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South Africa is a long way from home.

I mean, it is a physically long journey that stretches 22 hours over 3 continents. But it's also the kind of trip that makes you sit back and think, how did I end up here? I know I have been traveling quite a bit lately (so much that I am writing a blog about it) which may give the first-hand impression that I am somehow "worldly". The truth is I am just a girl from the (once-small) town of Whitby, Ontario. My family and friends have never been to Africa, and may never get there. And for this reason, I will seize every moment I have there.

But let's not forget the first bit I mentioned - Africa is a long way from home. It's a journey that requires (#1) loads of patience, (#2) zero vanity, and (#3) an ability to sleep sitting up. My journey started on Monday evening at YYZ where I met (for the first time) my new business colleague and  traveling companion, Melissa, who would be making this trip with me. After a round of Bloody Caesars in the lounge, we boarded our KLM flight for the first leg of our journey - a 7 hour flight to Amsterdam. However, we would not be taking off any time soon. There was a problem with the on-board telephone system that needed to be fixed before take-off. So we sat and exercised patience (#1) as we waited (and silently prayed) that the problem would be fixed do that we did not have to fly out the next day or miss our connection in Amsterdam. However, after four hours of waiting we were finally able to take-off. The cabin-crew informed us that with some extra fuel on-board, we may now be able to make up some time in the air and still make our flight to Cape Town. Yay! We landed in Amsterdam, ran off the plane and onto the next one, bracing for another 11 hours in-air. I will say that despite the extreme inconvenience, flying KLM was a great experience. The staff are lovely (polite, helpful, funny), the service is great (lots of drinks, snacks, somewhat tasty and free meals) and the planes were (mostly) comfortable.

We landed in Cape Town just before midnight on Tuesday. Unfortunately, our luggage did not arrive with us. This was made worse by the fact that we were due on set first thing in the morning. Time to exercise patience (#1) and zero vanity (#2). We were advised by KLM that we had some funds to spend towards clothing and our hotel concierge let us know that the shops would open at 8:30 am. Perfect. After a mad shopping spree at Woolworth's - which resembled a bad fashion challenge straight out of America's Next Top Model - we made it to the set looking somewhat respectable.

 I know I haven't said much about what kind of business I will be conducting in South Africa. And while I don't think this is the right forum for me to share details about my work, I will say that I am extremely grateful to have this amazing career experience. In a nutshell, I am visiting the set of a film that is shooting here and have brought a long a business partner who will interview the cast and crew to be used as part of our promotional efforts later this year. At  some point, I will share further details about the truly incredible two days I spent on set - watching car chases, crashes, explosions and meeting some really nice, interesting people who made us feel very welcome.

Needless to say, after two exhausting, long days on-set we were ready to relax a little. We had a delicious dinner in our hotel restaurant,1800 Degrees - Crispy Chicken for me, Beef Filet for Melissa. Afterwards we sat outside with a bottle of our new, favourite South African wine - Waterford - and ended up meeting a crazy bunch of characters including our lovely new German friends Suza and Mitch, Brendan from next door and a bunch of guys from the Hampshire Cricket team in the UK. After that, a long, good, deep sleep. Thank you Waterford.