Chats with Andrea by Andrea

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To sleep, or not to sleep

Dear ,


Travelling alone has some downsides (1). One of them for me is the fear that people will steal my things if I fall asleep on a bus or train.  


One time, I drove to Hamburg in a rental car. It took most of the day, because I first needed to pick up a friend in another city.  


In Hamburg, I dropped off my friend and the car. Then I made my way to the train station to catch a train to Hannover, where I'd booked a hotel.


At the train station, I went to a ticket machine. I made the mistake of stopping to decide which train to catch. One was leaving almost right away. Looking back, I should have bought that ticket and run to the platform.


But I didn't. Instead, I bought a ticket for the next train which left one hour later, at around 9:30 pm. I was going to reach Hannover and my hotel very late.


A bit later, I looked at an information screen. The 9:30 train was cancelled! I moved off to find information about which train I should catch. 


I ended up catching two trains. The first one took me to Bremen. I arrived just before midnight, walked around the station for a while, then caught the train to Hannover.


Wide awake, I settled into my seat. I noticed a man who was having trouble keeping his eyes open. They would just about close, then they'd open. I watched him, like I was guarding him. No one was going to steal something from him while I was looking.


By this stage, I was very tired.  I could feel my eyes closing, but I didn't want to go to sleep. I fought to stay awake. At times, I let my eyes close, but only for a few seconds. When I opened them, the guy I had been watching was watching me.


Finally, the train arrived in Hannover. I got off and made my way through the dark streets to my hotel.


Do you sleep on trains or buses, ? Are you scared that people will take your things?


Enjoy your week,


Andrea




(1) downsides - negatives


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