these little pieces of me..

So shortly after my last update I fell asleep. I am not sure how long I was asleep but I was awakened by the bus driver who had no problem announcing to the whole of the bus that:

“To the person that got on the wrong bus…your bus is right in front of us.”

So to a chorus of “good lucks” I grabbed my bags and trudged through the four inches of snow that accumulated while I was sleeping to the correct bus. Seems the buses were both riding the lip of the storm and were moving along very slowly.

I threw my bag underneath got a seat towards the back and passed out. So only an hour and a half late we reach the border into canada just before 5am. Everyone has to get off the bus to take their luggage and go through inspection.

Sounds easy, yes? No.

My luggage is not on the bus. Looks like during the pitstop in either rochester or buffalo when I did NOT get off the bus some clever baggage handler removed my bag from the bus and didn’t put it back on..that or someone just took it.

blar..

..So here I am getting to toronto at 7am’ish with nothing but my cameras, my ID and the clothes on my back to brave the negative degree weather.

Strangely…even with all that nonsense all it took was the first cup of coffee from the first pot brewed at the tim horton’s just opening up for the day a few blocks away to make everything alright!

Liza came to pick me up, had breakfast with her and her friend antionette. Went to the place I was crashing..kind of settled in and just relaxed for the rest of the day. Called continental to make sure my return flight was good, complained to greyhound some more; met up with gea then…sleep.

the next day was a breeze at negative a million degrees in my same clothes from two days ago. Went to the ROM (royal ontario musuem) to see the dead sea scrolls and this sick vanity fair photography exhibit. I then went shopping for clothes and shoes since canvas converse with holes in them do nothing against ice, snow or cold.

Go figure right?

Sun set. Sleep. Calgon..take me away.

..ra

I suppose with all beginnings, all births, there has to be an immense amount of pain. There has to be sufficient struggle and turmoil to bring a measure of order out of chaos..or vice versa.

It makes sense then that on a day that could be perceived as a rebirth of sorts that I am in turmoil. That I am struggling – sort of.

It started last night.

As I was setting up to pack, organizing myself so maybe I could get this packing stuff right just once I received an email from continental. It says I can check-in for my flight to toronto at anytime and suggested it would expedite my journey.

I shoved a shirt into the bag and go online to log-in. I go to check in and then I find out, just kidding mr. Billings, your flight is canceled..snow’s coming.

!!! Can you imagine!

Calling continental proved useless as their lines were backed up from the other poor bastards just trying to get to their destination. After 50-minutes I must have fallen asleep.

Woke up today. Showered. Grabbed my bag and rushed to school. Took my stats final (that I think I bombed) and then cabbed it to newark. I won’t go into the details, but needless to say every single toronto bound flight had been canceled. Imagine that…oh yeah, at 12noon, the sun was out, so much for a storm.

Not one to give up, I waited on lines to get on lines. Found out I couldn’t route through chicago and that amtrak didn’t run until the morning. That would be two days lost…so, as a last ditch effort I called greyhound. There was one bus.

I hopped the NJ Transit and got to penn station, then port authority. Purchased my ticket to toronto..10-hrs. I’ve made this trip many times before; I can handle it. Now.. at this point in the story I should be sitting on a bus to toronto explaining my day – and I am..except this bus isn’t going to toronto.

At the last moment they changed up the gates and myself and two others are on the wrong bus. I am sitting here in a dark bus, albeit warm, racing on wet and slick black roads towards syracuse, ny.

The driver tells me there will be a one-hour layover and then he’ll continue to buffalo. Says I have a seat. So toronto I will get there. Eventually. I promise.

For now..nothing to do but sleep and hope I can forget this hunger; I haven’t eaten. Here’s to adventure!

Dream sweet people.

..ra

So I’m sitting on the train between an extremely fragrant older lady and her equally fragrant, although smelly, young tweenager girl thinking about nothing more than beginning my world tour.

I just handed in a statistics exam and double checked my schedule for next semester to ensure everything was ok. I have completed the requirements for 3 out of the 4 classes I had this semester with a statistics final being all that’s left.. In two days.

In two days, right after my final, I also begin my world tour. I am heading to toronto to visit with friends before the holidays; a comfortable beginning to what I hope will be a chaotic and exciting new year.

In all honesty, I only have a handful of places so far to go to next year, but the list is ever growing and changing depending on cost, deals, etc. As with most of my travels, anyone is welcome to come…the more the merrier really. The difference I guess is that I am no longer going to wait for anyone..

..this of course means I may end up traveling alone. (Gulp!)

That being said, the places I have in mind so far are:

- cyprus
- london
- peru (macchu pichu)
- ecuador
- arizona (grand canyon)
- yellowstone
- disneyland

Blar, anywhere really. What expedites a trip are the expenses. So places where I could crash (hint, hint) are easier to get to than places I’d need to find lodging.

Of course all ideas (and flop spots) are appreciated.

Blar. Two more days..

..ra