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Published: September 21st 2017
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Quick meal at London's Gatwick airport before boarding the flight for Podgorica, Montenegro. Always seem to get super hungry with these overnight flights, though I really shouldn't have been since it was 4 AM Calgary time. Today, it could've have been due standing around for 90 minutes waiting for luggage because one of the containers tipped over during unloading, or the 45 minute wait to check in for the flight.
Boots pharmacy is the best deal for food at the airport, pre-packaged chicken salad sandwiches, a dessert, and drink for 3.49 GBP. Just make sure you know how to self-administer the Heimlich maneuver in case you choke on the dry bread. Geo: 42.4426, 19.2686
Travel never ceases to amaze, with its instant therapeutic effect; it's something I've experienced many times. It's incredible how your entire countenance can instantly transform, as the result of something as silly as stepping onto a plane. But it's happened before, as it did again today - the weight on your shoulders, the tightness in your chest that hasn't let you get a full breath of air in a long time, the mental fatigue ... in a second it all goes away.
Your posture straightens up, the surge of oxygen through your arteries invigorates your body and illuminates the mind ... in effect, it's stepping through a door to another world, one where whatever you are escaping from is left far behind. It's similar to stepping off of a roller coaster, no longer having that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get during free fall, finally able to stand on stable ground. The scowl you've been wearing on your face slowly becomes a smile, and the feeling of anticipation and excitement starts to build.
It's funny sometimes ... the very thing that makes travel so exciting and enticing for me is the exact thing that makes
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The L'il Buddha on the flight to Montenegro! A while back a few of us work peeps met a former work peep in Red Deer for breakfast, and we ended up buying these little Buddha figurines as a bit of a gag to commemorate the day. We each got a different version - there was Wisdom, Love, etc. I ended up getting "Peace Buddha" - always looking for that peace of mind and inner tranquility that only travel can offer!
I rarely end up in my own photos, so I figured it'd be good to bring L'il Buddha along since he's more photogenic, anyway. day-to-day life challenging - the unknown. With life, too many unknowns lead to confusion and a feeling of helplessness. With travel, that's also true to a certain degree, but the confusion and helplessness are welcome most times, and there's one important difference - traveling by yourself, the responsibility lies solely with you, to extricate yourself from any undesirable situations. There's nobody else to depend on, nobody else to blame - that degree of control is something you can fall back on, which may not always be true with day-to-day life.
The surge of energy and adrenaline was definitely needed today, as it ended up being an epic day of travel - from the time I had left my place for the airport yesterday, to when I checked into the hotel, 20 hours had passed. 9 hour flight to London, 5 hour layover at Gatwick, another 3 hour flight to Montenegro ... exhausting.
The Montenegrin customs agent's reaction to my passport was priceless as she did a triple-take - "Are you sure ... this is you???" I need to go back to the shaved head/goatee thug-look days to match my passport photo, as it'll save me time getting hassled by
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Turkish clock tower in Podgorica's Ottoman part of town, an influence from when the Ottoman Empire once ruled the region. customs officials.
Pet peeve - travel guidebooks that are out of date. This is true of any guidebook, which is generally already out of date the moment it is published, since anything can happen - museums change hours, hotels are bought and sold, restaurants open and close ... but certain ones are better than others at doing an actual annual update, rather than just changing the picture on the cover and regurgitating the same stale, useless information. The first problem I have noticed with the Lonely Planet so far is that there isn't an airport bus after all, so I was stuck paying 15 Euros for the ride in, rather than the 3 Euro bus. It's not even the money, it's the principle of the thing! My hotel had offered to send me a 10 Euro taxi if I wished, but I declined, thinking there was a cheaper option.
First impression of Podgorica - the guidebook was right, in its assessment that it's not the most happening of European capitals. But having said that, it does have a few gems if you have the time to look for them. Whether or not you have the patience to do
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Podgorica is full of drab concrete block-style buildings. so in the oppressive heat, is another story. Three hours was about my limit today, as my face was starting to melt off like a chocolate cake in the sun. It felt like sticking your face in an oven as I stepped off the plane, and it never improved from there.
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Kathy
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Ouch.....guess a little part of Greek now lives inside of you - "a good scar in life", i hope =P