Stress Level

A pictorial representation of my stress level (above) and the corresponding thoughts running through my head (below).

• 4:30 pm I’m going to head to the bus so that I’m early and I’ll make sure I don’t miss the bus 4:45 Okay, I’m at the stop, it should be here any time.
• 5:00 Where is the bus? It was supposed to leave now! Why isn’t there anyone around here for me to ask about this? Why won’t the bus drivers talk to me? The rain is probably slowing everything down. I’ll be totally fine on time as long as I leave by 5:15. Meg’s 4 pm bus was supposed to be 20 minutes late so it’s probably normal for buses to be late.
• 5:15 Where is a number for me to call? This is making me nervous. The bus totally should be here by now! I have a flight to catch. I wonder if that guy over there is waiting for the same bus as me….”Sir! What bus are you waiting for? …oh, not the same one, okay nevermind.” Worth a shot, okay here’s a number to call. I hope this won’t drain my minutes on my phone.
• 5:30 THE BUS IS BROKEN DOWN! What do you mean the bus is broken down?!?! (Talking to bus company representative: “What am I supposed to do now? I have a flight to catch!!!!...okay, yes you can call me back after you talk to your manager.” I can’t miss my weekend trip to Berlin! Okay, so if I do miss the flight, there must be another flight later that night. Meg can get on our original one and I’ll meet her there. Why, why, why!?! Maybe a taxi would work?
• 5:45 Talking to representative again, “I don’t think the bus that gets me there at 6:50 for a 7:45 flight is going to work!...Okay, so I can take a taxi and be fully reimbursed? Guaranteed? Just keep the receipt? Okay, thanks so much!” Okay, got to flag down a cab! There is one! This better work. “How fast to Stansted Airport? Do you take credit card? Do you give receipts? Okay, let’s go!
• 6:00 Come on, let’s get a move on! Why is traffic stopped? We’ve hardly moved at all. Text to Meg: “He estimates around 6:30. AHHH!!! I’m nervous!” I have to stop at a cash machine…this better be fast.
• 6:15 Okay, we’re finally cruising, should be there soon. I better get reimbursed for this!
  
• 6:30 I’m here! Where is Meg? I just have to get through the lines and then it’s smooth sailing.
• 6:45 Oh darn, I got in the wrong line to get my passport stamped. The right line just got so much longer. Ask at the front of the line? Wow, they were so nice to let me go to the front…I mean, it did only take 5 seconds to get my passport stamped. Still, very nice people. Now to security! Thanks Meg for getting me dinner while I was panicking!
• 7:00 At the gate, finally able to eat, my heart rate can finally resume normal human beating patterns. Slow down. Eat food. I made it.
• 7:15 Board the plane, I can’t believe this worked.
• 7:30 Relax
• 7:45 Relax more, heart is still beating kind of fast
• 8:00 Time to sleep
• 10:30 I made it, almost no stress now. It totally worked out and I’m in Germany! This is so strange. That lady was nice to help us get our bus tickets.
• 11:00 Why is there construction on the bus line we need to get to our hostel? I don’t read German and this is super confusing. Why is everything going wrong travelling on this trip?
  
• 11:30 I really hope this bus is taking us to the right place.
• 12:00 Meg and I are travelling pros. It may have taken us a little longer, but we totally have this down. Nice try Berlin, but we figured it out. Now time for bed. We made it.

August 13, (Friday the 13th!!!)