January 10, 2005
Hi all,
For those of you who I have not spoken to in a while and were not aware of
my HUGE endeavor I have currently undertaken, I am off on the road once
again for about a year and the travels tales shall continue throughout...
I left on January 6th from
Fiona, who can be put to blame for me going on this trip in the first place.
My mother doesn't know if she'll ever forgive her!!! My departure was QUITE
a tearful one. Here I was thinking I was big and bad and not nervous one
bit, only to find myself freaking out days before I was leaving. I think it
all came down to leaving everything and everyone I knew. It's easy to say
goodbye to one friend or family member, but all of them at once?! As I
was
standing in the shower about an hour before my flight took off, I seriously
considered not getting on the plane and not leaving at all. But, I knew I
would regret it forever so I bit my tongue and did it...kicking and
screaming the whole way. There were several things that happened
that
morning which I considered "signs not to go."
I went to pick up my pack (the only bag I was taking) to go to the airport
and of course the strap broke. Next, I went to fill my nalgene bottle and
that was a fiasco as well. I got to the airport and there was an hour
delay. I was cold, miserable, had a broken bag and was beyond
frustrated...teary eyed and on edge the whole time. Why was this
brilliant
idea of mine becoming a disaster?!
Upon arrival in
name on it so that I could spot him in the crowd of about 300 people! He
took me over to the pub he owns (called Brigadoon) where Fiona was working
and I sat down in front of a freshly tapped Alexander Keith's IPA draft.
YUM! Just what I needed to ease the pain.
Over the next few days, since Fiona was working all the time at the pub,
that's where I spent most, if not all, of my time. Alexander Keith and I
became REAL good friends over the past three days! Although I saw nothing
in
who have traveled all over the world. Everyone was SO nice and very
interesting to talk with. My favorite part of the whole time (besides
seeing Fiona of course) was meeting her grandfather who came over to live
there from
was at the pub and I made myself and "Papa," as they call him, a
grilled
cheese. We sat there and chatted about how he used to mine for coal and
how
good of a cook his wife was. He was such a cutie.
Thanks to Fiona and her family's generosity, I didn't spend a cent in
I stayed up all night at the pub on the last night before my flight with
Fiona, her friends Mike and Neil, and her brother Dave. The pub
after-hours
reminded me a bit of good old Maingate at home. Neil took me to the
airport
at about 5:30 in the morning so I could board my flight to
friend from college, Jules.
I arrived here yesterday afternoon and have already done and seen some
really neat things, as well as meeting some more really cool people. So,
all in all, one of my goals (meeting new people) is already being
accomplished.
I am feeling a lot better than I did the morning I left home. Although I
am
not stressing yet to find enough synonyms for the word "amazing" in
my
emails, I have a feeling that will be coming soon. I leave
Wednesday and will arrive in
traveling again to take my mind off of home. I know that soon enough I'll
look back on my tearful goodbye with laughter.
It's not always easy entering the unknown...
Lauren P. Coker
www.geocities.com/laurenpcoker