pocket-full-of-seaglass

-The Starting Point-

Technically, my trip began in Brisbane on a hot June morning, where I sat nervous and sweating in the airport gate. Or maybe it began even earlier, the first day I learnt of the Camino. Depends on how specific and/or philosophical you want to get I suppose, but for all intents and purposes, we’ll say I started in Germany.

Finding a way to Geneva was far easier than I anticipated – public transport in Europe is endlessly better than its Australian counterpart. I booked three buses for €118 that would take me 1200km (just over half of how far I would walk over the following months) from Flensburg to Geneva across the span of twenty six hours, and before I knew it I was off.

-Bus One [N50 to Hamburg]-

My first ride of the day was a short two and a half hour connection between Flensburg and Hamburg. I was seen off by my grandparents and family friends, who waved very adorably at the bus as we pulled away from the curb. Then I turned to face an almost empty top deck and watched the trees whizz past the window as I listened to songs I loved as a child and realised – it was all beginning!!

Finally! I was alone, r e a l l y alone. I was entirely dependent on myself, responsible for my own wellbeing and safety. Thank. Fucking. God. I was grateful for my family and their care, but I had been itching for independence since I could remember. I had chased this my entire childhood, every birthday a countdown. I couldn’t wait to see who I was, to finally be able to reassess myself in peace, away from the distraction and noise that is Other People.

I was on my way !!

And so the first bus passed by quickly, a mesh of daydreaming and letter writing and quiet. Hamburg ZOB arrived before I even really processed leaving – my pack and I settled on the dirty pavement. Together, we waited out the three hour stopover, eating Brötchen and apples and inhaling the sweet sweet smell of cigarettes and piss. Oh city life ❤

-Bus Two [N33 to Frankfurt]-

Immediately upon boarding the second bus, I realised this would be a little different. It is important to note that I got on this Flixbus not five days since getting off my last one, which lasted forty six hours and left me (somehow) jet-lagged. After that, I assumed this would be nothing. I was wrong. Something about it kept me needling, never a comfortable position.

The scenery made up for it though ; solar farms and wind turbines in the middle of the night lighting up in brilliant eerie reds is something to behold. I scribbled the dark away, paragraphs and phrases slowly filling my notebook. Lately, I’ve had my beloved Australian heat running rings around my head, and more often than not my scrawling gives way to eucalyptus leaves and salt spray. I was craving sunburn – the forecast for Geneva had a heat advisory and a temperature of 35*+ every day for the next week. I couldn’t wait.

As the stops trawled by, I was accompanied by a rotating cast of men who (unintentionally) frightened me, and by the time I arrived in Frankfurt at 3.25am, I had yet to sleep. For the second time, my bag and I took a place on the crusty concrete, and waited.

Here the excitement truly kicked in, as I laid with my back against cold ground and my head atop my pack, as I surely would so many more times over the coming months. I had thought about this for so long – actually starting seemed bizarre. But for now it was late, and drunk men were everywhere – not exactly a perfect napping environment. I spent the next five hours writing and tinkering with playlists; waiting for the dawn to break.

-Bus Three [N122 to Geneva]-

At 8.15am, my final bus arrives and what a godsend it is. No double deck to be seen, a functional toilet (with toilet paper),,,, such luxuries cannot be overstated! Better yet still, I had no seat-mate – I could sleep!

And for the next six odd hours, sleep I did. Thankfully, no-one sat in the seat next to me so I was free to contort and stretch to my hearts content, switching around every other thirty minutes. Then 2.55pm rolled around and I opened my eyes to a borderline caricature of what I thought Switzerland would be like; gargantuan rolling green pastures sloping up to a mountain spotted with cows and snow. A small red-roofed village – complete with babbling brook – idles lazily in the shade, and the church cross catches fire in the afternoon light.

And then we turned the corner to the Border Security checkpoint.

Put a bit of a damper on. my mood if I’m honest, but hey! All standard, they ask for passports, etc. etc. I hand them my Australian one because if they ask for anything else it’ll match my name. We go through the mini questionnaire and I explain that I’m only here a day, to begin the Camino – as far as border security and I are concerned, I’m nailing it.

“So where is your entry stamp into Europe?” Oh fu c k.

Here is my proclamation of love for Switzerland’s military; not only did they play the How to Train Your Dragon score at the Edinburgh Tattoo but when I hand this poor man my German passport with an entry stamp to Europe but also a different name, different sex, generally different information with absolutely no other documents to back it up and went in for my first apology, he simply held up a hand and said, “they are both valid at a glance, and so it is clear to me what has happened here. Germans.”

God I love the Swiss.

And so the bus drove on, past winding rivers and farmland, old white buildings and city outskirts, until finally I glanced up from my ramblings and saw them. The Swiss Alps. They towered above the land, formidable silhouettes of craggy rock. As Geneva slowly came into view, it seemed to cower beneath them.

The closer we got, the more vibrant everything became. The colours seemed brighter somehow, the wind stronger. People were crowded by the water, flags hung from rafters.

It hit me then that I had n o fucking cl u e what I was doing. Walking ?? For months at a time ?? Was I nuts ?? Why the hell did I not go with Greece ??

And then, joltily, the crackling intercom came to life, and my twenty six hours were up. I took my pack for the last time, and turned towards the bustling city. I had arrived :]