The Fishes are Kissing Me: Thunderstorm Memories

Getting to the airport was a 36-hour obstacle course that begin in the evening at the train station in Prenzlau, Germany and ended up after midnight at the Hamburg, Germany airport. For 6 hours, we rode trains, then hopped a bus to the airport. We spent the night, from midnight until 8am, in the airport, talking, napping, finding our place in line for the baggage claim for the first flight from Hamburg, Germany to Dusseldorf, Germany. The second flight would be about 10 hours, from Dusseldorf, Germany to Miami, Florida.

As soon as we landed in Miami I felt a flood of relief sweep over me. I don’t like flying. Having 38,000 feet between me and the ground doesn’t feel natural to me. If I had a parachute and was trained how to use it properly, just in case a wing falls off, another plane runs into us, or a UFO happens to interfere with the engine, I would feel a lot more safe. Maybe I need hypnosis to get over this fear. Then again, maybe it’s there for a reason. Whatever the case, it still surfaces when I board a plane.

The flight was 9 hours and 51 minutes. When it landed, the passengers clapped. The pilots were terrific and throughout the transatlantic journey, from Dusseldorf, Germany to Miami, Florida, the plane ride was smooth with only the occasional shake and bump from turbulence.

Going through the Miami International Airport baggage check and passport check was a nightmare. Hundreds of people standing shoulder to shoulder, shuffling every few minutes toward the 3 customs agents booths An hour and a half after landing and going through custom’s, we spotted my girlfriend’s parents, waving, smiling, skipping toward us to welcome their daughter back to Florida. It had been four months.

The next 3 days were spent recuperating at a condo in North Palm Beach, watching the view of the intracoastal waterway, swimming, eating, and not much else.

I’m planning to go over the journal that I wrote while experiencing France and Germany over the last 4 months, and share stories here on this blog, along with photos, and, hopefully, bits of inspiration.

As this blog focuses on living with less, in order to have more freedom, I will be emphasizing this theme within the stories when relevant.

Thanks for coming along with me.