Traveling to France

My preference when traveling is to get there as cheap as possible so I can save my money for the destination. As a result, red eyes, long layovers, public transportation are my jam because it (usually) makes traveling cheaper. My travel to Bordeaux, France had all three of these.

My brother dropped me off at the Greyhound bus station in Indianapolis where I’d catch a 4 hour bus ride to Chicago where I’d then make my way to the O’Hare airport. The bus was full of travelers this Thursday, and I ended up a sharing a row with another guy. We didn’t speak to each other than “Can I here?” to which he nodded. However, the fella across the aisle had a lot to say. Our conversation started by his remark that the gazillion windmills in Northwest Indiana are huge (true statement), and then led to why he was traveling. He’d just got of jail a week prior and was traveling from Evansville to Chicago to meet his brother. I feel for people who must use public transportation in the US because generally, it’s not very good. This guy had to take a bus south to Nashville, TN then to Indianapolis, IN then to Chicago, IL before reaching his final destination a bit north of the city. Driving would take a little over 5 hours… but this would take him 25 hours. Wow.

Once I arrived in Chicago, I met up with my friends, Seth and Tosh. It was Seth’s 29th birthday (happy birthday dude) and we lunched together before I headed to O’Hare.

My 7ish hour flight departed from Chicago at 5pm ET. Luckily, a flight attendant offered me an exit row seat, which made the flight oh-so-much comfy-er. After an in-flight meal and watching a few Netflix docs (including Malace in the Palace, so good!), I fell asleep and didn’t awake until the descent into Dublin the next day.