Trip Through The Unknown

This story was submitted anonymously to the Stories of Travel collection as part of the May SEEQ sessions.

I was born and raised in Europe. My first trip to America was to NYC, which is hardly similar to the rest of America. However, that was the only experience I had when I came here to study some 15 years later. In Idaho! I came totally unprepared for what I was about to experience and see, but excited for the opportunity to pursue my MBA degree at the Idaho State University.

I arrived only a few days before the school started, and was still suffering a jet leg when the semester began. Sure enough the first lecture I had was on the satellite-campus located in another city meaning I had to travel there in the evening all by myself. The university buses were riding between the two cities only during a day, and I had no choice but to get a car and embark on a journey alone.

I printed out a map with the directions, as it was the time before GPS, smartphones, and even Google Maps. Still, I was confident I would manage to drive 55 miles and find the university building where the lecture was supposed to be held. In the end, I lived in two foreign countries before – Greece and Canada, and was able to figure things out. What could possibly go wrong with one car ride in Idaho, I was thinking.

I made it to the highway easily and was enjoying the sun setting down, still shining over the cornfields. And more corn fields, and then… some more of the same. Finally, the fields covered with sage replaced the fields of corn. I did not see any house, God forbid a town by the highway, which made me feel even lonelier, and somewhat uncomfortable. The scenery then changed from boring to unpleasant to well… apocalyptic one. All I could see on both sides of the road were black rocks arching from the plain rocky fields covered with uninviting shrubs. Not a single live soul around. Although I was half way to my destination, I passed only one exit to a small town I couldn’t even see from my car. Coming from Europe and growing up in an apartment building flat this grandiose space I was surrounded by, bordered only with the sky on the horizon, made me feel both free and scared. I am sure somebody else would really appreciate it, but all I wanted at that moment was a passenger in a car, a live soul I can talk with. Idaho desert wasn’t my “turf” in any way.

The warring thoughts started floating through my head. What if I need some help, I thought, if my engine breaks, or a tire gets flat and I need to pull over? Would anyone stop to help me? And, how would I know if that person, potential helper of mine, is a good guy and not a psychopath that will kidnap, torture, and finally kill me, just as it happened a year ago to another women according to a local news paper article that I read a few days ago? The more “whats” I had in my head the more unsettled I became. I’ve already experienced some discomfort upon arriving in Idaho due to my imperfect English that was still very much influenced by a British English that I learned in Europe, which sounded pretty OK in a multicultural Toronto, but was not so OK in Idaho. Seriously, just a day ago I had to make a picturesque description of a noun “garage” just because I was pronouncing it with an accent on “A”, gArage, which probably sounded Japanese to a person I was talking to.

At that point, I started criticizing myself for putting myself in such situation. Adventures I like, but this was a little bit too much for my stomach. How did I end up here in the middle of nowhere? A silly thought followed: it went through my mind that it was all because of my childhood wish to come and live in the America’s Wild West, influenced by a little too much of the Zane Grey’s westerns that I loved reading. There you go – Wild West it is, just as you wanted. Minus horses and cowboys that were nowhere to be seen. Next time be careful what you wish for, it may come true.

Somewhere between lecturing myself and a third unsuccessful attempt to dial my fiancé’s number on a miniature cell phone I had with me I missed to take the first exit for the city and the university I was heading to. I knew there were two more exists, but I didn’t really know how to get to a campus from that direction. Luckily, I didn’t miss the next one, and finally I was there, on the streets of the not-so-big American city. There were people on the streets and things started to look better, despite of all other “unusuals” for someone whose driving experience comes from Europe only. The lanes on the streets were unusually wide, the traffic lights were placed on the opposite side of the cross-road and seemed oddly far away, and those hanging diagonally over the cross sections were just adding to my confusion. Watch the lanes, watch the right traffic lights, look at the map and the street signs and pray to see the university campus as soon as possible. And there it was! It finally appeared on my right hand side. I took the right turn, parked on the first parking lot I found and rushed to find my college building.

Finally, I was in a classroom. My heart was still pounding hard, and although I felt I huge relief I couldn’t hear or remember a word that was said in a first half an hour of the lecture. During the break I started chatting with some students. Luckily some of them were traveling from the same city, and they seemed interested in a car pool for the rest of the semester. Things were looking better and I started feeling better, until it was time go back. The same route, still alone, except that it was dark outside – and I mean a complete dark on the road.

While walking out of the building I asked a classmate I just met how she plans to travel back. She was born and raised in Idaho, so I though she may have some driving tips for me, or would agree to stay near my car on the highway to make me feel safer. To my shock, she told me that her husband dropped her off and was waiting for her in the car to take her back. Good gracious! She couldn’t drive by herself after living 30 plus years in the area, and I managed to do it after only three days that I spent there! Well, that’s an achievement I thought! I got in my car with a new confidence. I knew I’d figure my way back out. I did it before; I’ll do it again. It felt like I can “conquer” the world. One city at the time.