You're going where????????

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That is all I heard from friends and relatives in the weeks leading up to my trip to South Africa.
I heard such things as "nice knowing you" and "you will be eaten by lions or killed in a race riot"
On the day I flew out, a fellow employee said "I will look for you on CNN"!
The date was October 28, 1994. I was going to South Africa and I was excited! This would be only my second trip off of the North American continent.
I had worked the night before until 2am, went home and got ready and went back to the airport at 5.
I flew Delta 974, a 757 from LAS to SLC, and was seated in 2B. The next leg was Delta 1424, a 767-300 to JFK. Once again, I was seated up front in 4C.
I was meeting three co-workers at JFK, who had flown in on red eye flights the previous day. This was back when most airlines traded passes for their company Christmas parties. This may still happen at some carriers but it has not at mine in years. We had two passes on South African Airways for two people each. We had to pay only the taxes, which came to a whopping $11!
My buddies had really done all of the planning and I was kind of along for the ride.
I arrived into JFK late in the afternoon and went straight to the SAA ticket counter. I was told by the agent to wait close by until my name was called. I was concerned that I did not see my friends yet. I was given my seat assignment and I went to the gate. I had thought about what I was going to do if they did not show up, especially since they had all the details of our hotels. I was relieved to see them at the gate and they were happy to see me as well. I had my seat changed to be next to them.
Soon we were in the air, on board the 747-400 heading to Johannesburg. I was in seat 55A. We were extremely impressed with the South African service. While dinner was being served, we passed through some rough air and a few people lost their meals and drinks on the floor. We settled in for some sleep on this ultra long flight. At the time it was the longest nonstop scheduled flight in the world. I can remember waking up the next day and realizing that we are still only halfway there!

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