Memories I am afraid I'll forget

Day 66, San Francisco

I warned you before that my 'Tomorrow's plans' entries might turn out to be seriously misleading. It is due to two main facts:

1 – When I get up each morning, I do what I feel like the most and I often make plan-altering decisions quite wildly.

2 – I am very energized in the mornings, and I am the most creative, productive, and enthusiastic, in the mornings, too. No wonder I was born in the morning. A born morning person. Literally. By the afternoon, I need my rest.

Because of these exact reasons, my plans for today were ruined. When I woke up feeling adventurous, it kind of felt silly to go to a TJMaxx. Instead, I kept thinking: how many times in your life can you wake up only to find yourself a 1.5-hour train ride from San Francisco? Not many. So, I was on my way. I got out of bed, got dressed, washed my teeth, drank water, and packed some more water and snacks for the trip. While I was walking to my bus to take me to Berryessa BART station, I had a plan ready. I was going to go to the Golden Gate bridge and walk across it, take some amazing shots, as the weather was supposed to be really good. With that in mind, I was taking the BART, listening to good music, and finding myself a bus online that supposedly would take me to the bridge.

I was there before you knew it. I got out of bed at 9AM and by 11:30, I was standing at Golden Gate bridge. Or at least what I had hoped was the silhouette of the bridge, as the whole damn monster was in thick fog. So thick that I walked into this fog (or cloud?) and was seriously having problems walking on the bridge. Mental problems. I do not know, or I DID not know that I was afraid of heights (am I really? I don't think so, maybe only circumstantial fear of heights?), but as I was gasping into the depths below in the fog, seeing the gloomy death sentence that awaited anyone who might have jumped, my legs started shaking. Like teenagers on their first dates, people unbearably in love, or people being afraid of heights. I believe the latter one was what I was having. I turned back after a couple of hundred meters, but took breathtaking photos of what I could see of the bridge (not much) and below. So, thank you Karl! Karl, the fog. Thanks Kerry (a fellow international student at the University of Szeged), for pointing it out to me, I had no idea that this monster had a name they even announced on the TV weather forecast in case he decided to appear and cover the whole bridge from plain sight.

I am not a person to be easily saddened by some fog named Karl. It was past lunchtime, and I seriously needed lunch, especially because lunch was my brunch most days, following my own fasting diet. Two months had passed since I was in the US without In-N-Out burgers, so I needed to get to the In-N-Out Burger place at Fisherman's Wharf. By this time, I knew the city well enough to picture my 1-hour walk (my own decision not taking the bus back to the city center) in advance. Well, at least I worked my way through thick (fog) and thin to get my hopefully delish food. But OMG that 1-hour walk! It was mesmerizing! From the thick fog, I was slowly making my way out to the sunny Golden Gate Beach, walking through Crissy Field to witness locals running, jogging, hiking, or walking their cute doggies. By the time I reached the beach, the weather was sunny and warm, I barely needed my jacket anymore. I was walking on the shore, enjoying the wind, the sun, the weather and watching the wildlife (including people). On the shore, I felt like I was in a Star Wars movie. On my left, there was this giant monster, Karl, with gloomy weather and thick grey fog. While to my right, there was this unearthly sunny beach with people, dogs and marine wildlife, while in the background in the distance, you could also make out a big dome and the skyline of a city center filled with skyscrapers. It was worth waking up for today. Sometimes, I cared to turn my back to the nice view to glance back at Golden Gate, but it was only Karl I could see.

I had the best walks with my Air Pods and music in my ears, places to photograph and burn into my memories. When I reached Fisherman's Wharf, I sadly noticed I left the native-ridden parts of the city behind only to find tons of tourists. Anyways, I was too hungry to go away, so I went into the burger place, got my order and gobbled down the fresh fries (they seriously cut it in front of you), the cheeseburger and my diet coke. It was heaven. And time for me to make my way slowly back to my BART station. I figured I would pop into my favorite Chinese restaurant to get some sesame balls as dessert. As they had run out of them, I had to resort to some shrimp and beef noodles, plus some coconut buns – just to make sure my 30-minute wait time was worth it. On my BART-ride back home to San Jose, I was texting friends and making sure I was safe traveling alone, as sometimes I get suspicious.

Call me crazy but I can already smell home in San Jose. The moment you disembark your bus, car, or whatever means of transport you are using, you can feel that particular smell of air of your home. When I arrived back to SJ, that is what I felt. Looking at the pictures I took, eating the Chinese food for dinner, I was now planning what my next travel move will be. Yes, I am a travel and scholarship junkie, too.

Tomorrow's plans: Trick or treating at SJSU. Plus, I was thinking about my US bucket list. I have basically now completed the whole West-coast itinerary, only 1 item, Yosemite missing from it. I kept thinking: What else is missing? And there it was. My Californian Zephyr ride, I so desperately wanted to take. Tomorrow, I'll plan it. Or at least I'll try. Today, I was too tired already. I also did some math work to see how much money I had spent, and I was behind. I needed to spend more (which sounds crazy) if I wanted to spend my scholarship and not keep it. I had no intention of keeping it. I am a person who is always saving money, as I do not believe I need much of it to live well by my own standards. However, when I got the scholarship, I promised myself that this time, I'll spend all of it on me. I am not eating much, so food is cheap for me, so I am spending on what matters most to me: travels, small gifts, keepsakes, and family. Not necessarily in this order. We'll see what tomorrow will bring, as I needed to work, too.

30 October 2022