Liftoff

The goodbye. The flight. The arrival.

Written by

Dieter

Published

April 9th, 2019

In

Melbourne, Australia

”Hi mate. How are ye?”

I hesitated. Was he talking to me?! I had almost never been addressed to by a customs officer before. Let alone be addressed to as mate or ye (usually they called me Next, and they sure as hell didn’t want to know how I was doing). But it would appear he actually was talking to me. And as ordinary as that phrase was for him, for the mate he was talking to (yours truly) those were historic words. After months of preparations, sleepless nights and stressful days, I had made it to Australia.

The goodbye

Ever wondered how strange waving is? It seems like a natural movement, until you start thinking about it. Should you do it from the wrist, or take a more enthusiastic approach and use your full arm for it? If so, hands above, below or next to the head? Fingers slightly apart, or tightly closed in some kind of Pope-ish wave? It is weird, right?! But it’s actually nothing compared to the weirdness of standing in an airport and voluntarily saying goodbye to the people you love most, and knowing you won’t see them for another few months. On the one hand, I was excited to leave and start my journey. But on the other hand, I realized this was the last time I was talking to my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister and my friends in a really really long time. That realization hits you harder than you’d expect.

Especially because I’m so grateful for them. My parents might not always understand why I’m doing this, and I’m sure they’re slightly scared for me too, but they never judged me. Instead, they supported me from the very beginning, helped me where they could and took time to drive me to the airport. How would I not going to miss them like crazy? Besides them, I even have some friends who were crazy enough to get up early on a Sunday morning to come see me off (and take a few embarrassing photos in the process). So while they all saw me being weird not really knowing how to wave, I actually saw some of the most beautiful and amazing humans in the world.

The flight

Nothing to mention here. Unless you’d want to know the woman next to me got sick one hour into our 11 hour-long flight. Of course they had just distributed our food. I was seated next to the aisle, so the only thing standing between her and my ruined clothes and food, was me. The delicate dance that followed – and which included but was not limited to: juggling with trays full of food and drinks, hurrying to unbuckle seat belts, trying not to get choked by the wire from the headphones – definitely would’ve got us to the second round of Belgium’s got Talent. Or even Dancing with the Stars. If there would’ve been a star. Because she was clearly not shining. Anyway, she made it (thank you, me) and luckily only had to run back a few times more later during the flight. Good thing she had her boyfriend (which at first I believed to be her son – imagine my reaction when they started kissing) on her other side to comfort her after.

No, but seriously, there’s nothing to mention about the flight. It took ages of course (22,45 hours to be exact – delays included). And even having an interesting Austrian guy to talk to (thank you, Lio) couldn’t make up for the obvious lack of comfortable positions that a plane seat has to offer. If I did sleep, you ask? Let’s just say I know now why Rami Malek deserved the Oscar for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody, how exactly Wrack-it-Ralph broke the internet, and why those Engines were clearly Mortal. The battery from my iPod was drained almost completely, I didn’t miss a single meal and I almost finished 4 crosswords without looking at the solutions first. In fact, I slept so much I was already wide awake at 3am (how do you think this post got ready so quickly, huh?) after I finally made it to my hostel in Melbourne and fell asleep by 11pm.

The arrival

After I successfully passed all checks and biometrics customs (or successfully evaded them, you’ll never know) and thanked the god of luggage for having successfully delivered mine, I finally got my first breath of fresh air after 26 hours. I took a few deep breaths of that adventure-slash-promised-land filled air and started to make my way to the hostel. It appeared also the older lady from the bus company and both her colleagues were mates of me. As I overheard them talking to each other it dawned on me this would be a lot harder than I thought. I don’t know where they learned English, but they are un-understandable. The poor lady at the breakfast bar from the next morning had to repeat three times whether I wanted still or sparkling water, simply because she couldn’t pronounce it in ordinary English. Poor thing.

As you’ve noticed by now, I didn’t sleep much last night (but I’ve successfully found my hostel) and I’ve had breakfast by now (yes, I managed to get my desired water choice as well), so all is well. The sun’s out, and this city is clearly awaiting to be explored! So without further ado, I’m gonna be doing exactly that.

The footnote

Apart from the obvious and unapologetic throw to fame, this blog is primarily used as my own travel journal for my journey to and through Australia. It gives me a chance to reflect on what happened, to keep track of good (or bad) memories and to store my best pictures. And I just really love writing it. It may get emotional, or boring, or funny. If you don’t like it (anymore), no problem. I won’t consider you less of a friend or a family member if I suddenly see you unsubscribe (but beware of other possible consequences). If you do like it, get in touch. I’d love to hear your thoughts, reactions or feedback. But whether or not you like it, don’t hesitate to get in touch and tell me how and what you’re doing. If you’re still reading this, there’s a very big chance I’ll miss you, so go to your messaging apps and tell me what’s up with you (since you know what I’ve been up to that only seems fair).

And last but not least, a very big thank you to Elien, Sarah and Bart for sponsoring this blog! You guys are the best!

That’s it for now! Time to go back to your Instagram scrolling, house cleaning or your job. See ye, mate!