Travel Diary 06/22 Part One

Background Story
From 1st of June till 11th I’m travelling from my home town in Austria to Madrid, Lisbon, Málaga and London

01.06.
Exactly 12 o’clock. The first “moment” that I have today. The last two days have been crazy. I had a lot of stuff to do and came home 9pm last night. I was tired but also awake if that makes sense and decided to stay up until 2am when my sister would pick me up to bring me to the bus stop where my journey would start. But the later it was the more tired I got and so finally I gave in at half past 12. Lol. Well you can guess how my mood was when the alarm went off less than an hour later. Great. Small last minute things and my sister was here. Though she did complain about the early hour she made a well-rested impression on me. “I went to bed at 9” she said. Great for her. Tired af and some small talk later I waited for the bus that took me to the airport. Obviously I slept on the bus but it was only a two-hour trip. Oh I forgot to mention that I had to puke before my sister arrived and my belly felt like shit. At the airport I thought I should grab a bite before my three hour flight but that turned out to be a bad idea. When the boarding started I was hugging the toilet again. It was a constant battle – I felt like shit but knew boarding would end soon and so I was torn in between the toilet and the plane. I think I switched about four times between the gate and the toilet. Finally I was about the last person who scanned their ticket. Just a few people in front of me at the entrance of the plane. Again I’m torn im between telling the airplane staff how I felt and just hoping it would go away. The first step onto the plane I had to stop and go back again. It was so hot and no air, my stomach felt disgusted. Until I was the last person and had to go in I waited. When I entered again I immediately asked the staff to give me a paperbag just in case. They were very kind and gave me some. I remember years ago when it was standard to find one of those bags at your seat. Of course I had a middle seat but it could have been worse- the window seat. I tried to breath, be calm, drink water. It was hard but somehow I managed to get through the starting process of the flight. I tried to sleep and somehow managed to drift a little off. As soon as we were up in the air, the window guy needed to go to the toilet. I decided to take the chance and go there too and that turned out to be a good idea because in there I couldn’t hold it back anymore. After the last bit of fluid left my body and feeling a bit guilty that others had to wait so long I went back to my seat. The rest of the flight was not brilliant but with no more incidents. This was the second worst flight of my life.
All of that stressed me and when I arrived in Madrid my belly let me know that it was starving. But I didn’t want to eat at the airport and made my way to the city first. Figuring out where to go and how to get tickets one hour later I finally sat down in the park with a caprese crossaint and a pan au chocolate which is obviously not a smart choice for a beleaguered belly but there weren’t many eating options for vegetarians.

After eating it’s the first time for a long time now that I just sit here and rest. I feel weights are lifting a bit and I think how great it is to just sit here and enjoy my life. Obviously I’m not 100% chilled out now but thinking where I was twelve hours ago and where I am now brightens my mood.
My first impression of Madrid is that it is very busy here. The traffic is insane and a lot of stuff is open here before lunchtime already which was surprising to me because my memory of spanish culture is that they like more of a late start in the day which I always envied because things in Austria are very different.
But when I take a closer look Madrid does not disappoint me. Most of the people are sitting there and drinking coffee. I can’t help to think that people here would think something was wrong with me if I lived here and wouldn’t drink coffee. (I don’t drink coffee at all)
The traffic is loud and busy so I really appreciate Retiro Park where I sat down and enjoyed my late breakfast. Even though it’s right next to the busy streets it’s very quiet and calming here. This place let’s you forget the busy world we’re living in.
So I take this moment, relax and enjoy, having in the back of my mind that my next flight will be in a few hours and looking forward to see where it will take me next.

13:53 After walking through the center of Madrid to see the famous Gran Vía I lay down in the park exhausted. I have to keep in mind that “tourist attractions” aren’t always attractions. I really couldn’t see why people and tourists in particular would want to go there. The overcrowded streets and the construction work really got on my nerves. I have a light headache. I’ve been drinking a lot all day but after filling up my bottle I had to find out that water here tastes different. Better to buy some fresh water but I always have the planet in the back of my mind. So much waste. But drinking bad tasting water on an already beleaguered stomach just makes me feel worse. I really imagined this day differently. But that’s the thing. If you set expectations there’s nothing but disappointment waiting for you. I mean I didn’t expect much knowing I’d only have a few hours here but still. Exploring Madrid I should have prepared better. I did some research online but none of that matters if you don’t read or hear from a local. And that was my mistake. But I also take this opportunity to learn something for the future. Even though I should have known this already from my past trips. Free tours for example are the best way to explore a city. At a free tour a local will guide you around and give you information about the city and you tip them at the end. That’s why theses tours are better than if you pay upfront because at a free tour the guide knows they’ll only get money if people liked the tour.

20:29 I’m sitting in the next plane (to Lisbon). After realising that Madrid didn’t have a lot to offer for my short stay (though I don’t blame Madird – I blame my bad preparation) I decided to go back to the airport early and wait in an airport lounge. To be honest about ten years ago I didn’t really know that airport lounges exist and what exactly they were. But ever since a friend made a Diner’s Club credit card for a trip to China to benefit from its airport lounges network I check in to these lounges anytime I get the chance. They are usually quiet and peaceful which gives you some time to relax before your flight and almost all of them have a buffet included in the entrance fee. If you have a certain amount of transaction in a year with your Diner’s the entrance will be for free. Anyway the best thing about it is that a lot of them have showers. Specially today where I’ve been wearing my clothes since 1:30 am I cannot even put in words how good I felt after taking a shower and changing into fresh clothes.

I also need to update a statement I made before. In this very airplane they do have a paper bag at every seat. So I guess it depends on the company you fly with.
Another thing that will always be strange to me is how people queue up for boarding. The flight was delayed but when I got to the gate about 90% of the people of the flight had already been standing in a queue waiting for the boarding process to start. Me and a few others were patiently sitting knowing damn well thay boarding won’t start any quicker if you stand there and block about three quarters of the gate and are in everybody’s way. Then it’s also fascinating to me how a lot of people always want to be “first”. I mean you’ll be stuck on the plane long enough, why would you want to get in there first? Unless you have a window seat and want to sleep right away and don’t want to bother people having to get up for you. Well, I guess I’ll never understand that.

20:49 Though I’ve been on so many flights in my life I’ve lost count, the older I get the scarier flying gets for me. I have absolutely no clue why but every take-off and landing process gives me anxiety. Especially the take-offs. When the plane ascends everything is fine but as soon as it descends a little (during take-off) I’m always freaking out. Only on the inside of course but on this particular flight I started to panic a little when shortly after take-off a kid in the row behind me started to freak a little. He was almost yelling “I’m so nervous” and I felt my nervousity rising as well. The worst part was when the seating belt sign double blinked and two flight attendants were walking very quickly to the back. I don’t know why but this just freaked me out completly and my first thought was “Will I die now?” “Are these the last moments of my life?” “Was Madrid the last city I have seen?”. And immediately there came my other voice saying “Well if this is the end then so be it”. Or “Ok, fine. Then you had a great life”
And I mean I did see so many places and cities. And though the first voice was like “But you still wanted to…” The second didn’t even let it finish the sentence and just accepted what could happen. I mean everything was fine again and of course like always I overreacted and I’m happy if I never have to experience this for real.
I mean seeing it coming and knowing there’s nothing in your power to stop it must be insane. I’d rather have it just in a second like a bomb or something where it’s all over with no time to think about it.

21:34 (20:34 CET) Landing on the other hand feels fine. I really can’t tell you why exactly. Maybe it’s because when you land you do expect the plane to go down. The feeling that makes me sick is just when you take-off and suddenly descend a bit. And the sound of the seat belt sign always freaks me out – again no clue why.
And I really don’t understand amy of this. It wasn’t even that long ago – 2019 in Australia – when I also flew a lot and couldn’t care less. I even had trained my body to fall asleep as soon as I would be on an airplane. There was a flight where I didn’t even realise that we were taking-off at all! I mean can you believe that? But it’s the truth. I fell asleep soon as I sat in my seat and woke up when we were already high up in the air. So insane. So why do I have so much anxiety now? That would be a good question for a therapist that I can’t afford.
The plane just came to a stop and again people are going all nuts trying to leave the plane first. I mean ok but here for example we have to go on a bus that take us to the terminal and again the bus doesn’t leave until everyone is in wheter you believe this or not. So the sooner you are on the bus the longer you are stuck in there. I really don’t understand these people. And I probably never will.
Meanwhile I’m sitting all chilled (but still with some rest anxiety) in my seat and write these lines. I was the last person to leave the plane and see there – both of the buses were still there. And the best thing about being last is that you get off the bus first. I love Karma.