My longest day of travel consisted of a nearly 48 hour trek from Florence, Italy all the way to Annapolis, MD. The trek consisted of 6 trains, 2 buses, 1 airplane, 1 taxi, 1 Uber and 1 personal car driven by a USNA mom. The plan was to take a bus from Florence to Milan, then another bus from Milan to Stuttgart Airport, then somehow find my way to Ramstein Air Force Base to take a plane to BWI. Now, like any true travel story, nothing seems to go as planned.
The journey began at the Airbnb I was staying at in Prato, Italy. It was about a 30-40 minute train ride from Florence, so I had to plan accordingly. Packing up all my stuff around midnight, I left the house, leaving the key inside. I set out for the local train station only to find out that I had gone to the wrong station and missed the train… the next train wasn’t for another 5 hours. After making the 1 hour walk to the correct station, I had to wait for the next available transportation. I quickly realized that I only had one opportunity to get to Florence in time to catch my bus to Milan. (Train 1) Luckily I did, and I was able to get to Florence on time and sit in front of a McDonald’s to get WiFi for a quick second.
Around 0630-0700, I caught my first bus which was only took 7 hours. We stopped in Milan for a little while and I changed buses for the 2nd part of the journey, the 13 hour beautiful scenic view of Switzerland to Stuttgart, Germany. Now, this seems to be the calm before the storm. As we pull in to the airport, I quickly realize that once again my poor planning was coming back to bite me. We were about an hour late due to traffic and from what I could tell, there was only one train left that went north toward Ramstein. So, I hopped of the bus and ran for my life with a giant 65 liter backpack on my back… I must have looked truly very dumb. Now, I do know a tiny bit of German but for some reason after being in Italy for a week or so I began asking/thanking all the Germans I asked for direction in Italian. (Sorry, I believe I gave Americans a bad rap there haha). After frantically trying to buy the right ticket for the right train, I was safely on a train head the right direction. (Train 2)
I safely switch at a platform onto the next train, thanks to kind bloke and I boarded Train 3. When I got to Mannheim, I hand only about 20 minutes to catch the last train going to Ramstein. Which makes sense because it was around 2300 at the time and those rural trains shut down pretty early, but of course I didn't plan for that back in Prato. When I was in Florence, I began having credit card issues. Stores and ticket machines were no longer accepting, so I had to rely on cash and ATM withdrawals. Due to my rush at the last train station, I wasn’t able to get more cash out to pay for the rest of the journey. Now, this is where it gets kind of heartwarming. A local German man, probably in his mid-50's, who was helping with the system before he noticed I was having issues, he got a big grin on his face when I told him what was wrong and said, “don't you worry,” and paid for my ticket. Never have I seen such kindness from a total stranger before. So, we go on the train together a had a good conversation till he got off and I had to switch to one more train but luckily it was already included in the previous ticket. (Train 5&6)
It's midnight as I pull into the station and a nice enlisted airman hoped off with me. For obvious reasons, he was going to the base as well. Now, if you have ever been there you know that the train station is like a good hour to 1.5 hours away from the base! So, luckily he knew the pub owners a little bit so we sat on their porch and talked to them as we wait for a taxi! It took a little bit longer than expected, but I finally arrived at the Air Base around 0200 and had to sit in the hotel lobby till 0600 when the AMC terminal opened.
Like everything else, something had to go slightly wrong after going well for a little bit. I got onto a flight, but instead of going to Baltimore, I was headed to McGuire Air Force base near Trenton, New Jersey. Initially super happy I got on a flight, I realized that I had no idea how to get back down to Annapolis from New Jersey. So like any good mom would do, my mom put on the parents Facebook page asking if anyone could pick me up from the base and drive me the 30 some minutes to the train station. Luckily, someone responded and when I arrived back in that States for the first time in 25 days, two really nice USNA moms came and picked me up (dinner included)! So, by this time, I am reaching right around hour 42 of my journey. I hoped onto my last train around 2100 and make my way down to the BWI train station and when I finally get there, it’s around 2300. So done and over with public transportation by this point, I call for an Uber and make my way back to the Academy by midnight, completing my 48 hour trek just to get back home!
P.s. You might wonder why I didn't just get a flight from Florence. Well, because I did this it only cost me around $200 to get back instead of a $500 flight :)
"The views expressed, in "My Longest Travel Day.....s" reflect personal opinions of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy, any federal agency, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.”
