This Week in Depression - Traveling Without a Car

And by traveling, I mean to a different state. In my case, the state is Georgia. And the state I'm in right now is pure pain.

So I have to go to Georgia this week to see my family and all that. Don't have a car, never had one. And usually that's fine. In La, I can travel pretty well with public transportation. In Smallville, Ga, 'tis not so. But that's alright. I can always get around there because I have my family and friends to take me wherever I need to go. And even then, I'm mostly at home with family anyway. The only problem is actually getting to Georgia. And I'm going through the worst part of it right now.

I had to sit down and take a breath before getting back to actually traveling, carrying my luggage from here to there. I must have the heaviest luggage ever known to man. Or I'm just simply tired from my 6 hour trip from Los Angeles County to Orange County. My back is breaking, my head is hurting and my pockets are empty. You ask why I'm so depressed about it, well read on.

It started out as a nice simple day. I was packing for my flight tomorrow. I knew that I was going to have to go down to Orange County the night before because my flight was so early in the morning and unfortunately no one in the LA area could take me. So I was packing my things and getting ready to leave around 3:30. The first bag (I say bag, but it's really more of a brute) was a tall blue and black one with padding on the inside. It's sturdy and faithful, but heavy. It has six pockets on the outside which is great for carrying toiletries. It's about 3 feet tall and it rolls, thank goodness.

The second bag was a short black rolling bag as well. Your standard suitcase. And the third was of course my computer bag, without the computer in it. It's filled with essential stuff for the trip (snacks and books). Well, I guess since I'm slow or what not, I ended up leaving at 4:00. And we all know that's the best time for LA traffic.

So there I am walking to the bus stop, running for the bus and the bus driver sees me. Oh, he sees me. But he decides to try to pull off without me. And I'm already in a bad mood because I'm rolling a bag even Sampson wouldn't care to lift. But I make it and wrap on the door to get his attention. He plays dumb, as if he didn't see me running and yelling at him, and lets me in. I lift the heaviest bag up and slide it in. The other bag which is also quite heavy being filled with other toiletries, DVD's, hard drives and such. It takes me at least a full minute to get on the bus and to get situated with all the luggage. And on my never ending journey I go.

45 minutes later, I get to my second station. It usually takes a half hour to get to this end of the line, but not today . . . and then onto the metro train lines. I catch the train just in time and 20 minutes later, I am hauling my bags off the train and rolling them to the other bus that will take me to Orange County. And I wait, and wait. The bus is late but that's typical. At least this time I was happy because it gave me more time to sit and rest before picking up those bags and loading them on the bus again.

And finally, it comes. I haul my bags on the bus and sit for nearly 2 hours, just to get to Orange County. So far I've spent 3 hours on public transportation getting to a place that is only 45 minutes in a car from where I live. But oh, it's not over. I still have two buses to take before I get to my destination (which is my old school so that I can do some work in the middle of the night before taking off for my flight in the morning). Then I realize that I still have to get DVD cases to bring home so I have to go to home Depot.

On to the next bus which comes some 15 minutes later. Another bus, another hauling of luggage. I can feel the strain in my right arm now. And from that bus, onto the next one which comes and hour later since I just miss it when the first one drops me off. So I wait. And wait. My back is killing me, but I just have to go to Office Depot first and then to school. The next bus comes and it is now 8:00. I arrive at Office Depot half an hour later and then spend 20 minutes shopping since I see that the next bus to take me back to school won't be there for another hour.

And during all this time in Office Depot, my bags are sitting at the front, I'm happy to put them some where away from me. After I'm done inside, I go back outside to wait for forty minutes at the final bus stop. And I haul my luggage on the bus again. I can hear the faint sound of part of my back screaming at me.

Another 10 minutes later, I arrive at the transportation center which is a black away from my school. My luggage comes off the bus and I have to roll these huge pieces of luggage to the school, inside and on the elevator. It was not fun. So here I am, sitting at the computer, typing my heart out while my fingers burn with pain from lifting and rolling that luggage halfway across California. And to think, I get to do it all again in the morning so I can get to the John Wayne Airport. Man I need a car.