Day Fifty One: Birthday Adventure Begins!

My new record for how early I’ve gotten to the airport is seven and a half hours before departure. It’s birthday adventure weekend!

I literally sprinted through Salamanca, backpack on with neck pillow attached and slinging around, purse around my body, a gigantic bag of food my host mom in my hand, to get to my BlaBlaCar. It’s my first time riding in one and this driver showed up half an hour early. Luckily she was extremely nice and so was the other girl riding with us.

//I want to keep writing but it’s 2:45am and I want to get some sleep.//

Good morning again! Well, the car ride was really fun. We all really liked the same music so we jammed the whole way. The driver was a girl from Spain who loves music and instruments, is just starting her Ph.D in music, studies abroad in Ireland once upon a time, and currently teaches English to kids. She was very kind and fun-spirited, and I appreciated the way she talked about the places she likes and where she likes to travel. It was also just really nice to be in a car again taking a road trip. It was raining too, which is my favorite, and I got to sit in the front seat and look out of the window the whole time (when I wasn’t asleep). The girls were really nice. They gave me flashbacks to some of the other really nice strangers I’ve met since I left home. As anxious as I can get about social situations sometimes, there’s no doubt that a lot of the people I’ve come across add so much to my memories and experiences here.

Sometimes I was scared we would get in an accident driving in the rain on windy roads with a stick-shift, but at the same time I felt so content with everything that I realized if something did happen to us on the road, I would’ve been completely happy with my life right now. I felt free. I’m excited for this trip no matter what craziness it might bring, especially given everything I’ve been going through lately. I’m excited to get out on my own and see new things and just have a good time. Speaking of, I got good news from the doctor today so hopefully everything is uphill from here health-wise!

That’s all for now! Today ended with me falling asleep on a cold airport floor wrapped around my backpack and food bag. I’m exhausted but I’m still so excited for this trip. To be continued…