A wonderful journey from Paris to Maribor (Thomas)

On February 27th, 2022, I’m leaving home to go abroad alone for the first time. 20 hours long bus ride sounds like an adventure before the real adventure. I thought it would be really long to be 20 hours seating on a bus seat, not moving, only listening to music, looking at the scenery around.

The first transfer took place in Germany, in Salzburg more specifically. I didn’t have much time to go around the city, especially considering the three full bags that I had to carry around with me so I decided to wait at the train station for a few hours. It can sound a bit boring to wait for hours alone but it actually was not that bad. I even realized something during these few hours: NEVER EAT A CROISSANT WHEN YOU’RE NOT IN FRANCE, IT’S NOT GOOD!

When the second bus arrived at the bus station, the driver got off of the bus to help everyone put their luggage in the trunk and check the tickets and IDs. When he came to me, I showed him my ticket and my European COVID passport. He looked at me and asked: “Housewife?”. Why the heck is this guy asking me if I have a housewife? I answered that I do not have a housewife and then he told me “No housewife, no bus.” I have to say I was a bit lost. So I asked him to repeat the question and it turned out that what the man wanted was actually my ID. Yes, I know I should have guessed that housewife was my ID but come on, I’m no good at guessing!

When I finally arrived in Maribor at 5 in the morning, it took me less than 15 minutes before I met someone for the first time in Slovenia. Who could have guessed that at 5:00 am at Maribor train station I would meet a Romanian guy, talking to me in English because he wanted to go back to Romania but didn’t know how?

A couple of hours later, Maja came to the train station and that was the real start of my adventure in Slovenia. And as I’m writing this article in June, I can say that I had never imagined that this adventure would be far beyond my expectations.

See you on the next adventure
Thomas