The Trip Home

I needed to be up early this morning – waking at 6 – to catch the train from Sue’s place into the city, and then out to the airport.

Six AM isn’t early I guess after years of waking early. But in my current job, I can usually sleep in a little later, since a lot of my attention is now focussed outside of working hours.

It was tough though, since it was very cold and dark in Melbourne this morning, and quite a contrast to when I arrived a few days ago.

As I recall, catching the bus FROM Melbourne Airport into the City a few days ago was quite good. Along the way, they played a video which featured advertisements for various attractions around Melbourne.

Watching the advertisements as I caught the same bus back to the airport wasn’t as much fun, and didn’t make much sense. Why were they advertising attractions in Melbourne to a group of people who were leaving?

And why did it have to be so loud at seven o’clock in the morning? Even with my headphones on with some thumping electronica at maximum volume, I could still hear the innane chatter of the television screen.

I was already a little grumpy having to get up so early to catch the bus. The sky was grey, and the weather was overcast and cold. In fact, I was colder this morning than any of the times I was in Sweden this year, except maybe for the day when I nearly got frostbite.

With one exception I think I must have looked like the woman from the “Melbourne Ad” a few years ago. It was the one in black and white where she walked around looking in shop windows with a sad expression on her face. “The only time she ever looked happy was in the cab back to the airport”, I’ve joked with friends over the years. The one exception was my four day growth.

I love flying with hand luggage only, though of course you need to compromise on some items including razor blades. Generally I don’t have much facial hair, so I attempted this trip as a non-shaving trip. Colleagues said I looked good with my “Melbourne Look” (black, leather, unshaven), though I just felt scruffy by the time I got to work this morning.

And I felt tired. Being away from home for four days can be quite exhausting. And even though I’m a champion sleeper, I was quite tired today. I hit the couch pretty soon after arriving home tonight.