Back on the hitchhiking path!

       After our epic night on Jersey island we woke up, had a proper english breakfast.

This was just what I needed that morning!  Yum yum!! 

We packed up our belongings and said good bye to our amazing view!

   It was a warm sunny day in Jersey.  I just couldn't get over how blue the water and sky were.  It was a nice change from the November weather in Roydon.  I was beginning to forget what the sun felt like.   We explored the island for a little bit, had a cup of tea and jetted back to the airport to catch our flight back home. 

    
         I was amped again!  My confusion had subsided and I had a new plan!   I was going to hitchhike up to the highlands, Ireland and back to London to catch my flight December 12th.

        Tuesday night was a bit of a bummer.   As it always is, it was hard to say bye.  I had been hanging with Johnny and Willay for two weeks.

Adventure time?!

         Leaving is always my least favorite part but I know it's part of the gig.  It just means I'm going some where new, get to meet new people and explore new things.

         Wednesday morning came without hesitation.   I had been putting off leaving as much as possible but it was finally the day.

        I packed up Walley and Johnny kindly took me to South Mimms where there was a gas station where people fueled up before heading north.  It was a bittersweet goodbye and until next time.

        I stood outside the convenience store at the gas station asking people for rides.  A lot of people completely ignored me or looked at me as if I was begging.  It was quite cold and raining. I kept faith that someone would take me to Northampton where I was aiming for.  It was only a two hour drive.

       Next thing I know a Polish gentleman in a small commercial truck offered to take me.  He was also heading basically to Northampton! He ran into the convenience store grabbed some things, gassed up and threw my bag into the back.

      

       The ride seemed pretty long considering.  I think it was the weather mostly.  In southern California this weather means you're not leaving the house unless it's an emergency.  :p

       The man was quite sweet.  He had bought extra doughnuts for me at the convenience store.  Despite the fact that we couldn't really communicate; I knew he was an outstanding person.  I didn't exactly know where I was going and I never traveled with a phone.  If I had wifi I had Skype, FB and What'sApp.  He kindly let me use his phone to call my friend and figure out where we could meet.  Eventually I found a McDonalds in Northampton that had wifi.   We decided that would be the meeting spot since my friend lives in the middle of nowhere.

          Next thing I knew my friend showed up!  It had been years since I had seen him and I finally was going to meet his wife and three kids!  That was exciting for me!! 

        Just a short drive and I was at my new home!  It was such a change from the last two or three months.  I was now in a house with a family; and friends at that.

This basically sums that up!

I was spoiled yet again!  They had a spare bedroom with a TV and a bathroom attached.  Let the BBC marathon begin!

       

What a beautiful backyard!!

            The first night they treated me to a dinner at the local pub/restaurant with the whole family.  I'm pretty sure I had salmon, brussels sprouts and mash.   I remember it was beyond fantastic! 

         The original plan was just to stop by for a day or two and make it up to the highlands.  It was later that night or the next day it just started pouring.  Most of western England was hugely flooded, it was still quite cold and I hadn't worked out hosts for the next places yet.  I loved being in a family environment and hanging out with my new lil sis. 

        Before I knew it my plans for leaving changed.  Mum kept saying I was more than welcome to stay and I was really loving it! 

Meet Ellie the lovable yet very naughty Labrador.

       

        The next 10 days or so were filled with savory family dinners, hanging with the sis, walking Ellie, Skyping with friends, chatting with my momma and those BBC marathons I mentioned earlier.  The countryside and the cold made being inside a cozy house so much more inviting. 

         One day while taking the dog walk I discovered this beauty! 

            She and Ellie just loved each other... 

Well,  I kind of loved her too. 

           A week or so passed and it was time to go.  I had found an epic concert in Manchester for 1/3 the cost what it would be in the states and December 12th was coming faster than I could imagine! 

           My friends had friends just down the road that were headed to Manchester the next day for a sporting event.  That would work perfectly!  I would wake up early while the grass was still frozen and catch a ride with them!

Hamburg, Sauerkraut and Wieners!

My time in Hamburg was nice.  I was just thinking today how I cool it was to meet Laura and how kind she was.

Saturday night we had been out dancing and seeing the town.  I'm not sure if you know... but Hamburg DOESN'T sleep.  Laura ended up going home.  She invited me to go with her.  I decided not to since it was "still early".  The night progressed and I never looked at the time.  The next thing I knew I was off to the next place, and the next place.  Long story short I noticed that everyone around was starting to be kind of shady.  You know, facial expressions etc.. I decided to leave. When I stepped outside the sun hit me straight in the face and I almost melted. I guess you can't get into the last place with garlic.

This photo was apparently taken at 7:09 am.

      This guy started talking to me and let me know the scoop about the place I was in.... now alone.  I let him know he reminded me of my brother and we became friends. Haha!  
     Eh Tim?  Small resemblance after 9+ hours on the town?

This is what was outside at 8:59am when my phone says I left. Not shady at all.

    It was now 9 am I was..... some where and it was starting to rain.  I knew if I walked around long enough I could find a train, go back to the main station and figure out how to get back "home".  After a long, long walk in the rain I finally found the subway. Yay!  I jumped in the first train I thought might go the right direction and viola.  I was at main station, four more stops and two on the bus and I would be home.  I remember standing, waiting for the bus which said "4 minutes", falling asleep standing up, waking back up, seeing "4 minutes", falling asleep, waking back up, seeing finally seeing "2 minutes" falling asleep, waking back up...... finally "1 minute".  Now I have to sneak on the back of the bus so I don't have to pay.  Two stops and four naps later I made it!  It was now almost 11 am and the plan was to leave Hamburg that day.
 
     I slept little bit.  It was now 5 pm.  I needed to shower and figure out how I was going to leave Hamburg.  The original plan was to hitchhike but it was now nearly dark and I didn't have an escape route.  Plus, as you can imagine I was pretty tired and my stomach was upset.

     I decided to try and sneak on the train to Essen.  This way I could stay the night with my friend instead of sleeping.... who knows where.  I figured out the next train was in 15 minutes.  I was starving so I grabbed wally and went upstairs to grab food.  Like an idiot, I didn't know how to open these special kind of train doors and I missed the train.   It was two hours until the next train.

     An older Spanish gentleman started talking to me.  He as on his way to Paris with an old suitcase and  clothes that were thrown inside with everything else jumbled together.  He was cool.  When the train finally came I opted to sit in the same area as him.

      Since I hadn't paid the 70 euro for the ticket in advance I was going to try to plot a free ride.  Well... it almost worked.  The ladies who checked tickets were nothing short of jerks.  I mean, yes, I was trying to get a free ride but if my story had been completely true they were ruthless.   I mean, 70 euro or almost 100 USD was a lot compared to a free trip hitch hiking.  This was also money I didn't really have.  But whatever.  I got a nap in a warm place.

     When I arrived at the Essen HBF I realized that I still didn't know where I was going and that my friend was most likely in the next city.  I had to find wifi now and get a hold of my friend.  Finally, a starbucks in the center of town and free wifi!  I messaged him and he said he would be back in Essen as soon as possible.  Since it was now 3 am the next train would arrive around 6 am.  I decided to wait there on a sweet granite bench so I had internet.  It was now getting quite cold.  I had all of my jackets on, scarf, gloves, warm socks, hats... everything I owned on!  I decided the only remedy would be to jump into my sleeping bag.  I kept checking my phone through out the night.  Around 8 am I decided my friend wasn't coming so I could just sleep.

       The next thing I know boomboomboomboompshhhpshhhhboomdoublebooompppshhhh,drum rolll, wake the heck up!! we've got and orchestra of samba drums and whistles and you need to wake up!!!!!!  Get out of bed!!!!!

      I found this quite entertaining.  I had never been woken up so officially!  I felt a little strange since I was literally sleeping in the center of town, in a sleeping bag.... like a bum.  The impact of this group of drums, so intense and perfectly in sync with each other I couldn't help to smile and be amused!  I packed up my sleeping bag and headed for a bathroom back at the station. This way I could brush my hair and splash some water on myself.

      I then realized that this drum roll was not just for me.  It was also for a marathon that was taking place throughout town. These drums were there to help cheer the runners on to the finish/lap line. I should have really captured this moment for the blog but I didn't for some reason.

      Around noon my friend finally got in contact with me.  He ended up sleeping in the other town on accident but we were going to meet up and have a late lunch/dinner.  It was nice to see him!  He is the only person on my trip so far that recognized me from LA.  When I was missing home a bit he helped me re-realize that everything was more jolly where I was.  Some times that's all it takes.

Before a..  well.... a few minutes on the town.

Essen peeps!

      I spent a week with him in Essen, had some traditional German food (like sauerkraut and wieners), met his friend, cousin who was visiting from Morocco and later his family and best friend.  All of the above were pretty awesome!  The week was pretty relaxing for me.  I took some sweet baths and caught up on the blog there.

     That weekend he, his cousin and I all went to Düsseldorf for a day on the town.

Exactly!   Hallå!

A view of Düsseldorf from above!

Me and my new friend!

Yep.  That's where we were.  Not in the lamp post silly!  The TV tower!

Salma, Tobias and me in Dusseldorf!

   

The historic trolly 

The Rhine  river 

We left Dusseldorf just as it started raining and headed back to Essen.  Yes, we went out again.  The next day was Tobias' mother's birthday.  I was happy to be invited!  We went to Wuppertal where he was raised and had an awesome tapas dinner with the whole family, listed to a bit of opera and had some delish coffee and moroccan pastries. (Not in that order.)  It was a night of warmth, family, friends, laughs and friendly kisses.  I truly enjoyed it!

Salma's cousin, Salma and me at dinner.

    The next day I woke up, cleaned a bit packed my things, had dinner with Tobi and snuck on a train to Wuppertal to meet my Tobi's friend.

    Those stories coming soon!

To infinity and BEYOND!

My stay in Sweden has been nothing short of incredible!  I have met amazing, diligent, beautiful, open minded, super sweet and caring people here. It took me three whole weeks to find someone who I couldn't get along with in some fashion. I snorkeled with jellyfish, took a "bath" in the harbor in the middle of the night when the clouds are still visible, jogged and swam at Kåsjön fresh water reserve, picked raspberries, boated to the granite islands, rock hopped, danced into the morning, enjoyed a fresh cup of Swedish coffee and mowed a GRAND lawn. I ate: messmör, semla, Swedish meatballs, herbs and vegetables from the garden, lingdon berry, a typical Swedish sandwich, home made kladdkaka and I plan to eat the very seasonally traditional crawfish. I have learned a few cute Swedish inside joke type words, have many stories and a collection of new MUSIC! 

Now I must continue on. School is about to start for my sidekick and "mom-ma" is already back to work. 

It looks like the next step is going to be NORWAY! How? Well, that's the beauty of the next chapter of my journey. I now have one MONTH to get 8 hours away to Stockholm.  The strategy is to plan to leave Gothenburg on Friday August 24th.  Maybe there or before I can find a ride north-ish with out hitch hiking. I have spent WAY too much money here so to buy a bus ride sounds a bit lame when I have so much time to get to the next place. (I have a feeling this is where I learn patience.) I do have a tent and a sleeping bag.  If need be; I will check into my portable tent motel in the forest and use my Swedish "right to roam".  This chapter will be a good one.  I'm sure I will learn a lot.  Part of this chapter will be cutting shampoo out of my routine. After a bit of research I don't think it's necessary.  No, my hair shouldn't be greasy or dirty after a few week adjustment period. This shall be a fun experiment for me! More about that to come later....

So, YES!.. back to the plan. I now have an adventure starting October 1st from Stockholm to Germany with a fellow CouchSurfer.  We're going to do.... something..... for a few days while we get from point A to B. Then, it just so happens that there's this small thing going on... maybe you've heard of it? Oktoberfest?  Nej, I didn't think so.  Well it's supposed to be a good time.  I figured since we'll be in the neighborhood we should check it out.  So that's the agenda so far.  No plans after that, yet.  This chapter is about "one day at a time".

I'm stoked to leave Gothenburg, only because it means I get to experience Norway and the "north".  I want to meet a REAL northern Swede that makes this noise by sucking in air to acknowledge the word "yes".   And yes, there are Eskimos there.  They do kiss with their noses and live in block houses! I CAN'T wait!  

Yeah....... so that's the "plan"! Rad! :) 

I have a new hobby: trying to edit videos when I have no clue how.  Those awesome clips of "living" will be done... some time.  Ah haha!

One more thought!: Please write me a comment with some feedback.  Maybe explain how much this info sucks! Thank you. 

Here are some photos in Gothenburg from my little Hero...   

The real Ikea meatballs!

A special holiday pastry called "Semla" - It was made especially for me!

Chowing down some Semla! - Yum yummers!

Home made kladdkaka. a delish choc cake! - Also my special treat! - Sorry it's so dark.

The "Lion Stairs" on a gorgeous summer night. 4:00 am? Notice it's still light out?

Lion Stairs during the day!

Clouds? Yes, this is cloud heaven!

Ahhh..... it was another gorgeous day! Sunbathing was a must!

My new Norwegian friend!

Crazy, cute Swedes - "brother" and "sister"

Yep, another friend! Sweet pillows too, eh?

Uh oh! That's my "up to no good" face.

So..... What you're saying is, "you've never ridden a frog"?

This is how they greet the sun every morning!

World culture fair

World culture festival

Do you see the guy painting? - This is pretty typical in mid-summer.

Each mailbox has the family name.  So cute! 

The REAL photos will be coming soon!