Big Question: Why?
Everyone
asks me the same question. What caused this trip? Well, I don't want
to tell a big long sob story all about it, so I'll give you the
short version. About 4 years ago, I hit my head and I forgot
everything. Being an optimist, I tried to look at this misfortune as
simply a second chance. Some days I'd have memories, others I
wouldn't. I always had enough to get by, and I was able to build
myself into exactly who I wanted to be with no personal history
standing in the way. It was great. Sadly, I hit a wall. A friend was
killed in a car accident, a girl was jerking me around, said girl
only a short time previously being involved with my best friend--as
you can imagine, causing some tension. And to top it all off, my
university was threatening to throw me out because of lackluster
performance. Essentially my entire world was being ripped apart. I
needed to escape, I needed to go somewhere. So, I awoke one chilly
December morning deciding that I ought to feed the dream, entertain
this flight of fancy, and find out how much a break would cost.
(Pictured:
Me, in Toronto Airport, wondering what I had gotten myself into...
) I logged on to my computer and typed in "Around the World plane
ticket". The first site that came up was www.longhaultravel.ca. A click
here and there and an off blue map of he world was presented to me, with
various city capitals highlighted, asking me to plan my dream vacation.
So, I clicked on Cairo--I always wanted to see the pyramids, after all.
But then I thought "Heck, I'm not actually booking anything. Why not go
everywhere I've ever wanted to go and see how much it is". So clickity
clack click and I had a total of 14 cities selected: London, Edinburgh,
Dublin, Paris, Prague, Rome, Zurich, Cairo, Amman, Sydney, Alice
Springs, San Francisco, New York, Toronto (Home). I clicked upon the
foreboding Submit button, and a window popped up and started to load. I
was expecting a ballpark price, but instead, received the message "A
travel agent will contact you within 72 hours". This was getting
serious.
Sure enough, within a couple of days, Karen from Long Haul Travel out of Toronto called me. The price of the trip would be e-mailed to me. A few hours later, I was staring at a number that I could actually afford! I was stunned. I said "Book it", two words that have forever changed my life.
I phoned up the parents, part of my wishing they would say no--I was scared to death!. My Dad asked me if I intended to return to school, I said yes. So he said "Okay. Just be careful!". And that was that. After a brief side trip to Ottawa for Visas, and a few days in Guelph, January 12th rolled around and I was on my way on the Adventure of a Lifetime.
Pictured: the Chariot of the Skies that would take me to
London.
