Sometimes, your adventures take you further afield. You fly to a big city, then to a smaller city, and eventually on to an airstrip that could be anywhere. Stepping off the rickety commuter-jet stairs into the void, you're tempted to shout in expectation of an echo.
Hello... ello... lo... o.
But just because it's remote doesn't mean you're alone.
It's hard to explain to those who aren't similarly addicted why you would go to the ends of the earth for such a moment. Coming back from Comoros, a small, island country in the Indian Ocean, I took the Madagascar Milk Run. My flight to Comoros was direct, but getting back required a shuffle through what seemed to be every airport in Madagascar.
On one of the milk run stops, I was informed by a sign in the tiny airport that the #1 "core value" of the baggage handling company was "smiling." On-time baggage delivery was #3.
This, I thought, was a good representation of traveling in this part of the world. You might lose your bags, you might not get a boarding pass for a confirmed ticket, and it might take a while to get home--but eventually, nine people will be summoned to do the work of one in serving you, and they will all be smiling.