Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 65 • November 10, 1994
My Final Day in Denmark

November 10 was the day the trip finally started to feel unsustainable.

Up until this point, I had been moving forward on momentum and the belief that things would somehow work out. But on this day, I hit a wall with my credit card. The ATM kept rejecting it, and when I finally got through, the amount I could withdraw was much smaller than I expected. For the first time, I had to seriously confront how little money I had left and how far I still wanted to go.

It forced me to start making hard decisions. I began looking at my route and realized I was going to have to cut some places I had been looking forward to. The freedom I had felt earlier in the trip was starting to shrink, replaced by a growing sense of pressure and responsibility. I was still in Denmark, but my mind was already beginning to turn toward home.

This was the day the adventure stopped feeling endless and started feeling like something that needed an ending.

DAY 65 / 11-10-94
My Final Day in Århus, Denmark

My final day in Denmark was very low key. A friend of Gitte’s came over and the three of us watched a Danish movie “The Night Guard.”

I went for a walk with Steve, and along the way stopped by an ATM, but it refused my card. I tried a second with the same result. After the third said no, I came to the sickening conclusion that I have maxed the card.

I used the Visa, which was also maxed, but it worked, probably because Mom & Dad have been paying it off.

But it’s a scary thought that I only have $80 left - $40 in traveler’s checks and the approximately $40 in Danish Krones I got out with the Visa.

But I know I can do it. I’ll probably be just a little hungry, that’s all.

I stopped by a grocery store on the way home to get some food for tomorrow (I have about 29 hours on the train).

Maybe I’ll be real hungry in the next few weeks. It cost 60KR ($12) for a loaf of bread, small jar of peanut butter, piece of salami and a 1.5-liter bottle of pop. They charged me 4KR for the bottle deposit, and it’s made out of plastic! That is how much they are into recycling around here.

While they are still fresh in my mind, here are a few prices of other things (none of which I bought): cigarettes - $5; film developing, 3-day service - $10; Levi 501 jeans - $100; CD - $35; Cheeseburger - $7.

I couldn’t understand how they survive here, because all the people I’ve stayed with here smoke, have pictures, wear Levi’s, listen to CD’s, and eat cheeseburgers. I found out that included in the price was a 25% tax, which in turn provides, among other things, free health care, free education and up to a $600 a month allowance for students from the government.

When I got home I rescheduled my trip, taking at least a week off of it, so I should be back in France around the 5th or 6th of December instead of the 15th.

After dinner and dishes I walked Gitte to the train station. She was going home for the weekend. When I got back I packed up and watched “Stir Crazy” which Gitte had on tape. I’ll make a note here to myself that when I get home I want to rent this and “Silver Streak” to watch with Dad. [These were two of my Dad’s favorite movies].

Click the movie posters to watch the trailers for These Movies on YouTube.

Looking Back

Day 65 marked a real turning point in the trip.

I had been in Denmark for nine days by this point — first with Pernille and her family, then a few wild and fun days with Annette, and finally these quieter, grounding days with Gitte. Aarhus had been good to me. It gave me time to slow down, reconnect with old friends from my exchange year, and remember what it felt like to just be with people who already knew me. Those days felt like small anchors after weeks of constantly moving and meeting new people.

But on this day, the reality of my situation finally caught up with me. I hit a wall with my credit card, and for the first time, I had to seriously confront how little money I had left. The freedom I had felt earlier in the trip began to shrink. I started looking at maps and routes differently — not with the wide-eyed excitement of “Where can I go next?” but with the practical question of “How much farther can I actually afford to go?”

Up until this point, the trip had been about running toward something — new places, old friends, and maybe even parts of myself I had lost. But standing in Aarhus on November 10, I began to feel the pull of home. Not because I was homesick in the traditional sense, but because I was starting to understand that this adventure had limits, and that continuing it recklessly might cost me more than I was willing to lose.

Denmark had been beautiful, complicated, and unexpectedly healing. But it was also the place where the trip stopped feeling endless.