About Andrew Phelps
Andrew Phelps is a WBUR reporter and the host of Hubbub, a new blog about Boston.
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Last night in London
Last night was my last night in London, and my last night of an 85-day tour of Europe. I have been desperate to come home, quite frankly. I’m tired, lonely, and oversaturated. I have done plenty of finding myself, had plenty of wild encounters with beautiful women and great friends. I will come home to a brand new chapter in my life, filled with exciting things that I will announce in the next few days.
But still, I was a little sad last night. London is my favorite city in the world. I capped off my trip with something I have waited years to do: ride the London Eye. I went at dark, half past nine, when the crowds were thin and the enchanted Thames twinkled amber.
The view was incredible. The only people in my capsule — a big, glass egg — were a young couple speaking a foreign language and Rich Alderson‘s hairdresser and husband from Bonsall. (Small, bizarre world this is.)
The end of the trip came very slowly in most ways but quite suddenly in others. Before checking out of my hotel, I thoroughly rifled through the two bags that have accompanied me every single day for three momnths. I threw out everything I wouldn’t need to take home, like old receipts, my nasty toiletry bag, my bulky Europe guidebook, etc. And I saw all the postcards I never sent, the journal entries I never finished, the e-mail addresses and phone numbers of friends from around the world that I’ll never remember. I realized that my Web site was also a disappointment this summer. It was a lot tougher than I expected to keep up a vibrant, everfresh adventure diary for the world’s consumption. But I do have lots of stories and photographs, and I still plan to post them in the coming days.
I’m in Heathrow Airport now, very early for my plane, and completely numb to my emotions and my location. At this point, after traveling so long alone, day-to-day life has become a mental survival game: always on-guard against thieves and scam artists, always walking fast, always thinking about how to save money, always counting down the days till the next city.
So in this airport, a soulless hub where the world comes and goes, I feel like I could just as well be in any airport in any city. And at 10:55 BST, I will board a flying vacuum and cross eight time zones in 11 hours. It’s a good transition, perhaps, from a foreign place to home.
2 Comments on ‘Last night in London’
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welcome back, andrew. a person can never be the same as their ‘pre-trip person’ after a trip like you’ve just done. once you’ve had a chance to decompress in a few weeks, the way your skin feels will be your own again.
lpc
Wow. Im sure that London is more beautiful in real life but the pictures you took are amazing. I know its been awhile since we’ve spoke but I thought I’d check up and i glad to hear youre enjoying yourself in Europe. When you get back to the states give me a call.
As Always,
Jason
970-691-1166