Need I say more?

Now letâ€s get straight to the meat – here are the top 5 things to do in Malta

See 5000yrs old underground temples

Whether youâ€re a history buff or simply intrigued by mankindâ€s many creations, these should not be missed. To see the most popular of them all, head to the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni – an underground temple and burial chamber built 5000 years ago. Due to its archaeological significance, it is very popular so you must pre-book and reserve tickets well in advance which you can do so here: Heritage Malta

The Grand Harbour and the city of Valetta

Valetta, the capital of Malta is a pleasure to explore on foot. Its cobbled and narrow streets make every corner picture perfect with many restaurants along the way to satisfy your taste buds. One of the highlights of Valetta are the pastel coloured buildings. You can explore this part of town in a few hours and enjoy great views of the sea along the Grand Harbour.  Make sure to stop by the fort and take a brief tour of the Upper Baraka Gardens.

Mdina & Rabat

This ancient walled city will take you back in time as you get lost in streets that have kept their medieval charm. Behind the tall walls protecting the heart of this town you will find churches, palaces and restaurants, making it the perfect spot for exploration and reflection. You will also be graced with spectacular views of the town.

Sliema

The ideal place for some retail therapy whether it be fashion, supermarket stores or restaurants you are after. It is also lined with a promenade making it perfect for a leisurely stroll.

The island of Gozo

Your trip to Malta is not complete without stopping in Gozo which is worth you saving a full day for. You can get a ferry from Cirkewwa in Malta which will get you there in only 20 minutes.

Once you get there you will have multiple options whether it be to see the beach, countryside, museums or Azureâ€s Window. I opted for the latter and had a total sense of serenity walking around and relaxing by the natural rock formations. Whilst on the hop on and off tour you can also get great views of Ramlaâ€s Bay beach and also stop at Xlendiâ€s Bay with the tiniest beach ever but still worth wondering around the rocks and the sea.

Another popular day trip is the Comino Island and Blue grotto where you can stop by the blue lagoon and caves. The beautiful turquoise sea makes it look like heaven on earth. I sadly couldnâ€t go as it rained on the day Iâ€d reserved for it but should you have the time, it should probably be on your list.

Other hint & tips

Food: La Cucina Del Sole was my favourite by far as I went there 3 times. The walk there was scenic and they serve delicious oven baked pizzas, with fresh ingredients and affordable prices.

Accommodation:  I stayed at a really spacious self-catered apartment with lots of shops nearby called Rocca Netunno Suites

Transport: Public transport is extremely cheap at 2€ a trip so this was my main mode of transport. Alternative as there is a lot to see in Malta, if you do want to explore you can also get taxis or hire a car

Gozo trip: You can get a ferry to Gozo for 5€ from Cirkewwa and once there, opt for a hop on hop off day pass around the whole island of Gozo for 20€

  

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