Dubai - Homeward Bound
Jan 11 - Returning to the U.S.
Wow. Here I am (5 months later) reflecting on this amazing journey. When I was preparing to leave, I jokingly compared myself to Bilbo Baggins as I often declared “I’m going on an adventure!”. It felt appropriate, as I’d never really done much for traveling before this. And there I was, day-in and day-out in utter amazement by the things I’d gotten to see and experience.
I was beyond exhausted, because I had just recovered from the jet lag on Day 7 and had been up and around town well past 2am looking for a PCR Covid testing facility that would get our results in time for our flight. My feet were blistered from days of walking and pushing through on pure adrenaline. My brain was mush, between the whirlwind of experiences AND my astrobiology course I was taking over the Winter session. As much as my body ached, I didn’t want to leave…yet, I did at the same time. Wanting two more weeks to explore Dubai, while also longing for my family, my friends and my pillow. It was bittersweet to awaken at 4:30a.m. (you read that correctly, I only had 2 hours of sleep) to leave this beautiful adventure and begin the 16-hour voyage home.
While the flight did not include another sighting of the aurora borealis, it did still take us over the North Pole, making me something of a veteran to the experience now ;) . Also the sun rise/set/rise experience was pretty incredible. If just the nightmare child in the seat in front of me didn’t stay awake screaming for the first 5-7 hours, it could have been a pretty nice flight! Regardless, I like to make the best of things, including a video I captured showing our flight route from Dubai to Los Angeles. I’ve put together one last video of my trip before I close this chapter, including that flight video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey and for your patience while I survived the Spring semester so that I could finally finish the blog posts. I hope to have more adventures to share with you all, soon.