Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 77 • November 22, 1994
Traveling from Gjovik, Norway to Hamburg, Germany

I had to say goodbye to Katrine thirty years ago today, and reading my journal entry brings back all the feelings of how hard that was, not knowing if I’d ever see her, or my friends Annele & Siru in Finland, or Pernille, Gitte & Camilla in Denmark, or Joe in Sweden again. I’m so grateful we’ve all kept in touch, and I look forward to the day I return to Europe and visit them all again!

Leaving Katrine meant I had visited all of my exchange student friends I intended to. Mission Accomplished! At least, a big part of my mission!

I was thrilled with myself! I was basically broke and out of money, but I wasn’t finished, not by a long ways! My next destination was visiting one of my best friends since junior high school, Jeff, who had joined the United States Marine Corps and was stationed at the US Naval Base in Rota, at the far tip of southern Spain. A three-day train odyssey awaited me.

I set out early in the morning to travel from Northern, Wintery, Magical Norway, to Southern, Sunny Magical, Spain, with an incredibly powerful and moving day in Munich, Germany, along the way.

On this first day of traveling I would make it to Hamburg, Germany, with no hiccups or unexpected change of fortune. So far, so good.

No Photographs from today

DAY 77 / 11-22-94
Traveling from Gjovik, Norway to Hamburg, Germany

Oh, it was hard to leave this morning. I really wish I had more time with the Hveem’s, they are so cool.

I had a wake-up call at 5:00 am (you can get them from the phone company here. Think of the practical joke possibilities!)

I woke Katrine up to say goodbye and she had a 3 page letter for me. I waited until I was on the train to read it, but when I did. I cried.

Mr. Hveem took me to the station at 5:30, & the train left at 5:45. After crying, I fell asleep, & woke up in Oslo at 7:45. I had 25 minutes until my next train, so I tried to call Jeff. He wasn’t in, but I found out when he was working next.

Nothing happened between Oslo & Göteborg, but it got better. I found out that the guy sitting next to me was also going all the way to Hamburg. His name is Mark & he’s a fellow backpacker like me. He left on August 31 from Vancouver, BC (his home) and is going home on December 20. In the short amount of time we had together – about 12 hours, we became pretty good friends. You know how sometimes you meet people & you just “click”? Well, we clicked. It was great having someone to talk to & share stories with and the day just few by.

You know the cliché someone always has it worse?

Well, two weeks ago (when I had my hell night in Stockholm) he had got on a wrong train, fell asleep, ended up in Croatia (where Eurail is not valid) without a visa. He was arrested, fined US$600 on the spot, treated very roughly & deported to the middle of nowhere in Italy. He also has had his camera stolen from a hostel, and was arrested for “loitering” in Paris.

So now I feel much better about my trip.

It’s now 12:30 [am] and my night train leaves in 25 minutes for Munich. I said goodbye to Mark about an hour ago. Hopefully I’ll be able to accept his invitation to come skiing in British Columbia one day. I’ll close now, & try to get some sleep on the train.

One other interesting note – today has been my most “international” day – I’ve been in 4 countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark & now Germany.