Wistful thoughts of my month-long adventures across Europe and countless memories made with new international friends rushed into my mind as the wheels hit the runway. After approximately seventeen hours of travelling, I had finally made it back to Louisiana. Seated on the second-to-last row of the plane, I was one of the last individuals to exit; however, I was grateful to have had no neighbors during the transatlantic flight. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, it was finally my time to bid ado to our aircraft, and when my feet hit the floor, a feeling of relief swept over me. I was happy to be home. Still, I knew this relief would be short-lived.
I had a busy few days ahead of me to say the least. You see, the next day, (yep, the very next day after having spent a month in Europe) I was moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for an engineering co-op in the aerospace industry. The anticipation and anxiety of the relocation began to creep into my mind as I made my way through the gangway and to passport control. My seat at the tail end of the aircraft had given me poor placement in line, but I did my best to wait patiently. The abundance of texts and notifications that erupted from phone after a quick bootup helped the time go a little faster, and I took the time to make sure that my ride was there to pick me up. My fiancée, having tagged along with my father, reassured me, and my eagerness to depart from the depths of the MSY passport control lines steadily increased with each passing minute. After about half an hour, I communed with the Border Protection agent and assured him of my well-intentioned trip. In just a few short minutes, I was finally free to grab my luggage and head towards the exit. The smiling faces of my saviors greeted me, and after a fair amount of hugs, we were on our way. After all, our small group had a timetable to maintain.
With a few stops along the way for fuel for the car and the humans, the entire journey back to my hometown took around four hours. After dropping my fiancée off at her place, my father and I pulled up the driveway of my childhood home around 11:00 p.m. With an incessant prick for a good night’s rest drilling against my brain, I travailed with what seemed an endless assortment of boxes, buckets, and bins to finish some last-minute packing. Eventually, with several brimming packages scattered about my room, I laid my head down for a few hours rest, the first and only night back in my bed for a respectable timespan.
An early start greeted me the next morning, as there was no time to spare. My landlord at my new apartment awaited me, and I needed to get on my way. With the generous (and much appreciated) help of my family, all the boxes and bins were loaded onto a covered trailer in just a few moments. After swinging back by my fiancée’s house, our caravan was ready for the long haul. My Dad pulled the trailer with his truck while my fiancée and I followed him in my car. Unfortunately, our travel would not purely consist of smooth sailing.
After just two hours of driving, my car began to shake and vibrate fairly substantially. Within a few minutes, the vehement vibrations elicited a moderate amount of terror from myself and my passenger. We found a nearby Walmart, and its Auto Center confirmed that the steel support banding in my passenger-side tire was effectively destroying itself with each wheel rotation. After breaking the news to us, the automotive technicians added that the wait to get a new tire was an hour and a half – time my group did not have to spare. With a referral, we ventured about a block down the road to an independent tire store who surprisingly made quick, yet quality, work in disjointing the old tire from the rim and installing a new one.
After besting the would-be letdown, my party ventured back onto the Texas highway system and progressed onwards to my new residence. Arriving around dinner-time in the DFW area, we wasted no time in hauling furniture, clothes, and living essentials through the parking lot and up the stairs to my second-story apartment. With all vehicles unloaded, my group looked around my new apartment with pride and exhaustion. Most certainly, unpacking would have to wait until morning. I reflected on my whirlwind Europe trip and the tumultuous days of travel and moving that had just unfolded. I also brimmed with excitement, and a fair bit of nervousness, for my new job starting Monday. Eventually, my eyes became heavy, and I drifted away into sleep in my new, foreign home.