Traveling Alone

c/o goddessofadventure.com.

Sometimes the worst things about living under occupation aren't the big things.  The checkpoints, demonstrations, war airplanes, lack of water are all so frequent that you get used to them.  It's unfortunate.  Sometimes you don't realize the effect these are having on your inner, personal life until something out of the ordinary makes you aware once again.

Last weekend, I traveled with my husband to Sweden.  Well, I met him there.  He, being from Bethlehem, has a West Bank ID. This ID prohibits him from entering Jerusalem or the rest of Israel, and thus he cannot travel through the airport in Tel Aviv.  Instead, he must cross the border from the West Bank into Jordan and take a flight from Amman. I, as an American citizen, am able to travel through the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

So last Tuesday, he headed to Amman.  On Wednesday he flew out to Sweden and on Thursday he arrived.  I, on the other hand, flew out of Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening and arrived to meet my husband on Thursday in Sweden.

Leaving, I left Monday morning and arrived Monday evening. As I write this, he is just landed in Amman and will not arrive home until tomorrow.

The facts of life that most of us take for granted like dropping your loved ones off at the airport, picking them up at the airport, and traveling together on a family vacation are things that Palestinians and those who choose to love them only dream of.  The logical idea of traveling separately is something that I can get used to.  The loneliness and feeling of separation from your loved ones, just because you do not have the same rights to travel in the same way; this I will never get used to.