What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken?
The longest trip I have ever taken was to Kigali, Rwanda, when I was a master’s student at the University of California, Berkeley. In January 2024, I traveled to Rwanda as the UC Berkeley Mastercard Foundation Scholars Representative to represent scholars at a global meeting with Scholar Representatives from universities and organizations worldwide. It was more than a long journey; it was a chance to serve, learn, connect with other scholars, and finally visit a part of Africa I had always dreamed of seeing.
I flew out of San Francisco Airport, traveled across the entire USA (of course), then flew over the Atlantic (again, of course), and went through most of southern Europe before stopping in Doha, Qatar. After that, I had a 7- or 8-hour layover before heading down to Kigali. The return route was the same, except I stopped in Nairobi, Kenya, for a connecting flight to Doha, then took the exhausting journey across the Atlantic back to where I started. I think it felt even longer because school was in session; I had weekly seminar readings to cover and teaching assistant duties to handle, and I kept reading and replying to student emails even during the conference, in my hotel room.
During the flights back and forth, I slept for much of the journey, but whenever I woke up and looked out the window, I found myself completely absorbed by the clouds. They seemed to take on different shapes every time I looked—some swirling, some scattered like dots, others rising like distant hills. Then came the sunrise, slowly appearing as a tiny yellowish-red glow before expanding into a brilliant golden ball. At one point, I checked the flight map and realized we were flying over Africa. I remember thinking, Nwa gi—your child, Africa is back.
As we descended into Kigali, the clouds gave way to the city below. Roads, buildings, greenery, and hills gradually came into view. Rwanda is famously known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills,” and I quickly understood why. Hills seemed to stretch in every direction, covered in green and dotted with houses. During my stay, I was struck by how clean, orderly, and beautifully maintained Kigali was. The experience left me with a deeper appreciation for the diversity and beauty of Africa—and with memories of a journey that was about much more than the miles traveled.
Sometimes the longest trips are not simply about distance. They become markers of how far you have come. For me, Kigali was one of those journeys.
