Blogging on the Bus... in Canada

02/15/15

So, I'm on my way to see my Babuska, and I had a choice between an adventure that would take around 16 hours and cost me less than $1000 and flying from Tucson to North Bay for around $2000, with various other options between the two.

I decided to go with the cheapest and longest adventure. And now I'm at the tail end of it, on a bus that will take me from Toronto to North Bay (in the span of about five hours). I woke up at 2 a.m. this morning to do the last bit of prep necessary to start my travels to North Bay. Clothes packed, food prepared, last-minute chores done. A good shower for good measure.

At 3 a.m. Tucson time I headed to the Tucson-Phoenix shuttle location. At 4 a.m. we left Tucson and did the two-hour drive to Phoenix. I got in a two-hour cat nap out of the two-hour trip to Phoenix. I checked in for my 8:05 a.m. flight at 6:30 a.m. I ate a Kind bar (dark chocolate and peanut butter) for a snack. I got on the flight at around 7:45 a.m. and promptly slept through it.

Being able to sleep most anywhere I can sit down is pretty awesome and hugely valuable. I do not, in any way, feel exhausted right now as I ride the bus to North Bay. My first thought when I got on the bus was, "Oh, hey, WiFi! I can still publish a blog post today."

Anyways, I had a layover at MSP airport... which I think is somewhere in Misouri. I'm not really sure. It was supposed to only be an hour layover, and I took the time reading my IEEE Spectrum magazine and eating packed gyro meat, mac and cheese, and chicken.

My flight to Toronto was delayed almost a full hour. This made me incredibly worried I was going to miss the bus to North Bay (I had already purchased a ticket, because I was unsure how far in advance a purchase was necessary).

I slept on the flight to Toronto. I woke up to eat some black berries and then I slept some more. I was given customs paperwork to fill out.

I realized the pen I had on me was finally dying (I really liked that pen). I need to start carrying backups. My pens die too frequently.

I ran the distance from the gate exit to customs. I breezed through customs quickly, grabbed some Canadian cash, and paced to the closest taxi.

The taxi trip cost almost as much as the bus ticket. Maybe I'll figure out public transportation from the bus station to the airport on the way back.

I got on the bus with ten minutes to spare at 5:50 p.m. Toronto time. I finished the rest of the mac and cheese I had moments after entering the bus.

It is now 6:30 p.m. It has been 12.5 hours since I woke up this morning. Crazy how far a person can go in half a day. I'll be at North Bay around 11 p.m. Cananda time, or 9 p.m. Tucson time. Roughly 16 hours since I left my home in Tucson, I'll have arrived at my destination super-freaking far away.

And tomorrow I'll see my babuska.

I am lucky and grateful to have such priviledge and opportunity to do something like this.