becoming well-traveled

I think I have no "place" home. Home is people and where you work well. I have homes everywhere and many I have not seen yet. That is perhaps why I am restless. I haven't seen all of my homes. - John Steinbeck

Friday, June 16, 2006

what i feel like doing... read on

planes, trains, and automobiles

So I’m back on American soil, though not quite in Michigan just yet. It’s currently 4:04 a.m. Friday morning, and I’m further south than I’ve ever been sitting here in the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

As previously mentioned, my travel itinerary isn’t exactly what I’d call efficient. So as of right now, it’s been nearly 29 hours since I stepped out of the door of my last lodging in Berlin. Of those 29, I’ve spent – roughly – 5 on trains, 11 on a 767, leaving about 13 for airports.

I’ve only dozed occasionally while in transit as airports aren’t exactly conducive to sleeping, yet I remain surprisingly un-tired if not especially alert (or articulate).

I arrived here about 7:45 last evening to find this place nearly a ghost town. O’Hare it’s not. Following my trans-Atlantic flight, I was feeling a bit hungry. But, surprise of surprises, the Chili’s kitchen was closed before the clock struck 9. So after my $7 turkey sandwich from Starbucks, I settled in for the long night ahead.

Like I said, sleep is hard to come by. This is for a few reasons: incredibly bright lighting, frigidly cold air conditioning, arms between every chair on the bench-like rows, and – most significantly – the muzak blaring at ungodly levels.

Now, lets take these problems one by one.

The lighting. Is it really necessary to keep this place ablaze all night long when it’s so barren that Chili’s is closed by 9? Seriously, people, let’s just turn off a light or two between 11:45 p.m. (last arrival) and 6:45 a.m. (first departure) or some portion thereof.

The air conditioning. I just spent the last two weeks living in hostels and basically sweating through my clothes nearly every day. I stepped outside at midnight and it was warm and humid enough that I could have worked up a sweat without too much trouble. Yet at 3:30 a.m. or so, I was forced to pull out my jacket to keep from shivering. Please explain this to me. Why must we waste energy so?

The arms on the chairs. So I realize the airport isn’t a hotel, but aren’t the metal arms between every seat going overboard just a bit? I mean, if they were plastic at least I would be able to lean against them without fear of developing frostbite or some such cold-related malady.

The muzak. Quite easily THE most annoying part. I went three months in Europe and didn’t hear muzak. All of a sudden I can’t get away from it. It’s horrible. It’s a scourge. Why does anywhere play it as though someone might actually walk through the airport and say, “Hey, I really like this song.” The kicker is simply the volume at which it’s being played. I’ve heard my share of muzak working in grocery stores over the years, but come on people. I’ve heard quieter music in a pub. Really, this has got to stop. Add on the occasional pre-recorded messages at an even greater decibel (like the announcements in Airplane!), and it’s a virtual auditory hell.

So you must be wondering how I’ve managed to pass the past 9 hours in this godforsaken airport. After finishing the aforementioned turkey sandwich, I located an outlet where I could plug in my laptop and turn on headphones because drowning out the muzak quickly became priority No. 1.

After writing for a bit, I think I slid into a black hole for about an hour and a half. I know I wrote until 10:30, but I didn’t start a movie until midnight. What happened in the intervening time, I have no idea except that it didn’t involve sleep. Perhaps I read? I can’t remember.

So at midnight I watched the first two hours of The Fellowship of the Ring and occasionally nodded off. At this point, my only visible company in the building were the floor-cleaning guys. As I sat facing the window watching the movie, I could see one of them in the reflection trying to watch over my shoulder as he mopped. I was too tired to attempt any conversation.

About 2:00, I attempted to get comfortable/doze with no success. For a diversion, I got up and pushed my luggage cart around for a bit. Then I read through all the Northwest Airlines brochures (I tried reading my book, but my mind is too frazzled and eyes to fuzzy to process).

At 3:30 the Transportation Security Administration people started arriving, and I didn’t feel quite so lonely anymore.

Finally at roughly 3:45, my computer suddenly detected a wireless network! What fortune! What splendor! The fates have turned my way! I’m using too many exclamation points!

So I wrote some semi-coherent emails and this rather lengthy treatise on why one can’t sleep in the airport. My body is telling me it’s 10:30 in the morning, but I also have slept only in short spurts. My eyes can barely focus. All I have to do is somehow stumble onto my 9:40 flight to Detroit, and I think I’ll be good to go. I don’t know why I’m still typing. I have nothing else to say. I’ll be home today.

Over the next few days, I’ll add a quick story about each of the places I visited, complete with pictures.

Monday, June 12, 2006

fußball fever

Wow, what an eventful last two weeks. I have spent more hours on trains than I ever thought possible. Yet I saw and experienced quite a lot over the past fortnight, so it was a decent tradeoff. I have several good stories that I will post once I have the time to do so. Of course, those lucky enough to be in GR will get to hear them in person. I think for the next couple months, I´m going to sound like Hansel from "Zoolander" every time I tell a story: "So this one time, I was hiking through vineyard-covered cliffs along the Italian coast..."

Anyways, I am back in Berlin for a couple days before I head off for home. Obviously, it´s World Cup time, so this place is crawling with people and tons of special exhibitions have been set up all over the place. It hardly looks like the same place I left three weeks ago. But it´s a pretty exciting thing, and Berlin hosts their first match tomorrow night (Brazil v. Croatia). Unfortunately, I couldn´t score tickets.

I leave Berlin at 6:30 Europe time Thursday morning and have a 5-hour train ride to Frankfurt, from whence I will depart at 3 p.m. Now, being that I´m flying budget airlines, I´ll arrive in Fort Myers, Florida, around 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and settle in for a night in the airport. That´s right, my connector to Detroit doesn´t leave until 9:40 a.m. Friday morning. Hurrah, 14-hour layover! Hurrah, NFL Europe, for helping me get such a sweet flight! So my mom and sister will be there to greet me at 12:26 p.m. Friday in Detroit, and I will head back to GR with them. Let´s just say I´m reeeeally excited to be coming home. I can´t wait to see everyone.