On the move, at last
Step 1: Vancouver (Canada) - Berlin (Germany)
December 17-18, 2015
It all started with this random idea of traveling the world on my own. On a whim, I booked a one-way plane ticket to Europe. I did it online with some supposedly reputed company. You know the kind: They go from airline to airline to get the cheapest deals, and reserve themselves the right to change everything at the last minute. But, you think: “That won’t happen to me; it never did and never will.”
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Well… There’s a first time for everything!
A few weeks before my departure, as I was still trying to push the idea of my crazy adventure to the back of my head, I received a nice email from this booking company asking me to please approve the change they had processed. My itinerary, comprising three planes and time to swap between them, was modified to a two-plane journey with a nineteen hours layover, to enjoy one of the longest night of the year stuck in an airport somewhere random in the North.
I replied alright, telling them roughly that there was no way in hell I would fly this horrendous journey! Emails and phone calls followed and I was promised another, better, itinerary which they would confirm in the near future. You know… Sometimes soon.
So, I waited, and waited, and waited, and my supposed departure day was coming closer, but still no confirmation was given to me despite all my efforts and inquiries.
Stress, already holding my body hostage against my will, increases: Am I packing, am I not packing? Should I buy another flight? Should I even leave when I have so many reasons to stay in Vancouver? Is the universe telling me I should give up on this hazardous design?
And suddenly, three days before the actual departure date, miracle: Flight confirmed!
But of course this “better itinerary” was in fact worse… The plane is late, I miss my already too short connection, I am rebooked on a later flight in the midst of the insanely busy London airport, and whimper on a bench, hoping for sleep and friendship, one thought lingering in my head: My journey has now begun!
Intermission
Now that I am gone, I would awfully like to push it even further and journey all around the world without flying.
In Canada, I already winter-drove from Montreal to Calgary, taken by the great cold, mesmerized by the eternal skies reflected in the never-ending fields of snow. I also summer-rode from Toronto to Vancouver, extreme heat blowing on my face, enjoying the changing landscapes, everlasting lakes, rolling hills of wheat and hay, unfathomed mountains…
These road-trips were magical for for the very reason of their lengths and hardships; it felt like it would never end.
I hope to sail the Atlantic one day, and if the ship sails on this dream, I can always ferry or cargo across.
And all this brings me to this side of the planet, where I will try to travel from France all the way back to Canada, on my feet, at the mercy of the various systems of transportation, and hazards of visa obtention.
Great mess,
Here I come!
