Tuesday 12 April 2016

Toronto - And Beyond - Final Destination

8 am and Peter and I are off to the airport, where I catch my first flight to Dublin, and then onto Toronto, and then home.

When I arrive at the airport, I check in and give one last goodbye to Peter.  I thank him for spoiling me during the last week.  I will miss him and cannot wait to see Peter again in September.

My flight to Dublin was short and nice.  I think it was just over an hour.

The Dublin airport is really nice and has lots of cool things to look at.  I bought some Dublin Whiskey Chocolate, and had a pint of Guinness while I wait for my next flight.  I know that I will come back to Dublin for some great beers and to see Stonehenge.  Oh yes, and to laugh at their accents.  The few I talked to in the airport made me smile.


Anyways, my next flight is the big one, 7 hours to Toronto, but I am now a pro at these long flights.


6 hours later, we are flying over Ottawa, and it hits me, I am flying home!  I get anxiety and start to wonder why am I coming home so early, are my excuses valid as to why I am coming home?  I don't have the answers, all I know is I have anxiety and don't like the feeling.

All in all the flight home wasn't bad.  I didn't sleep but I did watch a few movies and made notes on my phone about my trip.  Surprisingly it went by fast and I was now in Toronto going through customs.

Customs was the same old customs, "How long will you be here?", "Until I leave again, I live here!".

"Why do you have a beard now?", "Because I am lazy?".

"You look a lot different from your passport picture!", "Yes, it is 4 years old and I get older everyday, unfortunately I have age!"

And that was about it, he didn't ask me if I have weapons, drugs, or booze.  Meh, I am in Canada now.

I head out of the airport and catch the Union Express train to Union station in Toronto, where I then catch the Go Train to Whitby.  I booked a hotel here because it was much cheaper than anywhere else, and it is also on the way out of Toronto.  A great place to start my hitching hiking home.

The next morning I check out of the hotel at 7:30 am and walk over to the West bound on ramp of the 401 to see if I can catch a ride.

20 minutes goes by and a truck pulls up.

Alan and his dog are on their way to a job site in Bowmanville.  This is just outside of Toronto, and I think it is a good place to catch my second ride.  So I jump in.

Alan and I have a great conversation about Brockville.  He loves it here and has been there several times.

Not long later he drops me off at the on ramp in Bowmanville.  I say thank you and goodbye to another new friend.

Well, 2.5 hours passes and not a single car even gives a look at me.  I know this isn't going to happen, and I don't see much around.  My cell phone doesn't have a SIM card, because Toronto Airport doesn't have cell phone providers.  BTW, this is the ONLY airport I have been in that doesn't sell travel sims for tourist.  WTF, CANADA!, get with the times!

So I can't look on google maps to see what is around.  I just start walking north to the town.  About a kilometer away, there is a Tim Horton's.  This is great, they have Wifi.


I use the Wifi and see there is no buses and trains.  My next option is to walk 5 kilometers to a car rental place or go back to trying to hitchhike, but I think I have given up on that one.

An hour later of carrying two backpacks, I arrive in the area I though the car rental place was, but there is nothing.  It is a business park.  Remember, I don't have internet, so I can't google it.

I take another guess and walk down a side street, looking for people.  I find two ladies standing outside and ask them if there is a car rental place.  They point towards another street and I walk that way.  A few minutes later I see Enterprise and 2 cars.

With luck, the one car is available.  I rent it and am off to Kingston to find a car to buy.

On my drive to Kingston it hits me again.  I get anxiety and realize I am worried that I will find a job and not leave, and that I will fall back into my old self.  Unhappy, angry, and mean.  I don't want to loose everything I have gained while traveling.  This is why I am getting anxiety, it isn't because I don't want to be home.

Well, I make it to Kingston and look at a few cars.  None of them are any good.

I head over to the gas station where my sister works to say hi.  She tells me she is done at 5 pm and she can come take a look at the next car together.

5 pm is here, I pick her up and head over to the car.  It is a vintage 1996 Honda Odyssey, and is in decent shape for $750 CAD.  I take another quick look at it decide to take it.

I now have a car and just need to get it safetied, which should be easy as it just passed a check 60 days ago.  The e-test is already done, so I don't need that.

I drop off my sister and head over to Dave's.  I am mooching off of him tonight :) but they think I am awesome so it is all good.

Seeing Dave and his family is great.  Not much has changed, and we just hangout for the night and catch up.

Well, I am back, I just now have to say hi to everyone and figure out what I am doing.  At the moment my first step is to get my car on the road legally and to see my grandfather, as he is probably not going to be in this world much longer.

Hi All!  My next post will be the last one!

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