#at this point i'd be landing from the first plane and having a layover. and convincing myself it was just the dry airplane air.

[youremyonlyhope]

There is a nonzero chance that I have COVID.

Yayyyyyyyy.

Let's hope it's just a cold...

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

W1ld in Austria

Okay! I'm finally sitting down and recapping my adventure (yes, over four weeks after the fact). I'll touch on my traveling adventures (and misadventures) as well as my days at the track, and I'll offer some travel tips should anyone ever want to try a trip like this themselves!

Tuesday, June 24

It was honestly just a journey to get there. We flew out in the evening. My dad can be a very frugal (so can I, to be fair), so our flights out were booked cheap. Our outgoing journey would take us from the US to Iceland (~6 hrs), then a ~1.5 hr layover, then fly Iceland to Ireland (~2 hrs), then a ~20 hour layover, then fly to Frankfurt (~2 hrs). Then we'd take a train to Munich, then rent a car to drive to our AirBnB in Moosburg (which is about 1.5 hours away from Red Bull Ring). And my dad booked pretty cheap airlines (an Icelandic line called Play for our US-Iceland and Iceland-Ireland flights, and then a cheap Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt). So suffice it to say, for a first-time international traveler who already tends to have a sensitive stomach while traveling, I was in for a ride.

Luckily, most of my queasiness was nothing some light snacks and Dramamine couldn't fix. Seriously, I had no idea Dramamine would knock me out so easily.

I don't remember which day it technically was when we landed in Iceland (we were only there long enough to grab a meal before getting on the next plane), but it was definitely Wednesday when we made it to Ireland.

Wednesday, June 25

We are now in Dublin, Ireland! And I absolutely LOVE it here. My dad and I booked a guided tour of the city, and it was worth every penny. We began and ended a few blocks from Temple Bar, and we explored all sorts of things, from a castle to churches to parks and even hidden side streets lined with bars. Our guide was a guy who grew up in Dublin, super nice, hilarious sense of humor, and filled with all sorts of stories and anecdotes about the places we went. He even sang us a rendition of "Molly Malone" at one point. 10/10 would do this tour again. I already want to go back to Ireland.

If I wasn't feeling so off-kilter from all the flying we'd already done I'd have gotten something more adventurous for lunch, but alas, I decided on a salad at the little restaurant we ate at since I wasn't sure if my stomach would be able to take something heavy. My dad tried fish and chips, he gave it a thumbs up.

The pigeons have literally no fear of people in this city. One walked right under a bench we were sitting on and seemed totally unfazed.

I got a book of Irish folklore from a bookstore called The Winding Stair. I devoured it like a starving person would devour a buffet. I love myths and folklore, and I'd never gotten to read Irish stories before. Definitely a good buy!

We slept in the terminal. Not a great night's sleep, but it was better than nothing, and that and some hearty snacks kept me going.

We departed around six in the morning on Thursday, bound for Frankfurt.

Thursday, June 26

We are FINALLY done flying for a bit. As surprisingly fun as it was to fly, I think my body was hitting its limit for air travel. Our next stop was the train, specifically the ICE (Intercity Express, I think it stands for).

This is also when we learned that, the trains? Rather unreliable, honestly. We were going from Frankfurt to Munich, and guess which stop ended up getting cancelled? Yup. Good thing my dad and I both woke up from our naps in time to realize that, before the train went off to who-knows-where. And apparently this isn't unusual. There was also a time when we just randomly stopped on the track for like ten minutes. Apparently delays aren't uncommon, either.

Also, no one ever checked our train tickets. My dad said he wasn't convinced that even half the people on the train even had tickets.

FINALLY, we have made it to Frankfurt. After getting a little lost searching for the car rental place, we finally got to our car . . . then spent half an hour trying to figure out how to use it. My dad had asked for a Mini Cooper, we got a hybrid Peugeot instead (a brand I'd never even heard of before). Back home, my dad drives a '92 Ford F-150. This was by far the fanciest car he'd ever driven, so suffice it to say there was definitely a learning curve. It took fifteen minutes for us to figure out how to even start the thing (press the brake and push the start button at the same time). We figured it out, though, and were eventually on our way.

The weather is freaking wild in Europe. We'd be on one side of the mountain, and it would be a little cloudy and drizzly. Go through a tunnel to the other side, and it feels like Zeus is trying to take us out. Didn't help that we were both tired and ready to just sleep already. But don't worry, we made it to our destination in one piece. About two hours later than we expected to be there, but we made it.

Our hosts were super nice. I think they were a mother and son. We actually ended up talking to them for almost two hours, I think. They offered us beers, but I declined because I can count on one hand the number of drinks I've had in my life, and I know Austrian beer is strong, so I knew it wouldn't take much to affect me. I had a glass of water, which the hostess insisted on refilling as soon as she saw I'd finished it. (again, they were super nice) My dad, against his better judgment, downed two beers. He sure felt it later, let's just say that.

The male host also fist-bumped me when I said I was a McLaren fan. :) Shame we didn't see him again after the first night, I think he was only there to help his mom set up for new guests.

Once we went up to our apartment, we both crashed. I didn't even bother brushing my teeth, I just fell onto the bed and conked out cold.

Friday, June 27 - Practice 1 and 2

We didn't bother trying to get to the track early today, we both needed to catch up on some sleep and recover from our travel, and besides, we knew today would probably be the least busy of the three days. I think we left around 10 AM, maybe 11. I wore my lilac LN4 core t-shirt. My LN4 Grandstand cap came with me every day.

I've gotta say, the Austrians handle parking for big sporting events very well. My dad and I were both impressed at how smoothly and quickly everything was run. I guarantee that if this had been an American venue, we'd have been waiting at least 1.5 times longer. We ended up parking in a field and then walked through a little village on the way to the track. It was pretty consistently uphill, which was less than fun, but at least that meant it would be all downhill when we left later.

The queue at the security checkpoint was LONG. It might've been a hundred people deep at its longest point. But once again, things were moving slowly but steadily. We were stuck in the sun for a while, but at least we were pretty consistently moving.

Now remember, our seats are in general admission. This is a big grassy area that starts just past turn 3 and, as far as I can tell, extends all the way down that straight. There were a couple of big TV screens scattered around so we could see other parts of the track as well. Even though it was only Friday, it definitely wasn't a small crowd there. We were able to find good seats, though my dad said that if we wanted any shot at decent spots come Sunday, we were gonna have to get here significantly earlier.

We only caught the tail end of FP1, but we got to watch the Red Bull Drift Show, F2 and F3 sprint quali, and all of FP2. I didn't realize how many more cars there are on track at one time in F2 and F3 - these races are gonna be interesting, that's for sure.

We left after FP2, but my dad and I took a detour into the F1 store for a few minutes to let the worst of the crowd pass us. I ended up buying an F1 t-shirt (it's got the F1 logo in multiple colorful versions all over the back) and a McLaren #4 shirt (this shirt is NICE, it even has little holes on the back and underarms to help your skin breathe while wearing it). By then the crowd had thinned significantly, so we officially headed out. Though, we did miss our turn for the parking lot and wandered in the wrong direction for a while before realizing our mistake. That probably added about half an hour to our walk.

Getting out was pretty easy. Once we got back to our place, my dad made pasta with meat sauce and a side of broccoli. We also both realized that we'd gotten a bit of sunburn today. There's very minimal to no shade in general admission, unless you sit strategically next to a tent or a tall shrub. I saw more than a few shirtless guys who were scorched red, and I have no idea how they planned to survive two more days at the track. My dad said he'd pick up some sunscreen in the morning when he went to top off on gas.

Time to sleep. Crossing my fingers for Lando tomorrow!

Saturday, June 28 - Practice 3 and Qualifying

My shirt for today was the "We Did It" Miami t-shirt.

We left a bit after 9:30 AM today, and got to the track in time for FP3. Getting there earlier actually did help a bit with the crowds, the security queue was noticeably shorter today. I know it'll probably be crazy busy tomorrow since it's the actual race, though, so I know we'll have to get here even earlier.

Lando was crushing it in FP2 yesterday and he's crushing it in FP3 today, I have high hopes for the rest of the weekend but I'm so afraid to open my mouth and say something in case I accidentally jinx everything.

The F2 Sprint was . . . more chaotic than I was expecting. I guess that happens when you've got more drivers on the track at once, and less experienced drivers at that. Looks like turn 3 seems to be a prime spot for incidents and collisions, too . . . Sunday is going to be VERY interesting.

LANDO GOT POLE LET'S GOOOO

I'm not convinced Max won't end up taking himself out tomorrow by trying to aggressively make up places, we'll see what happens I guess.

Once again, we ducked into a store to let the crowd disperse a bit. I bought a McLaren #4 hat, once again from the F1 store. I think it was actually cheaper there than at the official McLaren stand we walked past.

We got McDonald's for dinner on the way home, since we ended up leaving a bit later than we expected and we were famished. All we'd packed were snacks and small sandwiches, and the sun was a LOT worse today (we remembered sunscreen, but the heat was still brutal). We needed fuel. I got a chicken sandwich, and good gravy why was the piece of chicken twice as big as the bun? I mean I'm not complaining but holy cow . . . or holy chicken, I guess. ;)

Sunday, June 29 - Race day

RACE DAY! This means I am going FULL Lando fan with my outfit. I had my Grandstand cap, my Grandstand T-shirt, my custom Lando shoes, and my Lando flag from @dokidokistart. You could've spotted me from a mile away. We left at around 7 AM, so about two and a half hours earlier than the day before.

Once again, the Austrians really proved that they know how to handle crowds. It took us maybe half an hour to get parked, and we were moving the whole time. I guarantee it would've taken at least an hour if this was an American event. And things were always orderly. I don't know how they did it.

The security queue was MASSIVE, but by golly, they kept it moving. You could tell it was race day, the crowds were SIGNIFICANTLY bigger today. Even though we'd gotten here earlier than any other day, it was already more packed than any other day.

It was freaking HOT today. The cloud cover was so minimal that the crowd actually cheered whenever a cloud covered the sun for even a few seconds. I used my Lando flag to shield myself from the sun. I think it was just trapping the heat against my body so I don't know if it actually kept me any cooler, but at least I wasn't getting burned to a crisp.

We got lucky and found a decent spot in general admission, just past turn 3. It was a particularly steep section of the hill (more than one person accidentally slid into my dad over the course of the day) and the grass was long, but that also meant that no one would take our seats if we left and no one wanted to sit directly in front of us, so we had a decent view of the track and a great view of the jumbo TV. Actually, my mom recorded the race back home and was able to spot me in the crowd after the fact! If you're watching the race and there's a shot that looks at the T3 grandstand, look for the first white tent next to it. Pause while the tent is still in frame. Look directly in front of that tent and, if you zoom in, you should see a little yellow blob. That's me! :D

We got to see the F2 race, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race, and the Red Bull Air Show. At one point during the air show, they actually played the main theme from "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" and I don't know how I didn't die of laughter then and there. It was just so unexpected.

A truck knocked over one of the signs hanging over the track and they spent a LONG time trying to clean it up. If you were wondering what delayed things, it was that LOL.

I got a short video of Lando and Oscar when they drove by during the driver's parade! It's kind of shaky but it's something. I also (attempted to) hold my flag at the same time, I don't think Lando saw me but by golly was I going to show my support! I had to use my dad's phone though, because in my excitement this morning I forgot my phone back at the AirBnB. 😅

It's GO TIME! Formation lap is starting, and - oh wait, never mind. Come on Carlos, get moving! I believe in you!

. . . um. That escalated quickly. A bit too much fire for my liking, personally.

Okay, formation lap, take two! Here we go . . .

Oh thank GOD Lando held onto the lead.

KIMI??? MAX???

I mean I thought there was a good chance Max would get knocked out but I didn't think it would be Kimi running into him that did it.

Oscar I swear if you - LANDO DEFEND YOURSELF - ok ok we're clear - oh man this is gonna be a long race.

Well Williams is just having shit luck this weekend then . . .

MCLAREN WTF WAS THAT PIT STOP?????

Oscar and Lando are playing cat and mouse and it is disagreeing with my blood pressure.

Ferrari is just kind of there I guess.

Omg omg is Lando gonna win? Am I gonna witness a live Lando win???

HECK YEAH LANDO WON LET'S GOOOOO 🥳🎉😍

I held up my flag proudly and cheered when Lando drove by on the cooldown lap. I was PROUD in that moment. I also recorded the podium celebration on one of those TVs.

We took our sweet time leaving, we stopped by a water refill station to let some people disperse. A lot of people actually left after Max got knocked out and before the race ended, I guess they figured they knew what would happen and didn't care enough to stay. It was still a pretty sizeable crowd, though. We killed more time when I stopped to change my shoes. I love my Lando shoes, but they're only comfortable for so long. And it turns out that maybe the high heat and lots of dust wasn't great for them - they have more than a few scuffs in the paint. I'll clean them up when I get back home, and then I will ONLY use them for very special events.

We briefly considered trying to swing by the Fan Zone, but we decided that we were both tired, and we wanted to get home. Plus, there really wasn't a direct way to get there from general admission. If I ever do something like this again, I'll definitely check out the Fan Zone. But even though I didn't get there this time, I still had an absolute blast and have no regrets.

We went home, dined on pasta and chicken, and I went to bed so very happy. :)

Monday, June 30

This was our day to have fun on our own schedule. There were a bunch of brochures for things to do in the apartment, my dad had pulled a bunch out. The one I picked up was one he actually hadn't even noticed - a castle with a falconry exhibition. It was called the Burg Landskron and was about half an hour away by car. I picked that as our activity for the day.

We got to drive past the Wörthersee (a very beautiful lake) and got to the castle. The little road up to the castle was steep af, but we were kind of used to walking up hills at this point. The castle was really cool, and we got there in time for the 1 PM falconry show.

The show was AMAZING. We got to see a whole bunch of birds in action. We got to see a Steller's Sea Eagle dive for food, a Peregrine falcon catch a bird lure, a Harris hawk catch a rabbit lure, a whole bunch of kites catch food out of the air (I now have a new favorite bird, the Red Kite), and a Golden Eagle catch a fox lure. It was really cool to see how all of the birds had different hunting strategies. Afterwards, they let people hold a Eurasian kestrel for 2 euros, and I got to hold a birb! My dad and I both got pictures and videos of the whole thing.

From the gift shop, my dad got a postcard with an aerial view of the castle, while I got a postcard with a Red Kite on it and a pair of barn owl feathers. We also got to walk around the whole falconry exhibit and see all of the birds they had there.

We considered going for a hike on a trail around the castle but then lost our AirBnB key . . . only to find it sitting in the backseat of the car after retracing our steps and searching for twenty minutes. We took that as a sign to just head home and pick a place for dinner.

We ended up getting dinner in a town called Tigringer, at a restaurant called Tigringerhof. The food was mouth-wateringly AMAZING. I don't remember what my dad got, something with steak, but I got a schnitzel, wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cheese and tomatoes, and served with rice and cream sauce. It was as delicious as it sounds.

We went to bed happy and content that night. :)

Tuesday, July 1

Our journey home begins. We head out around 9 AM for Munich. My dad stopped at a store to pick up a few snacks for the road, and also some wooden cutlery for my mom. She's big into reusable and eco-friendly stuff, and he knew she'd get a kick out of it. I also got some chocolate, a brand called Milka that kind of looks like Austria's version of Hershey. I got regular milk chocolate and a milk chocolate with strawberry filling. They were very yummy!

We appreciated the scenery along the way, the mountains here are HUGE. The largest mountains I'd ever seen before now were the Appalachian mountains back in the US. These put them to utter shame. A few still had a bit of snow on their peaks. It was so cool.

After we drop our car off, we got on the train to Frankfurt. Now, our original plan was to take the midnight train and then wait in the airport until our flight. However, after our experience in Dublin of sleeping on uncomfortable benches, my dad decided to splurge and get a little hotel room for us. So, we got on an earlier train.

Now, my dad figured that since no one ever checked our ticket on our trip here, maybe we could get away without buying a new ticket this time (for the record, I do not condone sneaking onto trains). Of course, this was the time someone actually came around to check our tickets. My dad ended up having to download an app to buy a new ticket - and of course, by the time he'd gotten the ticket downloaded, the guy didn't even come back to check if we'd actually gotten it. My dad was a little upset at having to pay like $300 for a last-minute ticket we kind of didn't need, but what can you do?

We got to the train station (no delays this time, though I do feel bad for whoever's stop got cancelled along the way), only to realize . . . we are not at the airport. Turns out, there must be two different train stations in Frankfurt. And we were not at the one that is next to the airport. So we had to get on another train to get to there. Once again, we bought tickets, and once again no one ever checked them so I'm not even sure why we bought them (assuming we even bought the right ones, at this point I'm not sure if our extremely beginner-level German was servicing us very well). But at least we finally got to the airport.

Of course, we'd just missed the most recent shuttle to the hotel, so we had to wait for the next one. I think we stood there for at least 45 minutes even though the sign said it came every 15-20 minutes. The driver also wasn't the best when we did get on. But, finally, we made it to our hotel.

I went to bed early, my dad wanted to be up early enough to take advantage of the continental breakfast and get through security early the next day.

Wednesday, July 2

We woke up, got breakfast, and took the shuttle back to the airport. Then we were off on a flight back to Dublin! Our flights home were all Aer Lingus, and they were SO AMAZINGLY NICE. The air conditioning was awesome, the seats were so much comfier, it was actually FUN on these flights. I give Aer Lingus a 10/10, without question.

Once we got to Dublin, we were hungry as heck. We got food and then went through US pre-customs. Once through, we perused the shops for some final souvenirs. We got some tea towels for my mom, some fun patterned socks for my sister, and some Taytos (an Irish potato chip brand) for my brother (he loves food, and when he heard Ireland had their own potato chip brand he was dying to try it somehow). I also got a few more souvenirs for myself: a lucky black bog cat (made of actual compressed bog earth), a Blarney luckstone, a worrystone, and a bag of Irish dairy fudge. That last one was a very last-second impulse, but I'm so glad I got it. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but dear god that stuff was DELICIOUS. Kind of like caramel but not quite, very chewy but it didn't get stuck in my teeth that much at all. I already need to go back to Ireland, desperately. The one-quarter Irish in me is crying out for it!

On our flight home, I was incredibly excited to see that the chairs came equipped with mini TV screens. It was about a 7 hour flight, so I had time to watch Flow, Transformers One, The Wild Robot, and the pilot episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, with bathroom breaks and a meal in between. I really love Aer Lingus!

Finally, we got an Uber home. There was a bunch of construction traffic on the way home, which was annoying, especially since I was hitting my limit for travel again and my stomach was starting to disagree with me, but we got through it.

And at long last, we were home! I dropped my bag, settled onto the couch, and sighed happily. My dog was all over me and my dad, you'd think we'd been gone for a year. I hadn't slept at all on the plane home, and I nearly fell asleep sitting up on the couch, so my mom eventually sent me to bed. I think I slept for twelve hours straight, and as fun as the whole trip was, it felt amazing to be back in my own bed again.

And that, my friends, was my journey! It was wild and wonderful, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But even if I never get to do anything like this again, I'll always have these memories to hold onto!

To cap things off, here are some tips if you ever do a trip like this yourself:

It's worth it to splurge on nicer flights. You will feel a lot less worn-out when all is said and done, and at least in my experience, you're less likely to get queasy on a nicer plane.

I can't speak for the grandstands or anywhere else, but if you're in general admission at an F1 race, you need to get there early if you want a good spot. I think the campers pretty much get first dibs since they're right next to the track anyway, so use the earlier days of the weekend to scope things out so you know what to expect on Sunday. Also, there's basically zero cover from the sun. You either need to pray for clouds, bring an umbrella, or be prepared with lots of sunscreen, or all of these things. Not sure if the grandstands are any better, we were sitting on the hard ground but at least we weren't sitting on hot metal seats instead (no joke, there was a sign at the entrance that warned about the seats). The nicer covered grandstands closer to the home straight are probably a lot nicer, though I obviously can't speak for them.

In general, the people in the crowds were very nice. My dad and I never really worried about anyone taking our seats or our stuff, though we never left our stuff unattended, just in case.

I'm sure staying in Graz is nice, but the traffic coming from that direction on race day was utterly INSANE. The highway was backed up as far as we could see. By contrast, the direction we came from was still relatively clear. It might be a bit of a longer drive, but if you want a less stressful drive, reconsider staying in Graz. There's loads of AirBnBs you could check out instead, and every one my dad and I considered looked very nice.

There's food at the track, but I recommend packing snacks or even a light meal. Fruit is a great idea, it'll keep your electrolytes up and keep you hydrated. We also packed pretzels and meat sticks, and made simple meat-and-cheese sandwiches too. It's just nice to not have to wait in line and just open up your bag whenever you get the munchies. To keep things cool, freeze a water bottle and wrap everything in newspaper and/or a paper bag. It'll stay cold all day. Make sure you stay on top of your hydration and eating. Neither of us felt super hungry all day, but we knew that if we didn't eat, we'd be famished and drained when we left. The excitement of everything really distracts you, and since it was hot, our bodies were much more focused on staying cool than anything else. If I ever get to do this again, I'll probably save up for nicer seats just so I don't have to worry about the weather as much (and so maybe it's easier to get to the Fan Zone).

If you're from a humid place like I am, bring lip balm. Austria is a lot less humid and my lips were not happy about it. I think that's also why I never felt too sweaty, it was just drying so much faster than it normally did.

Don't trust the ICE. Even the locals say it's unreliable. If you have to use it, build buffer time into your schedule so a delay or cancellation doesn't torch all of your plans.

And last but not least: be prepared for your plans to change on the fly! My dad says that when you're traveling, you really can't get worked up over things going wrong or getting delayed. It's all out of your control, so all you can do is readjust and go with the flow. Things will work out one way or another. And sometimes, you'll end up on an unexpected adventure and make memories you never expected to. There were many times when things didn't go according to plan for us, and we just saddled up and rolled with it.

[wwjfjdg-blog]

starting fresh

Hello! This first blog post is hopefully going to cover my journey from my home in the UK to my new home in the south of Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. I'll try not to make it too long.

August 20th, 2022, Heathrow airport. The drive to the airport was oddly... normal. My parents, partner, and I chatted like we would have on any other day. I think that my parents and I purposely 'forgot' the fact that I was moving away until we got to the drop-off point outside the terminal, so once we arrived, there were a few moments in which we sat slightly apprehensively. Though we wouldn't see each other for some time, none of us really wanted an overly emotional goodbye, so I appreciated them for helping me to get on with it as though it were nothing more than a weekend trip. It was then into the airport to meet the other people from the UK heading out on the program. Even though there were around 100 of us, I actually ended up eating alone in the airport which was not a very me thing to do. Perhaps the gravity of what I was about to do was hitting a little bit, but I think that I just needed a little bit of space. I sat in an Italian restaurant and ate a pizza as I'd heard that pizza was expensive in Japan.

Cue 24 hours of airports and flights - ouch. We flew 11.5 hours to Doha, Qatar, and then, after a few hours layover, another 10 on to Tokyo. It was a lot of flying and I didn't sleep at all (my first day on my own and I was already making poor life decisions, whoops), but other than that, the flights were fairly easy and had very little turbulence.

August 21st, 2022, Tokyo. We landed in Tokyo on the evening of the 21st, and took an hour-and-a-half bus ride to the hotel in Shinjuku. Whilst the flights were tiring, and although I only had 2 days in Tokyo, I still did my best to make the most of the time there. The first full day there, after a full day of conferences and lectures, I fancied a run so I headed out to explore a little. I ran around 代々木公園 (Yoyogi park) and grabbed some breakfast for the next few days from a 7/11 before heading back. It was only about 7km, but in my defence, it was over 30°C and 100000% humidity. Feeling slightly like I wasn't taking enough advantage of being Tokyo, I decided to get up early the next morning in order to head to Shibuya. I walked through the park again and then had a coffee in the Starbucks that overlooks Shibuya crossing before doing a little bit of exploring in the surrounding area. After some more lectures, I went out and sang Karaoke with a few of the other people on the program and then headed back to the hotel to get some rest; we were leaving to fly out of Tokyo at just after 6 the next morning. These are the only pictures that I took in Tokyo but I thought I'd share them here (my inability to take photos is one of the things that I plan to work on in my time here).

August 24th , 2022, Kumamoto. I arrived at my new home around midday on a Wednesday after flying down from Tokyo and then driving for around an hour and a half into the countryside. I have to thank my coworkers for the lovely welcome and help that they provided when I arrived because without them, it would have been a tricky day. We went out and bought some furniture, food and other essentials before they dropped me back at my appartment. With that, my journey was complete, I had travelled 6000 miles from home and was now sat on a single sofa in an empty apartment. I might have been fairly overwhelmed if it hadn't been for the fact that I was absolutely shattered (Maybe not sleeping on those planes was a good thing after all???). I called my partner and my parents to let them know that I had arrived safely and then headed to bed. First step of my 'fresh start' complete.

It's now the middle of October, almost 2 months from when I arrived, but I thought that considering what this blog is going to be about, the journey to get here was a good first post. There are a few things that I plan to write about on this blog, goals, thoughts on different aspects of life here, plans, etc, though I have no idea when I'll get around to writing them. For the moment, here are some rather lovely photos of the area I now live in:

I think that's probably enough for now so thanks for reading; I'll hopefully see you soon with another blog post.

W.

[hectorino1]

DAY 0: TRAVEL DAY

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NOTE: As you can see this one is a long one. That's what happens when you spend most of your time sitting in planes, busses and stations.

I tried to section it (ALL UPPERCASE) so that you can skip sections if you like. Also, with not much sleep there may be sections where I'm rambling or just nonsense. In any case enjoy

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No more planning, no more training, no more prepping. Today I start my travels!

My day started at 2 A.M. MTN time. I woke up early to adjust as quickly as possible to Spain time because I won't have much time to adjust. As soon as I land in Madrid I'll be taking bus rides to Pamplona, then another bus to St. Jean at which point I'll find the place I'm staying for the night and the following morning I start the Camino.

MARGOS HAPPY TRAILS CARD

As Margo and I were saying our goodbyes at the airport, she surprised me with a card. What she wrote was very sweet and I can't thank her enough for all her encouragement.

In addition to the surprise card, Margo surprised me with a little something tucked inside the envelope. She had placed the dog tag from our little Luna, our black lab that had passed away a little over a year ago. I will very much cherish carrying the tag with me along the trail. Fyi you'll be hearing more about Luna in another blog.

FLIGHT

My flight was not a direct flight from Denver to Madrid but had a 'one hour' layover in Atlanta. As you can imagine I worried whether there would be enough time to get on the next flight and whether my backpack in cargo would make it to the other plane in time. The good news is that I arrived into Atlanta a little ahead of schedule which made me hopeful.

FRIEND SPOTTING

Whilst in the Denver airport I bumped into my friend and yoga instructor Ruby. She and her husband were on their way to Paris followed by Barcelona. We both knew ahead of time that our trips would be leaving on the same day and pretty much at the same time so it wasn't a big surprise that we actually met. Regardless it's always nice to meet a familiar face at the airport. To no surprise we took a few selfies, chatted a bit, did our hugs and wished each other safe travels.

BACK TO THE FLIGHT....

The plane landed in Atlanta in terminal A and my flight to Spain was in Terminal F. Getting to it was a bit confusing but I still made it with plenty of time.

The flight was uneventful and though I tried to get as much sleep as possible I never can get comfortable in those seats and maybe pulled off 2 good hours worth, 2 lousy, and 2 awake. I even took a sleeping pill that only got me those two hours worth. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I hadn't taken one.

Hurray! made it to Madrid!

More importantly my backpack also made it (what a relief). Everything so far has gone like clockwork. Now I just need the bus rides to St Jean to go smoothly...

THE SMELL OF EUROPE

Maybe it's just me but every time I arrive in Europe/Spain the first thing I notice is a distinct smell and it always puts a big smile on my face. It's like the feeling you get when visiting a close friend you haven't seen in years. Obviously I don't mean to say it stinks but quite the contrary. I'm guessing that there is something in the cleaning products, bleach, whatever, that has this unique smell, a smell you don't usually find in the U.S. but rings of familiarity. Even as a kid growing up in Spain I could recall that same exact smell. Am I the only one to notice that? Anyhow it makes me happy. Moving on...

THE SCARE

(Five years ago)

Contrary to popular belief my Spanish is not perfect. I rarely practice it except when I am speaking with my mother. I thought I was still pretty good at it until my previous trip to Spain around five years ago. No sooner had we landed I get off the plane and as usual I head to Immigration/security. With a sly smile on my face I say to the agent 'Buenos Dias' and hand her my US passport. She looks at me, pauses for a second then asks me if I'm Spanish. Still holding that big grin I say why yes (in Spanish). The next thing that came out of her mouth was basically that my Spanish sucks and that I need to work on it. My grin deflated like a balloon. I hadn't even made it out of the airport and I got slammed. Oh well.

(Today)

In today's 'episode' I got off the plane and proceeded to immigration. I handed my US passport and without any pretense kindly said 'Buenos Dias', for which the agent (she was pretty cute looking) questioned if I was Spanish. So far so good. I said yes for which she responded in Spanish 'If you are Spanish you have to show your Spanish passport'. My heart froze. In order to minimize weight on the Camino I only brought my US passport. Did she mean I couldn't enter the country? Am I doomed before even starting? I said to her 'Excuse me?'. Her reply was the same. 'If you are Spanish you have to show your Spanish passport'. At this point she wasn't looking so cute. I don't know how many times we went back and force, the same exact words (it felt like a hundred times), when finally she laid my passport on the counter, smiled and wished me a good day. Still puzzled from this experience I asked her 'You mean I can go?', for which she responded with 'Have a good day'. I smiled and bolted.

THE BUS RIDES

Two buses arrived at the airport bus terminal at the same time. Both buses have the same destination of Soria which is where I need to go first. The details for one bus matches the description on my ticket to the letter, bus number, stops, etc. The other doesn't. I try to get on the one that matches the details but the bus driver refuses to let me board. He tells me I'm on the wrong but that it's the other bus I need to get on. Go figure. He was right and I dodged a bullet 🙂

In Soria I transferred onto another bus that took me to Pamplona for an uneventful ride.

Since I had 2 hours to spare in Pamplona I decided to leave the station in search of a bocadillo and a cana (sandwich and beer). I must have been tired because when I encountered the first street with a roundabout, instead of making it to the other side I kept going in circles. I got myself lost, and had to ask for directions. I finally got my bearings back and found a bar to enjoy a sandwich and a beer. Oh, and I found my way back to the station.

After the two hour layover, I finally hopped onto the final bus ride(Good grief) that took me to St. Jean, my final destination for the day. Of all the bus rides I've taken today by far this has been the most scenic. Within minutes of leaving Pamplona we entered the lush green mountainside of the Pyrenees. We passed charming towns and villages with their beautiful light colored stone walls, chalets up in the hills staring down at the valley. Even the old dilapidated houses looked charming. Everything was lush green and beautiful. In some ways it reminds me of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Oh I'm so excited to start hiking.

THE TOWN

The town of Saint Jean is actually pretty quaint. After checking in I took a walk around to get my bearings as to where to catch the trail. I think I'm all ready for tomorrow, but now I must sleep. It's been over 24 Hours since I left Denver and I'm ready to enjoy this bed.

Cheers