There And Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale By Emily O'Brien

 Hullo,

So I guess I did decide to do one final blog to sum up everything and explain the journey home. It was, to say the least, quite long. And I guess we can talk about me being home because that's also strange.

Our adventure begins one bright sunshiney morning in Venice. Our heroes, Katie and Emily awake early in order to venture out to the mystical land that is The Airport.

One second. I can't write this in third person or I'll go crazy. Let's begin again, shall we? So we woke up early and I took a shower because I knew I wouldn't have another opportunity to be clean until I reached America. One shower later, we headed out to get breakfast, where I performed a flawless execution of ordering my food. Obviously.

Me: Un cappuccino y un ............ donut.

Despite my ordering techniques, I got what I wanted so it all worked out. Katie and I ate pretty quickly before leaving to find an ATM. I had hoped I wouldn't have to withdraw any more cash, but that was incredibly wishful thinking. Being a few euros poorer, we went back to the hostel to check out, collect our stuff and hit the road again. We made it to the water-bus which took us to the airport. It was a rather lengthy ride, but pleasant because Venice is great. Even with the long ride, we made it with a lot of time before our respective flights because I plan on never missing a flight ever again. Should it happen, I will cry all of the tears and my heart will be shattered from distress and will be broken for eternity. So no more missing flights.

Katie's flight left before mine and she learned about her gate and check-in spot well in advance of me. Although we had been hoping to go through security together, it wasn't possible so we said our farewells and parted ways. It was sad to split up because it truly marked the end of my adventure and saying goodbye to an excellent travel companion.

I'm already bored with my traveling. My apologies because it must be even less interesting for you. After we split up, I found out where to check-in and went through security and all that jazz. My flight from Venice to Madrid had an hour long lay-over in Barcelona, the only dicey part of Day One because I had to get my second ticket when I made it there. It was an uneventful trip to Madrid other than that.

I have become quite familiar with the Madrid-Barajas Airport, so I had decided to sleep overnight there before my flight back to the States the next morning. Great plan (sarcasm hand raised). You may recall a couple of posts ago where I was going insane. That was the overnight-in-the-Madrid portion of the trip. I got an overpriced dinner and started looking for wi-fi to help pass the night. I could've paid for it but I was done with spending money so I wrote my new blog post. And read. And played free-cell. And hearts. Somewhere between three and four in the morning I decided that sleep was unimportant. Or something that stupid. I don't know what possessed me to stay up the entire night, but stay up the entire night I did. (Yoda.)

I spent too much time in my head and the coffee I had at six fueled me with energy and crazy. Because my flight was at 10:25 AM, I started looking for my check-in place at 7ish. The Boy Scouts and I now have the same motto: Be prepared and don't be the idiot you goes to Asia and gets stuck on the wrong continent. That's right, right? I had a brief heart attack when one of the employees couldn't find me in the system. Frantically, I called my mommyface, bought half an hour of internet access and found my flight confirmation because hell if I get stuck in the airport another day. Luckily, it all worked out because we are all well aware of the fact that my heart is rather fragile in regards to Missing The Flights.

After making it through security, I ended up being one of the lucky people who also gets searched randomly. Though this is against my principles (Don't touch my stuff. It's where it belongs), I did get to talk to one the guards in Spanish which was already strange after not speaking it for two weeks. The bigger issue, though, was the fact that I had a ton of dirty clothes in my backpack and didn't want the guy to pull out everything. Or look at it. Because, hey airport, look at my underwear. Yeeeeaaaah. I wasn't about that life so much.

After my backpack had been put into order, I began more of the sitting. And waiting. And getting on the plane. I was actually really excited about this plane on account of each seat had their own tiny touchscreen TV so I could choose what music or movies or TV shows to watch and change them at will. True power, my friends. Thankfully, the little screen kept me entertained because I couldn't fall asleep. The flight was really long (9 hours? 10 hours?) and I was unable to be unconscious for any of it. That's right. I stayed up the entire night and was still not successful in sleeping on the plane. What is life?

I eventually landed in Atlanta and went through customs and I got a stamp. I had been worried about this (customs, not the stamp), but I really shouldn't have been because I guess I made it through. I mean, I'm here. I began the more waiting in a place where everything was in ENGLISH. Whut.

Let's speed this up a little. I got on the plane from Minneapolis and was ecstatic to find I was in the middle seat. This plane was less cool than the last one due to no tiny TV and the two-ish hours it took to get to the cities was forever. BUT THEN I SAW MY MOMMY AT THE BAGGAGE CLAIM. Excitement! She informed me we were heading to campus to pick up Tom after his final so I got reunited with the U as well. Surprisingly, I was dressed way too warmly for this adventure because it was over 90 degrees and sweatpants are, apparently, not the thing to wear in this weather. Who knew? By the time we actually made it home, "unpacked," and I caught up with my sister and DAD, I had been awake too long.

The Numbers

Hours Awake: 44

Airports to Get Home: 5

Miles Traveled: Too Damn Many

Seeing the Family: Priceless

It took me a few days to recover from jet-lag because naps always seemed like a good idea and waking up too early. (6 AM: Whyyyyy?) Also there were a few bizarre experiences, including drinking my first glass of milk in four months. Weird. And hanging out with my friends who I hadn't seen in that long. And sharing a car with my siblings. And having my room. WHICH HAS CARPET. (There was too much excitement for the last one.)

Originally, I wrote this blog so I wouldn't actually have to explain all of my adventures to everyone. I guarantee this plan has backfired because I spent a good deal of time fielding a variety of....interesting questions from some members of my family. (You know who you are.)

Questions Already Asked

Did any part of your trip remind you of Lady & the Tramp?

Did they sing to you on the gondola?
Really?

What songs did they sing?

Did you see anyone catch any fish?
What kind?

You might be able to imagine others. Maybe you'll  be the next one to ask me one that could potentially make the crazy list. (If it's about fish, congratulations, you'll make the list.)

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

Travel makes you grateful for people. I appreciate all the strangers who helped me out, however big or small this was. I joked with Katie that if I ever one some big award, I would thank the people who carried my suitcase across Europe and no one else. But seriously. People are great. Sometimes. Let's not get crazy.

More on the people situation: I met people who are awesome and I had a great time just being around them because no one had time to play games and put on a facade. Company, it seems, makes travel better.

I found out a lot about myelf. I feel more confident in my ability to navigate the uncertain because shizz happens. Conditions aren't always great and how I reacted to this helped me gauge who I am. Travel measured me, if that makes sense.

Shit happens. I remember saying I expected things to go wrong. But really, I didn't expect them to go as wrong as they did until it happened. The worst experiences (and best) are the unexpected.

I changed. (Granted, everything changes given time. But that is obviously beside the point.) It's like some things in me shifted and lined up slightly differently than they did before. It might be just internal. I might be the only one who notices, but what does that matter? I can feel it.

I do the same poses in all of my pictures. I really need to work on this for my future on the red carpet so I can accept my award and thank the random people who helped me with my damn suitcase.

Don't say goodbyes. I don't like 'em. Just leave. And probably don't look back (Your call).

THE MOST IMPORTANT LIFE ADVICE I WILL EVER GIVE: Pack lightly.

So there you have it, folks. I came. I saw. I sort of conquered. This actually be my last (planned) blog because otherwise I would only be saying, "And then I worked for eight hours. And then I took a nap." Literally, that is my life now, so I doubt it would cause much interest. Surprisingly, I actually liked blogging and would be willing to do more in the future. If something crazy happens to me like I win the lottery or I inherit a lightsaber, then you might hear from me. So possibly some sporadic blogging. But, for now we must part ways.

Like I said, no goodbyes.