Roadtrip Part One: Kamloops, BC - Eugene, OR

Leaving is never easy. Especially when everyone is leaving into another direction and you know it’s for good. So we went to the Greyhound Station, some going to Vancouver, some staying in Kamloops for some more days. When the driver announced the boarding call for our Bus we finally had to say goodbye to everyone, unknowing whether we’ll ever meet again. After boarding the bus and seeing Kamloops slowly sliding away we all had enough time to recap the past four months we spent together. As we arrived in Vancouver the sadness has flown away, replaced by excitement about all the adventures that were still to come.

I spent an entire day in Vancouver organizing the first part of my trip, before heading back to the hostel where I met up with two of my roommates to get some food and beer. We went to Yaletown for dinner and to see the Canucks game. They played well, but eventually lost after Over Time. After another drink at the hostel bar I went to bed, as I had to catch an early bus to Seattle the next morning.

At the US Boarder everyone had to get off the bus, take their entire luggage with them and try to convince the official they were no terrorists. Not always an easy job. Terry, a guy from Manchester who was on his way to New York joined me for the rest of the ride. We had a very engaging and interesting discussion about human psychology, travelling, religions, politics and humans in general. It made me realize that I was all on my own from now on for the rest of my journey, an amazing but nevertheless frightening thought. What if something went wrong? I’m pretty sure I would be well off, as I had a plan of what I wanted to do and felt comfortable meeting new people and making places like a hostel bed my home, even if it was just for a short night.

We soon arrived in Seattle where I walked all the way to the City Hostel, where we already stayed on our short Roadtrip in February. It’s an amazing place and Matt, one of the receptionists even remembered me and asked how everyone else was. I truly felt home. I went for some snapshots soon after, before heading out for a couple of beer with Leo, who was one of my Roommates. We went to Seattle’s Hard Rock Café, where we discovered such amazing things as an acoustic guitar of Kurt Cobain and many more things. Mental to see these personal belongings of your life’s heroes.

I got up around 6.30 the next morning in order to catch the Greyhound to Portland. After boarding the bus I decided to use Amtrak busses and trains only in the future. The bus was packed with people you wouldn’t really enjoy spending your time with. It was obvious why these people were choosing the cheapest way to get around. Some looked as if they were sleeping on the street for days, if not weeks. Not the best advertisement for America. However, after arriving in Portland I got to see a truly different country. I went for a walk in some of Portland’s Parks, and I was stunned by the friendliness of people. Everyone was saying hello while passing by and asking whether I needed help, what I was looking for and where I was from. And in spite of Canada I didn’t hear the sentence “Oh and how is life in Sweden” once! At least not yet.

Portland is a really nice city, not too big, not too small. It’s got a huge University Campus that is part of Downtown. The boardwalks are all clean and fucked up people are hardly anywhere to be seen in the Downtown area (you’ll find them around the Greyhound station). After a day of walking and seeing things I accidently bumped into my personal paradise: the Powell Book Store. It’s supposed to be Americas (or the worlds?!) biggest independent Bookstore. I literally could find anything I ever was dreaming of for very reasonable prices (I want to avoid using the word cheap when it comes to books). You guessed right, I bought as many books as I could carry, and wondered how I’m going to make it all fit into my luggage. Obviously I spent the rest of the night reading.

As mentioned before I choose to travel with Amtrak to Eugene. Arriving at the train station at around 8pm I wanted to walk to the Hostel. Luckily the Avenues weren’t named but numbered, so I simply had to find out which direction to go. However, the entire area got a little messier and more frightening the closer I got to the Hostel. Everything kind of appeared fucked up, but hey, that’s the way I had chosen to go, so I stopped worrying and complaining and watching out for the good of everything.

Fading Away

Slowly everything comes to an end over here in Kamloops. And one day I realised that I only spend a couple of days down in Vancouver. It was about time for me to take the next Greyhound and spend a few days in the city that made me want to go back to Canada so badly. I got up early last Tuesday packed some clothes, some textbooks and my cameras into my rucksack and went off to the Greyhound Station, got myself a ticket to Vancouver and boarded the bus soon after. Five hours later I was standing in downtown Vancouver. I suddenly realized how long I didn’t hear anyone speak Swiss German in my presence apart of skyping, what made me turn around every other moment. Apparently Vancouver is full of Swiss people again. As I didn’t book any hostel rooms in advance I wasn’t sure where I was going to stay, but gladly SameSun Backpackers on Granville Street still had an empty bed left for me. As Tuesday was a game day I went to the Hostel Pub shortly after checking in, in order to see the Canucks advancing to round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, if you know how that game ended you might be able to emphasize how disgusted I felt. I went for a short walk after in order to take some pictures of the daylight slowly fading out. Beautiful, but nevertheless, cool. As I didn’t really have a plan what I wanted to do or needed to do I spent most of the forthcoming days just wandering around in the city, occasionally going for a coffee or some lunch. I dearly enjoyed absorbing the vibe of the city that really energized me. Furthermore I met up with Cédric, a friend from back home. We ended up going to the first Pub we found (that Irish Pub on Granville & Robson, I forgot its name), ordered some pitchers of Kokanee before we went on to the Hostel Pub where we continued with some more beer. First it was weird talking Swiss German to anyone who’s face to face to you, but I somehow got used to it by time.

The rest of my time I spent walking around, checking out several locations, try out Restaurants and enjoy every bit of the City that I could possibly get. I became a huge fan of Granville Island, just amazing all the art and culture that’s around there, and all the good & fresh foods you get there. Irresistible!

I left for Kamloops Friday evening, and arrived back here late in the night, just about in the right mood to hit the hay right away.

On Saturday we had a little Farewell Party outside of UCH, where everyone brought some food to share. It saddened me to realize how fast time has flown and how soon we’re all going to be apart of each other, maybe never meeting again. We’re surely not ever meeting again altogether. However, that’s right the mood you need to have in order to make a night out unforgettable. I indeed had a good time that night and enjoyed partying with everyone for one last time.

Now Sunday’s pretty much over, I’ll spend the rest of the night sorting out things, preparing for my departure on Friday and maybe watching Giacobbo / Müller. I’ve got two exams coming this week, so I probably should invest some time into studying. All in all I feel sad that this is already over, I’d love to spent some more time here, get to know more people and attend some more classes. However, my adventure is not yet over, as my trip down the Westcoast comes closer day by day. I still didn’t book anything as I want to play as much of it by ear. The happy-go-lucky way kind of seems the most appropriate for adventures of any kind anyway.