I belong to a writer’s group, and the theme for our next submission is conflict. This topic has deeply resonated with me. I found it challenging to recall a personal conflict until I reflected on a significant event from our past. While living in South Africa, we participated in protests and riots, but that was long ago. Of course, like any married couple, my husband, Tom, is the only person I’ve had troubling conflicts with. My journal described our most significant conflict, which occurred in Angola. In 2006, we planned a route to drive from Cape Town to London up the coast of West Africa. Angola, however, had just emerged 5 years earlier from a forty-year civil war. There were more landmines than people, bombed bridges, destroyed infrastructure, and a cholera epidemic was raging. After a dangerous and harrowing drive from the Namibian border to the capital, Luanda, where we stayed, we could not agree whether it was safe to continue or abort the trip. We argued like we’d never argued. Tom felt it was too risky.
We had to ask the landmine team, who found the landmines, to move so we could pass. I don’t know what we were thinking or even if we were thinking at all. Despite the odds, I managed to persuade Tom to continue our journey north. When we informed the Canadian Embassy of our plans, they dubbed us their ‘Worst Nightmare!’ And the drive north was indeed a nightmare. Looking back, it’s truly a miracle we survived. But from that conflict, we emerged not just unscathed but stronger, more empathetic, and more in tune with each other than ever before. Our journey was a testament to the power of resilience and the potential for personal growth in the face of adversity. Once we reached Kinshasa, the capital of the Republic of Congo (DRC), we decided it was too dangerous to continue. Six months later, we resumed our journey.After all our travels, we’ve settled down to our slow, safe Canadian life, and there have been no significant disagreements. We still bicker, but most disagreements are so silly and soon forgotten. Reflecting on our journey, I’ve realized the profound lessons we learned about ourselves and our relationship. I’m grateful not just for our survival but for the growth our relationship experienced. Our success was not defined by reaching Cairo but by our ability to work as a team in Angola. This experience taught us the true value of teamwork in a relationship, a lesson we carry daily and one that I believe is crucial for any successful partnership. We give many presentation but in addition to telling our adventures and travel stories, Tom and I can offer thoughts and reflections on what we learned about our relationship. How we learned to live a simple life in a complex world, and the world certainly seems complex now. In fact, we could not even drive from Cape Town to Cairo now because of brutal wars in Sudan and Ethiopia or West Africa because of wars and conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria. The weight of these conflicts is a stark reminder of the challenges our world faces. I feel the world is in a state of flux, with conflicts and challenges that make our journey seem both distant and yet so relevant.