I Come With Baggage ...

Me with a pizza pie in Stavanger, Norway. With my luggage <3

...Both literally and figuratively.

Since this is a travel blog, I will focus on the literal.

And for your listening pleasure, Scandinavian duo, First Aid Kit

So, as mentioned in a previous post... I am not the lightest packer. If you have been keeping track, I went on a 2-month trip and packed 3 ginormous suitcases that had to be stored in the attic of my host family because there wasn't enough reasonable room anywhere else. Then I went on a 2 - week trip and packed a 50 + pound bag and an equally heavy "carry-on", all the while having to drag it through cobblestoned streets and up narrow wooden staircases. On that particular trip, I had to empty out some of my carry-on items and wear its contents at the security check-in. # classic

Since then, I have gotten a bit better. I anticipate only bringing a carry-on to the YOLO 2017 trip, but we'll see. So many things can happen in 4 days: strolling down streets, swimming, sight-seeing, surveying the land, sipping on yummy drinks... you know. Those require different outfits, obviously.

Anyway, as I reflect on the baggage that I have toted around the world, there is one incident that truly sticks out to me... and surprisingly it is not the time when my suitcase split open in transit (on the plane) and somehow my brand new heels purchased in Ireland magically disappeared while my 10-year old underwear* was salvaged.

So what could possibly be more iconic, you ask?

Well, dear reader, that has to be the time I watched my luggage depart on a Norwegian bus... that I was not on ....as I stood helplessly watching it drift away.

I use the word drift with extreme intention, because in Norway, many "roads" are routes through the water on huge ferries. So drift, it did.

* actual footage of my reaction to this horrible situation *

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Let's rewind a few hours prior, to a very responsible me (and my friend) getting to the bus stop in Bergen - the second largest city in all of Norway.

At the time, we had been proud of ourselves for many reasons...

1. We were very early and would most definitely get a spot on that bus taking us to Stavanger.

2. We didn't get lost once on our way to the location

3. We saved ourselves some money and walked to the bus station, despite the fact that taking a cab might have been the more appropriate avenue of transportation, considering the lengthy distance

(just kidding, it wasn't bad, but I am a whiney walker, FYI)

Basically, we were #winning. Nothing could keep us from our positive Nordic vibes that were pumping through our veins from the night before, aka the epic Kygo concert.

So, as we sat there (me, eating Sour Patch Kids, my friend, being an adult and not eating Sour Patch Kids), more and more people began to filter into the bus station. It hadn't really phased us that a line had started to form next to our platform (letter N... which now stands for "Never forget").

We were phased; however, by the cliental of the "M" line.

Let's just say that wherever the "M" bus was going, we wanted a ticket.

But we had an itinerary to follow! No time for crazy adventures that take us off our path of conquering Norway's sights and scenery. Not even for Ryan Gosling-like men in uniform.... or..... so we thought.

Despite the cushion of time with an hour to spare, we decided to get on line anyway, just in case. And thank goodness we did: The "M" line and "N" line, we quickly found, were actually one in the same.

SOOO many people in "two" lines for 1 bus. I was ready for the Hunger Games if need be...

In my mind, I was thinking - there is NO way we are not getting on that bus (I like to think in double negatives). We had been there almost 2 hours early because we were THAT responsible.

These young uniformed Goslings were going to have to wait.

Not today.

So, we hopped on the bus when it arrived and drove away with our luggage in our hands and waved to the gaggle of Goslings.

. . . is how it would have played out in a perfect world.

However, what actually happened was when we realized the bus was filling up and filling up fast, we drew up a quick action plan: put our bags in the storage units under the bus, therefore guaranteeing/securing our rightful seats.

Bags + storage = seat + owner of the bags

Right?

Wrong.

We were told that a second bus was coming to platform "J" and we could get on that one, no problem! I tried to state my case that there was a problem .... "Um... our luggage is on this one..."

But no one really cares out in the real world. They said it would all be okay and the second bus would just follow along and meet up in Stavanger. NBD.

I guess we must have kind of believed them . . . *listen for uneasy laughter*

So, we were finally off, albeit a half hour behind everything that we owned.

We took solace in the fact that we were at least on a bus with half of the Norwegian Ryan Goslings in uniform, who we eventually made friends with on our journey since all of the bus driver's curt and serious-sounding directions were in Norwegian, which I can safely say, I know not a lick of...and they did.

We turned to the Goslings and played the clichė American card: Help! I do not know what is happening! Please assist me! ... but much more adorably, I'd like to think.

They were very sweet and charming and we soon found out that they were not a random large group of good looking men. No, these men were ROTC Norwegian equivalents. Which we quickly realized, probably made us like ancient grandmas to them, but whatever. They were nice, handsome, and helpful.

Our trip took us all day... on and off ferries and through some of the longest tunnels (cut through mountains) in the world. It is a pretty impressive feat, some of these Norwegian tunnels. You can experience them by watching SlowTV on Netflix (a documentary? train ride that films out the front window of a train for 8 hours straight - I am not joking)

Hour: 2 , Minute: 34 is my favorite

Anywho, to end my long, long story:

We switched buses again at some point, but no worries! We had no luggage! It was real late. Maybe almost midnight when our bus pulled up to the town centre. No other bus in sight. Not one.

I decided to venture a little ways down to the actual bus station (where most buses pick people up and drop people off...?), but the lone bus driver I spotted did not know where our luggage bus with the other half of the Goslings was.

Panic set in.

For me, at least.

My calm, cool, and collected friend knew it would all be okay somehow.... and she was right.

Not too long after I began my internal breakdown that was starting to spread to the outside.... the lights and loud hum of our glorious bus came into my groggy focus.

I honestly do not think I have felt more genuine relief (except for when we landed in the US after a horrible layover situation in Canada from Rome).

The feeling can only be summed up in this Harry Potter gif.

Pure joy.

Moral of the story, you ask?

Ryan Gosling is awesome and don't get to the bus station early, no matter how responsible you think you're being.

Skål xx

Happy Birthday JJV

* 10 is not accurate, it is just for the shock factor?