A Battlefield Tourist

The Long and Winding Road

Sep 6 at 6:06pm by David Tate

For those that have never had the experience of covering war, there’s little doubt there’s no clue what it takes to “get there”.

I live in Roanoke, Virginia, which makes the most economical starting point for travel to the Middle East, Washington DC, four hours away.  That means, with a newborn in tow, we had to leave by 2:00pm to make the 10:55 flight.  I have to say, everything went pretty well, even if it was hot as hell on the road in my Jeep with no AC.  That, of course, puts the focus on Davin’s well-being which led to a couple of stops on the way to get here out of the heat, changed, fed, etc…

We made it to Dulles by 6:00 and decided to go to the short term parking lot where I could have some final time with Davin, Heidi and mom-in-law… before I left them behind to check in.  Before doing that, I still had a dose of Typhoid inoculation to take, which wasn’t due for another day, but since it needed constant refrigeration, I took it with just 8 hours between the doses (versus 2 days).  I wouldn’t think about it until later…

First, I had to get checked in and wouldn’t you know it, my bag was WAAAYYY too heavy.  Apparently each traveller is allowed 60lbs in two bags.  I had 54lbs in one bag, which doesn’t cut it.  Everyone seemed patient with me… even getting me a STAPLES box to add as my “second” bag.  I also needed to add a second carry on to make the weight.  Really wasn’t a big deal, just took a lot of time and worry that I would not get to bring the things I needed.  In the end, it worked out and I got through, followed by a trip to the bar (which is tradition).  There I met Roggio after about an hour; recognized him right away.  We had a few “goodbye” beers then boarded up and headed toward Qatar.

The trip was a long 13 hours, the last two of which I started getting rather sick.  In fact, I had all the side effects my Typhoid pill bottle warned about and it wasn’t good.

In Qatar (they pronounce it, “cutter”) we had an hour wait, all of which I was quietly dying on the inside.  I can’t believe I didn’t chuck.  Thank God the outside time was limited because the 100+ heat (at night) would’ve certainly done me in.

The next flight, about an hour’s worth, brought us to Kuwait City where we planned to stop this leg of the trip.  Hot as hell here too… can’t wait for the daytime and the heat that comes with it.

We got rooms at the Raddison where I am able to type this entry.  It also gave me time to inventory my gear and much to my dismay, the power cord I need for the APPLE laptop I borrowed, was no where to be found.  I can only guess it’s at the computer store in Roanoke where I tried unsuccessfully to buy additional memory storage for the trip.  Great.. I get to lug around this laptop and I have no way to put it to use.

Fortunately I have some time to look for a replacement in the morning… may even hit the beach, who knows.  One thing I do know, for sure, is that this is the last good night of sleep I’m going to get for some time; tomorrow, at this time, I’m going to be knee-deep in Iraq.