The Final Day

Well, all good things must come to an end. And this is one of them. I must admit, I didn't sleep well at all last night. I was too anxious about my early morning flight. I always worry security is going to be long and make me miss my flight. So, at around 130 AM I change my alarm back a half hour to catch the first available tram to the airport. There weren't too many folks up and about at 530 AM.

The tram arrived nearly empty. Forty-five minutes later the tram was full of travelers heading to the airport. The trip cost me a little under eight pounds.

Delta Airlines does not have any permanent markers for the check-in booths. It took me a minute to see whose airline they were using to check-in. Another thing that was keeping me up was the fact that I was just over the weight limit for my bag coming. I had purchased a few souvenirs during my trip and was worried I’d be over for sure. I even left my old pair of Sketchers, the soles were falling off, to save weight. But, of course I worried for nothing. The lady at the counter didn't say a word about the weight of my suitcase. I went on to security check-in. No lines no wait! I could have slept another half hour!

Very nice airport. They make you walk through the duty free section on the way to the gates to try and get you for any last minute purchases. This guy has matching neck rest and travel slippers? I didn't even know this is a thing.

I bought me a little something for breakfast and a bottle of water and waited for boarding call. I could have slept another hour. To be early is on time though.

While waiting, I decided to relect on the past fourteen days. Firstly, I cannot emphasize how humble and grateful I am that God has afforded me the opportunity and ability to take a trip like this. I am truly blessed. I am also grateful to have a wife who is willing to let me go for two weeks to travel. Part of me feels selfish for taking all this time and spending the money required to do a trip to Europe. It has been something I’ve wanted to do for some time and I’m glad I was able to take this holiday.

One thing I realized just the past couple days is that I can get lonely. I’m not a social butterfly and would prefer to watch people than engage with small talk. But, at some point I realized I missed my family and all the people I converse with on a daily basis. I'm not the hermit I thought I am. There are perks to traveling alone like deciding where and when to go. Maneuvering through crowds is also easier to navigate when you don’t have to make sure everyone is still with you. But it's these small nuisances are what give my life purpose. Being a husband and a dad to my family who depend on me.

They just changed my departure gate from twelve to two. I had to make my way to the other end of the terminal. No problem but, I lost my thoughts on my astute observations. Probably just as well.

Each city I visited had its own unique character. I traveled through five countries and stayed in four cities. I find it interesting that these countries are the size of most states in America and that they differ so much in language and culture.

One of the differences I learned quickly in Amsterdam, watch out for bicycles. They have the right away over automobiles and people. Crossing the street consists of looking left for bikes, then for cars. Then right for cars, and again for bikes. In Paris, you need to carry everything towards the front. Pick pocket warnings are everywhere you go. In London, forget everything from before. LOOK RIGHT! They drive on the wrong side of the road, at least I think so. And in Edinburgh, keep looking right while lifting your feet. The cobblestone roads and sidewalks are trip hazards.

If I had to retire somewhere other than the United States it would still be Lucerne Switzerland which we visited last time in Europe. But, obtaining a visa for that is near impossible. Amsterdam is very nice. I really enjoyed the way the city is layed out and the people seemed very friendly. I like the canals as well. Having a boat here would be nice. It would be very expensive though. Paris on the other hand falls into it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. I felt that way as soon as I got off the train. London reminds me of New York City. The hustle and bustle of it all is just not appealing to me. Nice place to live maybe when you’re young but not retire. And finally Edinburgh. During the train ride up from London I began to feel something deep within me calling. I know it sounds weird but I felt like I was about to meet a long lost relative or something. The whole time I was in Edinburgh and especially the Highlands, I thought about how I could convince my family to move here. Unfortunately, I know the first winter would kill the deal. Even for me maybe. For now I'm quite content with where I am living. Just need to find a way to get closer to both kids.

They started to call passengers for the flight. I never can understand why people feel the need to hurry on the plane. We have assigned seating. If people would follow the boarding call procedure, the plane would load much easier. I always wait for them to announce the final boarding call. And guess what, my seat was there waiting for me.

I was assigned a window seat for this flight as well. I’ve lucked out so far. One last plane ride after this one. The flight from Edinburgh to Atlanta is eight hours and thirty-four minutes. I’ll have a two and a half hour layover in Atlanta. All of which will be filled getting through customs and finding my way to the domestic terminals. We were delayed slightly to top off the fuel.

After we finished fueling, we taxied to take off. Mar sin leat Scotland!

Before I completely forget, I want to thank Christina Hawkins of AAA Travel. When I was given the green light by my wife to go on this trip I called her with my ideas of what I wanted to do on my trip to Europe. I told her I either wanted to go to the Dutch Garnd Prix or the Italian Grand Prix. She created two completely different and exciting travel itineraries for me to choose from. It was so hard to decide that I asked my daughter to help me pick. The Italian Grand Prix trip included stays in Florence and Rome as well as an eleven day cruise of the Greek Islands. She told me to save that one when she could go with me. Anyway, if you have any future plans of traveling, I highly recommend her. Let her know I referred you!

There are a couple things that I'm still not sure I did correctly. The first issue is tipping. I know in the states we tip for all kinds of things. I know if it weren't for tipping, I would have problems keeping employees. I cannot pay as much in salary as the larger chain coffee shops can pay their employees. The tips my customers choose to leave help my employees to compensate some of that difference. Everywhere I traveled in Europe, there was a service fee attached to my food bill. It was between 15%-20%, which I thought was fare. Now do the servers get this? I don’t know. Should I have tipped on top of that? Not so sure. I was a little short handed when it came to Duncan, the bus driver though. He was taking tips when we finished the tour. All I had was about nine pounds in change in the bottom of my bag. I probably should have tipped him more.

The other issue deals with money as well. Should I just use my card or get local currency, euros or pounds, and pay cash? The one time I got euros out of the ATM, I paid $63 for €40. I know the dollar is weak right now, but that seemed like a lot. With most banks there is a fee, like 3%, to convert your purchce from dollars to whatever currency they are using. I did notice a couple card machines ask if I wanted to pay in US Dollar or Euro. If it was like that all the time. Paying by card would be the way to go.

My last observation over the past two weeks, I'd like to talk about, is the reality of how large this world is. Another way to look at it is how small my life is in comparison to the rest of the world. On my own, I traveled across the ocean to a foreign country to visit somewhere else that is not my own. I inserted myself in the day to day activities of the people in the cities of the countries I visited. As I walked or rode around on public transit, I had very brief interactions with others not on vacation. These interactions may had been only a glance or a smile, but still an interaction with someone else in this world living their very own life. Possibly wanting to take a holiday to Wilmington NC to get a break away from thier own everyday life. I thought, these people go to school, have jobs, pay bills and have family issues too. We all live our own personal lives along with billions of others living through their lives at the same time. Amazing!

During the fight we flew over Greenland. It was such a clear day it seemed to go on for miles. I took picture through the window, but the naturally do not justify what can be seen in person.

An iceberg

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip just as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you. Traveling alone didn't allow me to share with someone in the moment. But, I would try to take the best pictures I could manage with my phone and learn as much as possible about what I was observing. All of this so I could get back to the room each night and spend a couple of hours sharing my day with you. I apologize for my lack of journalism, but I hope you were able to get a good visualization of what I was experiencing. This would be a fun job for someone who likes to travel and write. Who knows, maybe someone important will come across this blog and ask me to write for their travel company.

Lake Ontario

I put together some statistics of my trip. I traveled by plane, train, trams and automobiles. Not to forget the old true and faithful feet. Here are the miles I traveled. By airplane 9,183. By train 902. By tram 85. And on my feet 84.22. For a total distance of traveling on this trip totaling 10,254.22 miles! That is just over two round trips between New York City and Los Angeles. Or 2500 short of half the distance around the world.

Last stop Wilmington, NC

Thanks again for reading. Stop by the shop and I can show you more pictures, videos and answer any questions you may have about my trip. Please support local business! See you on the next trip.

Here is an link for the videos I couldn't share on this blog.

https://youtu.be/FKeb2C842b0?si=_Hv0vPWFrpgwb9Dy