Here we go…

I’m writing this from my AirBnB room in Brooklyn. I’m trying to pretend it is only 22:30 while it actually is 04:30 for my poor brain. Luckily it’s easy to stay awake because the room next to mine has four extremely loud American girls prepping themselves for their night out. I can’t see them but I can hear them (thin walls/loud girls/maybe both). Something with trying on twenty different outfits (one was rated as something “you wear to brunch the next day when you’re hungover”). The makeup makes them look likes “vampires” but they look “cute” anyway (once again their words, not mine, I can’t see them). Also I think the word “like” has been used enough for the next 20 years.

Now for the travels today… My parents brought me to the airport this morning. I used my jedi/nina-skills to end up all the way up front in the check-in line, even though loads of people were already waiting when I got there. Turns out they had my name in the system but no ticket. Because apparently when you don’t play you don’t get to fly… Lame… In the meantime the second Maarten appeared with Sjoukje. As my standard stopover for all Schiphol Airport visits they couldn’t be missing this one. We had a drink and a snack and then it was time to say goodbye.

The first flights were pretty uneventful. The one to Reykjavik was delayed by half an hour but I got bumped up to an emergency exit row to stretch my legs. But with the change I no longer had a window seat. So no nice views of Iceland. The airport in Iceland was pretty busy. I got myself some Skyr and looked for a knitted sweater but they had nothing in my size. The second flight I did have a window seat so I had some great views of Iceland, Greenland and Canada. It looked really empty and icy, but then I realized that I’ll be going way further north…

Immigration at JFK was pretty quick for all the bad stories I had heard. Highlight was the elderly couple next to me at the luggage belt commenting on bags: “ow that is a really big bag…”, “that one too..”, “that bag already went round twice…”, “I really like that bag… Do you like that bag… The purple stripes are nice…”

On the way from the airport to the subway I ended up talking to a couple with a kid that ended up paying for my first subway ride after hearing my travel stories. The neighbours finally went to their party. So it is time for me to sleep now.

Song

Stopover in Iceland is a great excuse for Icelandic music