Sadly, after three months of travelling alone, I was ready to go home. I was extremely tired, and my health was starting to fail me again. I needed to go home.
I was planning on arriving in Cork around midnight, staying at Bru Bar for a few hours until my plane left around seven o'clock. Then it'd be just a quick eight hour flight to the states, and then just a few more hours until I'm in my apartment, cuddling with my pup again. Well, life's funny sometimes. You know the saying, tell God your plans, and he'll laugh? That's exactly what happened here.
There was a longer delay on my flight to Cork than expected, due to weather. By the time we were twenty minutes outside of Cork airport, the pilot announced his plan to divert the plane to Dublin, and from there they'll arrange a bus to take us to Cork. Or so I was told. See, at this point I was passed out due to illness and lack of oxygen, and the heavy turbulence did not help anything. I woke up to the plane cheering as we landed in Dublin, severely confused. At this point it was about half past twelve midnight, and Cork was three hours away. And the bus would show for another two hours. So there I am sitting on the side of the road, waiting for this tour-like bus to arrive, at 1am. By the time I arrived in Cork, it was 5am. I checked in for my 7am flight, hailed a cab and went to the bar. I could not stand to be in the airport another minute. I thought my troubles with airlines couldn't get any worse...I was wrong.
I sent to Bru bar, and chilled for two hours there with Jeff, the barman from before. Listened to some of his music, and drank a few beers, much like I had done before. Just trying to relax, and count done until I could be home again. When it was time to go, Jeff called a cab, and went to the airport. Sat for awhile talking to the cabbie about life and my journey thus far. Enjoying my last connection I planned on having over there. But again, life is funny.
My plane was delayed by three hours. I tried sleeping, but I couldn't due to all the reshuffling the flight attendants made us do. At this point, I was up for 27 hours straight, minus the time I passed out on the plane from London. By the time we landed in Heathrow, my connecting flight for the states was long gone. I spent the next four hours running from terminal to terminal trying to find the right person at the right desk to help reschedule my flight. Along the way, I ran into two fellow travelers from my flight, Jennifer and Rick. Jennifer was Asian Canadian, and Rick was like an Australian version of my father, but much more sociable. Together we spent the better part of 4 hours arguing with airline officials, trying to manipulate us into a seat on respectable planes home. Well, Jen and I couldn't get one until the following day, and poor Rick was looking at having to wait 3-4 days to a flight out of the country, and then possibly even longer to get a connecting flight that would actually take him all the way home. Another misfortune for Rick was that the airline wouldn't pay for his stay in London until they could rebook a flight for him, like they did for Jen and me. We combined our rooms, and gave him one of our slips so that he could have a place to stay for at least one night. And eventually, the airline gave him one night free at the same hotel as us, with complimentary dinner and breakfast.
The three of us ate dinner together, with another women from our flight traveling to California. We sat and drank until the barmen kicked us out. Then we continued to talk in our rooms. We talked about life, relationships, our journeys thus far. Rick was going through a divorce, and was in Ireland to see his beautiful baby girl. Jennifer was 37 years old, and afraid she'd never find a person to settle down with. Me, I was a lost girl, not 100% sure what she wanted out of life, or who she should be with, just trying her hardest to figure it all out. Surprisingly enough, so were the "adults" I was accompanied with.
We each were able to help each other figure out some answer to our real problems, in a small way. Rick and I helped talking Jennifer into changing her anxious ways. Jen and I helped Rick realize his need to keep the spark alive, and how to fight for the woman he loved. Jennifer and Rick helped me realize I had time still to figure out my life, and to change my path if I took a wrong turn somewhere. They taught me about "ships passing by in the night", about how things will eventually line up the way they always meant to be. I was afraid to let someone just be a passing ship; Rick showed me how that's what needs to happen in this life. And because of that, moments are all the more special. Ironically, Rick became a passing ship himself. He took my contact information, because he wanted to see how I went back home and started making changes in my life. Well, he never wrote. Jennifer did once or twice, but then they both became two ships I passed by one night in January. And that night, that was never suppose to happen, was the best way to end my trip. That moment will always be one of my favorites from my journey. Never to be forgotten.
P.S. If you wish to see more photos, check out my travels blog! http://the-end-of-your-comfortzone.tumblr.com/
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