The Blind Passenger

As I arrive at the harbor, it’s quiet. I park the campervan where Mehdi said I should, and as I step out, I’m quickly surrounded by a group of young men. I’m at the border crossing out of Tunisia.

They are friendly, smiling, and speak a mix of English, German, French, and Arabic. We chatted for a bit, and one of them pointed out the ticket office – as if I didn’t already know. I let two of them tag along as I went to get my paperwork sorted. Passport stamped, campervan checked out, driving permit returned – all the usual hoops to get through.

Hours ticked by, and I started to wonder why the place was so empty. Turns out the ferry was running late – really late. Instead of a good night’s sleep, I was looking at a midnight departure. What can you do? I settled in to get some work done on my laptop.

As the sun set, things started to get interesting. Groups of young guys started appearing out of nowhere. Some were selling stuff – stickers, trinkets, snacks. But others? They had a different goal in mind.

It took me a while to catch, but then it hit me – these guys were trying to sneak onto the ferry. I felt the van rocking as they tried to climb on top. I hated to do it, but I had to yell at them to back off. I get why they’re doing it, but I can’t be part of that, you know?

The whole scene was chaos – worse than anything I’d seen crossing borders in Ukraine or Moldova. When we finally got the green light to move into the secure area, it was like someone had kicked a hornet’s nest. These guys were scrambling to hitch a ride on any vehicle they could.

I started inching forward, feeling my van jerk as someone tried to climb aboard. Thank god for the cameras in the back of the car, right? The police would make their rounds every half hour or so, but these guys were like ghosts – there one minute, gone the next.

Photo: A mother and her young child have just been lifted out of the truck filled with plastic bottles, and a man is approaching with another ladder so they can check if there are more. People are crawling over the vehicles, peering into the tanks of the trucks. All I can think is that if they find anyone inside, they are likely already dead.

I’ve got to tell you, being in the middle of all this really shook me up. You hear about this stuff, but seeing it up close? It hits different. Made me think hard about how lucky I am just because of where I was born.

After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the last checkpoint. The cops were searching everything, but I managed to talk my way into a quick once-over instead of a full van emptying. The officer was actually pretty cool – even wanted to be Facebook friends!

Finally on board the ferry, I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast. Here we were, a bunch of people with the means to travel, while just outside, others were risking everything for a shot at a better life.

Look, Tunisia’s an amazing place to explore in a campervan. But that border crossing? It’s something else. Be ready for some intense security checks and a reality check about the world we live in. It’s not an easy thing to see, but it’s something you won’t forget and actually also pretty important kwowledge, I think.