I dreamed today during a midday nap that we hadn’t started our trip through Bangladesh yet. In the dream, we were at the Richmond Hotel & Suites in Dhaka, the first hotel we went to after arriving at the airport 13 days ago. Everyone in the group was filled with excitement for the next two weeks. Yet we also felt uncertain about what was to come.    

I woke up from my nap in the Richmond Hotel & Suites, but instead of having the whole trip to experience, I realized through my sleepy haze that this was the last day. We had come full circle back to the hotel where we started in Dhaka, with the window ledge where we watched all of the traffic race past that first morning and made our first excursions out into the streets. 

My head has been a whirlwind of thoughts all stemming from lack of sleep during our overnight sleeper train trip from Khulna to Dhaka last night, the Tropical Cyclone Remal that made landfall as we outran it and my reflection on this journey as a whole.

The main thought that keeps running through my head is about a family I spent time with in the Sundarbans in a village called Dhangmari. They are shrimp farmers, and explained how when storms and flooding hit their island, their shrimp farm is wiped out. When I was with them a few days ago they said they didn’t know how they could financially handle that happening again, even one more time. At the time, they didn’t think the storm brewing would get that bad. But it has.  The cyclone has reached level ten, which means it has arrived, there is immediate danger. This is all I could think about during our windy train ride back into Dhaka. 

Making it out of the storm’s path and to a safe location was a breath of relief for the group but it was heartbreaking to think of the people and villages who just welcomed us with open arms and the storm’s effect on them. I don’t carry the idea of sharing their stories lightly, and I feel so grateful to the people who opened up to us and trusted us with their stories. 

This trip has been eye opening in every way possible. During our farewell dinner tonight, before the majority of the airport departures took place, we all took turns telling about our favorite memories. They ranged from the beautiful views, the experiences in villages in the Sundarbans, swimming in the rivers, and finding moments where we realized we were doing the journalism we had always hoped to do. 

Sitting in the same hotel room we started this adventure in tonight, I feel an overwhelming amount of gratitude and love for Bangladesh and this whole experience. This whole trip has circled back to the starting point of our adventure and I wish I could keep experiencing it all over again.