22nd July 2014
7:37pm
Minneapolis, MN, USA
“I like your hat,” a man says
to me. He has just gotten in queue to board the flight to Reykjavik. He has an
accent that sounds European, although I can’t tell from where. “It looks like
Robin Hood,” he adds pronouncing hood like I would pronounce the vowel in
‘new.’
“I’ve heard that before,” I
say smiling to myself as I remember the Turkish shop keepers from the Grand
Bazaar. I haven’t even left the country yet and I’m already Robin Hood.
I get in line shortly
afterwards. I see them checking some of the passenger’s bags to see if they
meet the carryon baggage requirements. This makes me nervous because I am
certainly pushing that boundary. However, when it becomes my turn, the woman
simply glances at my boarding pass and waves me through.
I find myself sitting next to
a young couple on their way to Germany for a wedding. They seem nice enough,
and we swap a few travel stories. They have the window which is unfortunate
because that makes the task of “getting sleep” substantially more difficult.
Also the flight is only five hours long so even if I can manage to get some
sleep it won’t be a full nights worth. All the same, the couple leans in such a
way that allows me to watch the city shrink beneath us. I’ve left US soil, my
trip has officially begun.
---
23rd July 2014
7:15am
Reykjavik, Iceland
I’m not sure if the sun ever
really set. I have snatches of memory of iridescent orange cloud tops
shimmering through the window across the aisle. If I had managed to sleep an
hour in aggregate, I would be amazed. I think the best thing about Iceland so
far is that it reminds me of Scotland. From the plane, the grasses and hills
looked so similar to the Scottish Highlands that could feel a smile creeping
across my face when I thought about it. I haven’t left the first floor of the
airport, but still it seems like a nice place as far as airports go. Icelandair
spends a lot of time advertising Iceland tourism, and normally when I spot a
consumer trap like that it makes me want to run in the other direction.
However, Iceland actually looks like a cool place to explore. Is it wrong that
just going to the airport and spending a few minutes on the tarmac is enough to
sell you on a country? All the same, it has officially been added to the bucket
list.
Seriously, doesn’t that make you want to visit Iceland?
---
23rd July 2014
1:30pm
Manchester, England, UK
Well the last hour or so has been hell. Did I
get stuck in a long queue at customs? Did I miss my original train? Did the UK
boarder agents give me a hard time? Did I have to buy a new 16-25 rail card?
Well the answers are, Yes, Yes, Yes, & Yes…
When I board my train at 2:00,
I’m not exactly happy. The lack of sleep might have something to do with it,
because otherwise I would probably be walking around with an idiotic grin on my
face. I don’t have a seat reservation so I find a seat next to some guy. I
don’t think I’m lucky until most of the people behind me don’t get a seat.
I want to sleep on the train –
so I put on my headphones, turn up the music, position my hat over my eyes and
try to drift asleep. It almost works until every time we stop. I keep getting
paranoid that someone will nick my bag at a stop, either someone coming on or
walking off. So eventually, I just give it up and strike up a conversation with
the guy next to me. He’s a banker who works/lives in the Middle East but is
originally from northern England. He’s on his way to Edinburgh for a stag night
(for those of you who don’t know, that’s what the Brits call a bachelor party).
He’d been before, but still, I have a bit more experience with the city. So I’m
able to give him some advice on things to do. I also tell him about my travel
plans and he is interested in my research. Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s
just a generically interesting topic.
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