Going on an adventure

18 years ago, I left on a year long adventure, I was 19 and I needed to escape and be free of the heartache I had felt during my high school days.  It was also a dream of mine to travel and to see the world and this was my chance.  This year myself and my friend, who was with me the first time are planning to go with our teenage daughters who are also best friends.  I love planning and have been asked to plan our tours and accommodations, while fitting in time to visit all the friends we made when we were there last. 

As I start thinking about everything we want to see and do, I am also thinking about all the adventures we went on before, I can honestly say that we made some not smart choices but we’re here to tell the tale and we had a blast.  This place is special and is the place where I became an adult, where I accepted change and the people in my life back home.  A lot happened in my life while I was in high school, and I needed time to be ok with everything.

It will be an amazingly memorable vacation filled with old friends that I have not seen since I left in June 2006 and who I often think about.  I am so excited show our girls this big part of our lives.

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I got out of bed early that day, I say I woke up early but there was no sleep that night, took a shower, and got dressed.  I was doing it, the one thing I always said that I would do.... I was taking off to see the world, well a small part of the world and it was about to take me 46 hours to get there.  Was I scared?  Absolutely but in an excited sort of way, I knew my life was about to do a flip and I just wanted to get there. 

My mom was driving me to the airport that morning, we loaded my 2 big suitcases into her old red truck and left for the city.  This small-town girl always had big dreams, and this was the biggest, leaving my family for an entire year to go explore a new culture that I knew nothing about.  I had to google the city and country when my friend asked me to join her out there, but that wasn’t about to stop me.  I had had a rough couple of years and I needed to escape so when the opportunity came I quickly accepted it. 

I had only flown once before, and now I was about to be travelling for 46 hours.  Mom helped me check into my flight and then we waited until I had to go through security.  I remember my family coming to say goodbye, which I did not expect, and I remember the tears, another thing that I did not expect.  We had said goodbye the evening before but that didn’t matter, the baby of the bunch was leaving and they wanted to make sure I knew that I would be missed.  As I went through security, I looked back at them and they were all crying and I was crying but there was my niece ducking under the bars so she could see me and was waving away so happy and so care free.  I wanted to be like her, just enjoying life and making everyone around me smile. 

When you live in the middle of Canada getting to Indonesia takes a while, especially 19 years ago.  After a few movies, many naps, lots of reading, I was in Kuala Lumpur, well sorta I was at the airport.  This was not my final destination but it was my longest layover, 11 hours, and this is where the adventure began.  I had to go through customs and go buy my ticket for my next 2 flights, I can do this and I did.  Now what?  Sit and wait all night long with all my luggage around me until it was time to check into my next flight.   

The fun thing about travelling is the people you meet, and as a naïve 18 year old I was willing to see the good in everyone.  As I sat there, barely able to stay awake, a man, I remember he was from Oman, sat next to me and began asking me questions about where I was from and what I was doing.  After talking for a while he asked me if I had gone outside yet, which I hadn’t, he then said well then lets go.  He spoke to the cashier at the coffee shop and asked if they could watch my bags while we went out for some fresh air, and being a crazy trusting young adult that I was I did just that.   

Stepping outside was like nothing I had ever seen before, the trees, the stone benches, the flowers, absolutely everything took my breath away.  We walked around outside and talked most of the night, it felt nice to not feel so alone.   

When it was time for me to go we said our goodbyes and he gave me a big hug and wished me luck.  I don’t remember his name, but this is a memory that I will keep forever in my heart.  He was my friend when I had no one and he could see that I was scared and he took care of me that night, just by being there.   

The last two flights were short and I was excited to get to the place I would be calling home for the next 12 months.  Arriving in Jakarta after my first flight was filled with new exciting and scary experiences.  After almost being stopped from entering the country I could not find my luggage.  I learned while I was trying to track it down that I would have to learn the language and fast as there were not many people that spoke English. 

Once everything was finally sorted and I had my luggage and my ticket I was ready and running to catch the flight that would take me to Padang, the place that I would be calling home for the next year. 

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