14.5 hours on an airplane, but two weeks in fascinating Pakistan
I’m gearing up for one of the world’s most grueling flights to one of the world’s most interesting places.

First, the flight: a 14.5 hour doozy from Seattle to Doha, the middle leg of a three-flight sequence that will take me from Honolulu to Karachi, Pakistan. The other two flights, 6 hours (Honolulu to Seattle) and 2.5 hours (Doha to Karachi), aren’t bad, but it’s the 14.5 hour flight that’s keeping me up at night. I had the travel agent look into what an upgrade to business/first class would cost on this flight, and the result was amazing--$20,000, which is just a bit out of reach for me. (In the same way that posterizing dunk over LeBron James is also beyond my abilities). So, I’ve had to settle for an aisle seat, confirmed, the whole way. (I was originally schedule to connect at LAX, but rebooked because of the possibility of wildfire-created disruptions). 

The reward on the other end is a couple of weeks in Pakistan, teaching radio and podcasting writing and production to journalists in four cities—Karachi, Quetta, Sukkur, and Hyderabad. I’ll be working with the Global Neighborhood for Media Innovation (GNMI) and their local trainers as well.

During my visit, I’ll also be hosting a dinner with the Pakistan Union of Journalists, and discussing the East-West Center’s long running Cross Border Reporting project with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. We hope to renew our partnership on this outstanding project that trains Indian and Pakistani journalists then pairs them up to jointly report stories of mutual interest, like climate change. 

Stay tuned for updates beginning next week, provided I survive the flight.