It's been six years since I first left home to embark on a journey alone for the first time in my young life. I still remember the first time I had gotten on a bus all alone on a journey that lasted more than fourteen hours.


![photo-1473625247510-8ceb1760943f.jpeg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/prayzz/23zbPkWYQKuKeSk8XRsgqALczpNdHhNQJWJQ1JPwktYkhRe2vDU8EXZsDciS24HaYT5pD.jpeg)
<sub> [Photo by Mantas Hesthaven](https://unsplash.com/photos/man-holding-luggage-photo-_g1WdcKcV3w) </sub>



Before then, I had only traveled that long distance probably two or three times and it was always in the company of my family. And knowing that they were with me always made the journey feel like some sort of lazy vacation for me because all I did was sleep and eat throughout the whole thing.

But you see, that first time traveling alone was an entirely different experience and I remember the whole journey being a stressful one for me, even though I did nothing but sit at a spot all day. Unlike the previous journeys where I get to just sleep and eat and not worry about where I was because I knew I was with my parents and there was no way we would go the wrong way, this time I was the one in charge of making sure I was right on track and all of that was too much mental stress.

After being escorted to the park by my elder brother, he had bid me farewell just as my bus left the park. The moment we left the park, I had called my dad to tell him that we were on the move and just like any other African parent, he had said a quick prayer for me, asking God to grant me journey mercies. After that call, I had spent the next two hours on my phone seeing movies and listening to songs.

Then the annoying phone calls started.

As someone who was traveling on his own for the first time, the moment my bus left the state where I reside, I was lost and was fine with that because I knew that as long as I was on the bus, I would eventually get to my destination but for some reason that was never enough for my dad and siblings. After the first two hours of the journey, he and my brothers had called occasionally, asking me where I was and as someone who didn't know anywhere yet, I had told him just that, that I didn't know where I was.

But as usual, he wasn't satisfied with that answer and I remember him telling me to ask the people on the bus where we were, something I hate to do. He went on to do this for more than five times and by the time I got off from the bus, it was obvious to everyone that this was my first time traveling alone and it made me shy because I wanted everyone to think that this wasn't my first rodeo.

Anyways, it's been six years now and I've been on the road multiple times after that and luckily for me, my family no longer treat me like the novice I once was.