On an ordinary day when travelling by air, my anxiety never gets the better of me.
Were it a trip to an African country, I would have pat myself on the back and said, "That's the 6th African country you are travelling to Nancy".
This has always been the norm.
I have travelled yearly from 2016; to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania et al.
On each of the trips, I awalys had the 'I am okay' vibe.
But it was different this time around. I'm travelling for the first time to the United States of America, which I believe, is every girl's dream.
Who doesn’t want to travel abroad?
As a journalist, working in the newsroom makes you see people, meet them and finally, connect with them.
Some of these meetings forge connections with people who can take you places.
President William Ruto is in the US and as expected, his entourage includes a select few journalists.
I have come to learn that not everyone can go; it's only those with proven track record of hard work that make the cut for such high profile trips.
And it so happened that two weeks prior to the US visit, a call was made to our Editorial WhatsApp group about the trip.
Our Head of Content was urgently looking for a senior journalist with a valid US visa to accompany the president.
No one, including me, had the visa.
"I only have a passport but I'm willing to get the US visa if it's urgent," one of the writers said as I went around the newsroom inquiring.
As the D day drew closer, I continued asking around but most of my colleagues had passports but no ready US visa.
I went back to my routine duties of breaking news, creating content and ensuring we don't miss any story.
This was May 7, not a very ordinary day in my life.
I had lost a cousin and we were to visit the family at around 4pm that evening within Westlands area.
My elder sister came and picked me up at the office and we hailed an Uber to the venue from the office lobby.
As we anxiously waited for the Uber driver to arrive, our head of content passed by and I said hello.
"Hello Nancy. I'm sending you to the States. We need to apply for a Visa asap. Let's go so that you start the process," he said.
"What?" I exclaimed as he beckoned me to hurry.
At that time, my mind was on the Uber but then it hit me that he was talking about the US.
I asked him to let me say bye to my sister who was equally confused.
After a short discussion, we agreed that I would start the visa application process the next day.
We then left for the visit to my deceased cousin's home.
May 8 was the deadline for submission of the US visa application.
I went online and spent the entire day applying before I was called at the Embassy for an interview, which I must mention was tedious.
"What's taking you to the US? Who is sponsoring? Are you married? How many children?"
These are just some of the questions I had to answer during the visa eligibility interview.
If you are given a yellow sheet, it means they need more documentation material; if you are handed a blue sheet, it means your visa application has been approved.
I finished and I left for the office.
Come May 14, I was yet to receive any communication from the Embassy.
"Have they rejected it? What If I made a mistake and answered wrongly? Have they changed their minds?"
Many questions rattled my mind.
I didn't want to be disappointed.
As my first time to the US, everyone in the village had already been informed so anything less wasn't welcome at this point.
I decided to ask the head of content if all was well.
My travel was on May 17, but no signs of a visa.
I was in a dilemma; I couldn't pack yet and anxiety and panic was threatening to kick in.
Suddenly, I got an email notification that I should pick up my US visa from DHL in Westlands.
You should have seen my face; It almost turned pink.
On my travel day, as I got into the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, it became evident that I wasn't flying to an African country.
There were more checks than I'm accustomed to.
After the first screening at the entrance, there is another one inside before you check in your 23kg luggage.
"Madam, please, there is another screening for this particular airline. Please queue this way. Unlock your bag please," a steward instructed.
I was ushered into a long queue. At this point, you are requested to open your luggage to allow for thorough screening.
My suitcase was so full so the moment it was openned, closing it became a nightmare. I needed someone to sit on it for me to be able to zip it.
Usually, for many African airlines, no more checks are done after the initial one at the entrance.
"Passport control, Kwaheri Kenya," read a sign at the international check-in section.
We were screened yet again after this point. Everyone had to remove their shoes, belt, laptop and watch.
Just before boarding the British Airways flight, we were subjected to another screening.
We had to open our carry-on luggages for them to be thoroughly checked.
We boarded a huge plane in groups from 1 t0 9 as indicated on boarding passes.
The first phase of travel was a 10-hour flight to London, Heathrow for a stopover to our destination in the United States of America.
At Heathrow, we went through terminal 3 to our American airline that was leaving at exactly 8.10 am on Saturday, May 18.
It was 7 am in London but 9 am back home.
Our flight from Heathrow to Chicago took seven hours.
"Dear travellers, we are glad you are on board our captain says the flight will take approximately seven hours for it to reach Chicago O'Hare International airport. Please be seated and relax as you enjoy the comfort of American Airline," an air hostess' voice rung across the 350 passenger capacity plane's aile.
A rough calculation indicated that we would be in Chicago at around 3 pm.
Our connecting flight from Chicago to Atlanta was to take off at 13:10hrs that same day.
At around 15:20hrs, the captain of the American Airline made an announcement.
"Good morning, we hope you are enjoying your flight to Chicago. It's now 9:30hrs and we are at an altitude of 32273. We have now begun our decent, we will be landing shortly into the United States," the captain said.
"We are planning to touch down in 20 minutes. The temperature is 21 degrees. I want to thank you for flying with us and can't wait to fly with you in the future," he added.
In my mind, I wondered how it was morning again.
"It was morning at Heathrow, another morning in Chicago?" I thought to myself.
"Madam some pizza for your morning? Beef or vegetarian? Would you like some drinks? We have juices, coffee, tea, wine and water," an air hostess asked.
"What do you prefer?" this woke me up from my slumber.
Was I just experiencing Jet lag? We were being fed every two hours.
The air hostesses would wake you up whenever it was time to eat.
Since we left Heathrow Airport, we had eaten more than four times; main meal, ice cream, pizza, tea and snacks.
With the president's arrival, my official work as a journalist now starts.
President Ruto is expected to visit Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday before heading to Washington DC.
