It was the worst flight of his life. Then he met his future wife

It was set to be the worst flight of Anesu Masube’s life.

The day before, he’d received the devastating news that his mother had passed away. Anesu was living in Washington, DC. His family lived 7,000 miles away in Zimbabwe. In the depths of grief, he had to try to get home.

In a daze, Anesu booked a flight. It was two days before Christmas, 2017. There were barely any seats.

“Only Virgin Atlantic was available, with a connecting flight that was going from DC to London, and London to Johannesburg, then Johannesburg to Harare,” Anesu tells CNN Travel today.

“And because of the last-minute nature… I got a middle seat.”

This wasn’t just any middle seat.

“I don’t even know how to explain these seats, but I had never sat on a plane where I felt like, ‘Ah, I’m not gonna make it the seven h