This May Truly Be My Once-In-A-Lifetime Travel Experience

I’ve been very lucky when it comes to travel. Heck, I’m lucky to have a wonderful wife and two kids as well. But, since travel is my, ahem, hobby, I consider myself fortunate to have enjoyed some really special adventures.

I’ve been to Italy, Greece, Paris, Australia and so many more destinations that some people never get to visit. I’ve had a dozen or so trips to Disney World including one really painful one.

There have also been crazy aviation geek trips. Jaunting around the world with a bunch of similar-minded geeks on planes? Check. I even snagged my first deliver flight a couple of months ago. But, I think this one is in a category all its own.

The folks at MegaDo are teaming up with Norwegian Air to deliver 144 tons of humanitarian aid to a refugee camp in Djibouti. And, you can participate. No, not just donate.

You can be on the flight and help deliver the humanitarian aid to people in need.

Here are the details:

This year, Norwegian is celebrating its 10^thanniversary of partnering with UNICEF. The airline has one Boeing 737 in Europe with a UNICEF livery that has carried out three humanitarian aid flights in the last few years (to the Central African Republic, Jordan for the largest Syrian refugee camp, and earlier this year to Mali). Next month, Norwegian will take delivery of its first Dreamliner with a UNICEF livery. The airline will celebrate the event by carrying the next humanitarian aid flight on a Boeing 787 aircraft.

The destination is Djibouti, where UNICEF has several refugee camps, including one of the largest in the world for Yemeni refugees. It is also the closest safe point to transport aid to Yemen, with 144 tons of humanitarian aid cargo set to be shipped from Djibouti across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.

As with all previous UNICEF humanitarian flights, Norwegian’s Founder and CEO Bjørn Kjos will join the flight, help offload the life-saving cargo, and visit the refugee camp. Whilst the brand-new aircraft will come from Boeing’s Seattle factory, the journey will start in Copenhagen, where we will visit UNICEF’s supply division that holds the cargo we will load onto the aircraft and bring to Djibouti. Upon arrival, we will help offload the supply and bring it to the refugee camp.

All proceeds will be donated to Norwegian’s partner UNICEF.

Here’s the official schedule:

September 25th

• 09:00 – 11:00: Visit UNICEF’s Supply Division in Copenhagen.
• 09:00 – 12:00: Load 144 tons of emergency aid at CPH airport.
• 12:00 – 13:00: Celebrate the unveiling of Norwegian’s UNICEF Dreamliner and the aircraft’s inaugural flight.
• 13:00: Fly 144 tons of emergency aid from CPH to JIB.
• 21:00: Arrival JIB and offloading of cargo.

September 26th

• 08:00 – 12:00: Visit refugee camp outside of JIB (to be confirmed)
• 13:00: Fly to OSL.

There are ten seats up for auction starting this morning.  You’ve only got a bit more than a week to bid and win.

We all have things we find “cool” or “exciting”. I struggled a bit to figure out the right word for this experience. I came up with “rewarding”. It goes back to me feeling lucky to have the travel adventures I’ve been a part of.

To be able to participate in such an effort would be tremendously rewarding for me. It’s somewhat timely to be having a discussion like this as I see the pictures of the devastation in Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey.

My family and I have discussed ways we can help the folks there who have lost their homes and their belongings. To be able to be on the ground and part of a relief effort like the one Norwegian is coordinating would truly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I hope you’ll consider bidding on one of the spots on the relief flight. All of the proceeds go to UNICEF, an organization that Norwegian has meaningfully supported for quite some time.

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