It felt appropriate , if depressing , that I would be the one . With more sadness than hope , I was prepared for the journey , which would take many days . We had to live out of sight of them of course , or risk extinction . We had gradually moved farther from the caves . It would take 5 - 7 days and nights of walking to reach them .

Question: Why does the speaker view the upcoming journey with more sadness than hope ?
Answer: They will have to leave their home for good and the situation as a whole is pretty grim and uncertainThey will be unable to use their credit card while out of the country and they dislike having to use cashNone of the above choices .They are going to have to part ways with their significant other for some time and find this prospect distressing