This is one for the history books.
About a month and a half ago the feeling came it was time to come home, and so the next day I walked to an internet point and the tickets to Seattle were expensive, so I widened my grid. I ended up finding a ticket to New York City from Rome with a layover in Istanbul for $427. I quickly nailed that down, without knowing how I'd get from New York to Seattle, but GreyHound came to mind instantly. I found a ticket for $129 that same day. Talk about sweet deals! What a gift freedom Is.
From the moment I bought the tickets my whole intention was to keep it a secret, and at one point my Dad asked if I bought a ticket somewhere else because he noticed a chunk of money was gone from my bank account. So, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to tell the whole truth, I said I bought a ticket to Turkey. Phew, everything is still going according to plan. My last day at Vittorio's I told him the situation and he gave me a bed sheet, so that I could walk up to my parents door as a ghost of course. A ghost symbolizing me in a way.
Making eye holes with a pair of baby scissors. Ha.
Had an epic last night dancing for what felt like hours. It's so fun when everyone takes the barriers down. Everyone knows how to get groovy!
I was also thinking I'd be taking a train or bus from Catania to Rome but some of the guys told me to check Ryanair, so I did and found a ticket for 19 euros. Gotta love Ryanair for hoppin around Europe with pocket change.
Monday
Gonna miss these ladies. Ruthy from New Yorky (haha), Amanda from Vermont, and Marion from Pareeeeee (Paris).
My flight from Catania Sicily to Rome was scheduled to leave at 6:30am on Tuesday and because there was no way I was getting a ride in the middle of the night, and the public transportation here is unreliable, I got a ride from Nirav Monday afternoon. I arrived at the airport, and upon setting my small bag on the ground I noticed some major spillage. Before I left I loaded up two yogurt containers with the leftover lunch and loaded on the precious olive oil, thinking it may be the last time I get to enjoy exceptionally fresh olive oil from olives I helped harvest and see the process through. Luckily it was just my portable bag, but everything was covered with the oil. I then went through security, which had no line, and the lady checked my ticket and the conversation went like this,
"You can't stay here your flight leaves tomorrow."
"Well I have nowhere to go what am I supposed to do?"
"Outside."
"You're telling me I have to sit outside all night?!"
She waited a few moments as I stood there, and said "downstairs....chair"
"Ok, thanks"
I found a chair and posted up for 13 hours through the night until my flight left. It actually went by fast, I wrote in my journal, looked at my pictures, and took a few power naps on the ground.
Tuesday
The flight from Catania to Rome was a little over an hour and it was awesome rising above the clouds and starting the morning off with a sunrise from the sky. Epic views. Clouds are so ethereal.
Goodbye beautiful Sicily. Your culture & food & scenery & feeling of all encompassing warmth is permanently engrained into my soul.
Unknown city in southern Italy.
Walking off the plane I say to myself, 1 down, 2 to go. My flight to Istanbul wasn't for another 11 hours, so I strolled around the airport in a leisurely fashion, which was nice because airports are synonymous with people scurrying around like busy ants. I bought a couple books and enjoyed reading and just chillin until my flight left.
Up by my gate I found this lounge chair that I swear was placed there for me. It was so nice to fully relax and enjoy the sunset and watch the countless planes take off.
I get to my row in the airplane and the passenger who I'd be sitting by welcomes me and offers to put my bag in the overhead compartment. When does that ever happen?! I sit down and know I could have an interesting conversation with this nice Turkish man, but I'm too tired to want to, so I close my eyes and pretend I'm sleeping.
Walking out into Istanbul I couldn't help but smile. I'm in Turkey! 2 down. 1 to go. Talk about diversity. Perfect place to people watch. I now have about 9 hours until my next flight leaves. I asked a lady where my gate was for my flight to New York, and she said I couldn't stay in the airport, I needed to go to a hotel. As I was walking away from her I said to myself, "yeah well watch me lady." I explored the airport for a bit and then found a random gate and tried to sleep. Wasn't happenin.
Wednesday
Now it's 4:00am and I order some yogurt at a Turkish-ed out Pink Berry. My body is not used to processed sugar so it shocks me into a state of jittery wakefulness for maybe an hour. Finally at the gate they are checking passports and letting people into that area. It's now 5:00am. Here's a journal entry from that moment.
"Istanbul Airport. 48 hours awake with a few power naps in between. I'm at the point where it feels like a bowling ball is strapped to my head, pushing everything down. My eyes heavy with tiredness, all this synthetic lighting is throwing my melatonin production out of whack, preventing any real sleep. I close my eyes and the sound of scanning passports echoes in my head like I'm in a cave. I hope they don't try and imitate the sun at noonday like they did on my last flight. My goodness no wonder people come out of flights jet-lagged. I look out the window to my left and see what looks like an elongated tank. I laugh. Who engineers all these wacky airport vehicles? They must have a sense of humor. The sky has a dark blue hue, growing lighter by the minute. I hope they serve breakfast so I don't have to waste money on overpriced airport food."
I zoned out for a half hour and opened my eyes to see they are starting to board. I feel light now thanks to adrenalin. I'M GOING BACK TO DA MOTHERLAND. I board my flight and find out it's ten and a half hours to New York. Turkish Airlines is pure luxury compared to what I'm used to. Everyone has their own tv. Free movies. Free games. Complimentary slippers, ear plugs, eye covers, headphones, toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm. Man this is legit. I be takin Turkish Airlines for my future International flights. I watched a few movies and towards the end I found out they have multiplayer games so I played old school Tetris and Chess with my fellow neighbor Trevor.
The New York air is crisp and cool. I have 22 hours until my bus leaves. The first thing I do is try and get some rest. Doesn't work. I then ask how I get to the Greyhound station so I know for the next day. Once again, I post up in the airport, but this time I have my trusty eye covers so I can mimic nighttime and maybe get some sleep. Using my backpack as a pillow I curled up on two chairs and something amazing happened, I slept! Waking up an hour later I remembered some dreams indicating real sleep was achieved. I then had some Sbarros pizza for the simple fact it brought me back to The Cottonwood Mall days. Man, those days were prime.
Thursday
Fast forward to 4:00am. I'm reading Andre Agassi's Autobiography and laughing hysterically. Well done Andre. Well done. I get up to find some food and the only place that is open is Dunkin' Donuts. Blueberry muffin time. I probably seemed unusually talkative and energized for that time of night. As I walk around that area of the airport, munching on my muffin, I see a clock. 4:39am. But not in my internal clock. I'm like the energizer bunny. I make a loop and am finishing my muffin at the same time I pass Dunkin' Donuts again. I buy another muffin.
I head out around 7:00am just to be safe, and ask a few more people where the bus stop is, and one lady told me if I take the AirTrain it's half as much. I found the place but I was confused as to which one I was supposed to take. A sweet old lady asked me how to get to the Jamaica station (which was where I was heading) and I said, "I have no idea, I'm a little lost" ha. I eventually found out how and we both got on together, but as I was looking at the paper I noticed we were on the wrong one so I let her know. She decided to get off and switch then, while I decided to stay on until the last one before I had to. Fast forward and now I'm on the elevator going down to the subway, the door opens, and there is the old lady! I welcome her and congratulate us both for finding the way. Waiting for the subway a guy next to me says, "you been backpacking?" And that was the start of an awesome conversation with Antonin from Normandy. He had a flight to Paris later in the afternoon so he was exploring the city for a bit. He got off at my stop with me and I asked the Greyhound people if my bus was still on schedule for 11:00am, and the guy said, "wait your bus isn't leaving until 11:00pm." Whaaaaat! Hahaha. So I did what I do. Adapt. Walking out into the city Antonin and I were feeling mutually elated. New city. New vibes. New experience. Had a great time walking around the city chattin it up. Times square. Apple store. Grand Central Park. Good times. He had to leave in the afternoon and I still had all night so I went to a 5 story building converted into a movie theater down from Times Square. First time at a movie theater in 6 months.
After the movie I made my way back to the subway where I attempted to sleep on the ground. With my purple outfit and eye covers on, I was lookin to multitask while I sleep by making people laugh. I probably looked like a bum and cyclops combined. 20 minutes later I wake up to two security guards telling me I can't sleep there. The rest of the time until my bus left was a blurred reading session.
Friday
The seats in Greyhound seem to be fit for everyone else except me. My body type just doesn't work. I'm too tall, so every which way I try and sit is just the right amount of uncomfortable. I've been up for 4 days now with a few short power naps here and there. We traveled through Pittsburgh and then to Cleveland. Coming into Cleveland with the gray sky and dull colored buildings it felt more like a prison, and the feeling was further potentiated when I walk into the bus station and they have a Greyhound cafe that smells like McDonalds's and a bunch of vending machines. Oh great, I'd rather not eat. That night pulling into a rest stop I noticed a cute bunny working at Pizza Hut, and in my mind she had to be practicing for Halloween. I asked her, "is it really Halloween?" and she said, "Yes! Why do people keep asking me that?!" Ha! I was totally oblivious to what day it was.. so yeah I spent a wildly entertaining Halloween night on a Greyhound bus.
Saturday
Next up. Chicago. Then Minneapolis. I did enjoy looking at the scenery across the country and seeing all the changing colors which I didn't get in my travels. Leaving Minneapolis the moon looked like an orange muffin top flipped upside down. That night after being up for 5 days now with very little sleep, leaning my head against the glass looking out into the darkness, I saw what looked like a huge glowing frog head inching its way closer and closer to me. I sit up to get a better look and it's a gas station.... stories of a sleep deprived brain.
Sunday
Last day on the insane journey home! Missoula. And then to Seattle. The last 5 or 6 hours I could not sit still, I was so ready to be done. Getting off the bus in Seattle I felt free. I can move! A Seattle Seahawks game was just finishing up and so there were loads of people and cars. I made my way to the ferry to cross to Bainbridge Island where my parents live, and when I get off and outside the walkway my Dad is just standing there! Whaaaaaat!! I knew if he checked my bank statement he would have figured it out, and surely he did. He noticed some purchases in New York and then across the country in Pittsburgh and Indiana and checked the Greyhound schedule so he deduced what Ferry I'd most likely be on. Luckily he kept it a secret from the rest of the family so I was still in the clear! Before we got home I put on the ghost outfit and he was sneaking behind me to take some pictures for this priceless moment. I ring the doorbell, my mom answers, and I start doing a little dance, and she noticed my Dad in the background so she was confused! Who could it be? My sister was in the house and said kind of sarcastically like, "oh my what if that's Andrew?!" And doing my dance, I slipped and almost fell on my head, and then unveiled myself.
Mission Completed
