Imagine roaming around our blue dot, in particular around some of its remote parts, and not having one flight cancelled over the last six months that you’ve been travelling for. Wouldn’t that be great? Or rather not exciting enough? My good friend Murphy decided that it would be the latter for me.

After several postponements and promises that I would definitely reach Tuvalu, Air Kiribati cancelled my long awaited flight to Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital. And it did so right after I checked in, triggering a sudden rise in my blood pressure and a few good swears that I ultimately kept for myself (promise). What I certainly didn’t keep for myself was the discontent for missing out on a place that I was impatiently longing to visit. So you can only imagine my disappointment and ensuing desire to try reaching Tuvalu through the only other possible way – Fiji – despite the flights being all booked out (and by the way, I found out that Air Kiribati operated the cancelled flight the day after I left the country….arghhhh). Once in Fiji, my inner struggle between spending my remaing days there (till my next flight out) or still trying to go to Tuvalu started. I decided to try my luck and managed to get myself on a plane to the tiny atoll up north. It wouldn’t come without a bit of a drama and it would be for only three days, but how happy I was to have made that call. They would be the most emotionally intense and rewarding three days in my entire six months trip.

And, as you have gotten used to my close relationship with Murphy, let me share that I arrived in Tuvalu accompanied by bed bugs bites from the same place where I got them the first time (and hopefully the last) – Fiji. On top and to add a little adventure, I didn’t bother booking any accommodation, despite knowing that the 50th Pacific Islands Forum would take place in the same week that I would be there. In the end, it all worked out well: I was lucky to find a room at a lodge and I got my attention shifted from the annoying bed bugs bites to discovering Funafuti and getting excited about the forum. For the curious, the forum’s focus was on climate change and the subsequent need for action (Tuvalu being the second island nation in the world at risk of disappearing under the water). Not sure whose idea it was, but having children welcome the forum’s leaders in a moat and submerged in water, was without a doubt an impactful way of sending a message regarding the devastating effects of climate change.

What better way of starting my exploratory mission than by cycling around the island, stopping from time to time to talk to the locals and the children playing on the streets or to listen to the Nanumea villagers rehearsing their traditional songs and dances for the forum’s opening night?! Little did I know that this quick stop would get me the entry pass at the forum’s big opening which would undoubtedly be the highlight of my trip to Tuvalu. Cycling the Funafuti atoll, you’re also guaranteed to bump into somebody that you know or met on one of your previous trips. It took only a few hours before I ran into a photographer that I met in Kiribati and with whom I would spend most of my (little) time in Tuvalu.

Little and precious, yet not short of touching experiences, the kind that get deep into heart and stay there for a while – this is how my time in Tuvalu was. A Sunday morning start by locking myself in the bathroom (and quietly, yet insistently calling for help), a visit to the church, a motorbike ride from one island tip to the other, a few photo sessions that made me realise how uncomfortable before the camera I actually am and several encounters with the island’s charming, polite and beautiful children – to name a few such experiences.

And how delighted I was to watch some of the children play or rehearse for the forum’s opening, when on my last day in Tuvalu, having been unlucky with a boat trip to the outer islands, I again chose to jump on the bike and cycle the whole island. Certainly not a bad choice, especially when a bike ride helps boost your muscles, provides for some good photo opportunities and allows you to stop for a swim in the lagoon, away from the forum’s hustle and bustle.

Speaking of which, I was impressed by how well the tiny island nation of Tuvalu seemed to have managed the organisation of this forum. Bringing in and taking care of an overwhelming delegation of Pacific leaders is no easy task. No easy task, but a good chance for me to get close to some high level officials from different Pacific islands. And when I say close, I mean up close. It was a Monday evening when I crashed the forum’s official opening, making my way through security with the help of a few smiles and friendly chats with the security guys. Making friends with a couple of Nanumea locals who would perform “fatele” (traditional Tuvaluan dances) at the opening and who invited me to join their group for the performance also guaranteed my entry pass, a traditional outfit and unknowingly secured me a front seat, in between some of the highest ranked delegates. Few minutes in, after a small talk:

Me: So, where are you from?
He (one of the delegates): PNG (Papua New Guinea), I’m the foreign minister. You?
Me: Uuuh, I’m from Romania
He (frowns his eyebrows, silently wondering what a Romanian was doing at a Pacific Islands forum)…
Me (in the absence of a smarter line): I’m… a tourist, came to take a few photos (and to myself: and I’ve just crashed your “party”)

A rather clumsy start of our conversation, but definitely one to remember and one that would turn into a very enjoyable and entertaining chat (also with other officials) throughout the evening.

That funny, blissful and uplifting Monday. I couldn’t have asked for a better way of spending my last evening in Tuvalu and of filling my basket with yet another set of incredible memories. Oh, Tuvalu, how you made my heart smile…and how I miss you!