Stockholm for 15 Minutes

Waking up at 6:30 for my flight back to Prague, I knew it would be a long day. I rolled out of bed, down the street to Norreport station, tried to blink myself into staying awake on the tram, and passed out upon finally making it to my seat. However, as we prepared for landing, I did a complete 180. Landing in the Arlanda Airport in Sweden at 9:50, I checked my boarding pass to see that I had to make it to my gate at 11:40. With an hour and 50 minutes to spare, it was go time. Lesson of the day: Find something that makes you move. Since I was young, I have heard stories of my Dad crossing borders in every way possible, whether in be in storage on a big boat, by a canoe, walking, biking, etc. he is the reigning champ of visiting countries. As soon as I left the country, it became a personal competition to beat him. On car rides or over dinner, we have compared where we have been by states, countries, continents, how we traveled there, and more. He has me beat by a mile...but in relation to age, I am totally winning. For fathers day one year, I bought us both scratch maps(the background of this blog) and have become quite obsessed with "Scratching off" countries and adding them to my list. This has lead me to canoeing across the Zambizi to hit Zimbabwe, as well as leaving the airport in Amsterdam at 6 AM to say I've been to the Netherlands. It is the extra push to make me explore, even when I am tired or it seems inconvenient. And thus, I set out for Stockholm. 

Checking into the Airport wifi, I learned that there was a speedtrain to get to the city center. It took 20 minutes and arrived 5 times an hour. The next tram I could make was at 10:20, I would have ten minutes to dance around Stockholm, and then at 10:50 I would go back to the airport, arring at 11:10 to get through security and make it to my flight that left 30 minutes later. With Partition on Spotify, backpack in hand (I had specifically packed light for this little venture) I made it through the airport as fast as I could without causing a scene. 

10:19-bought my ticket at Terminal 5 and headed down the elevator just in time to catch the train. The trainride through the countryside was well worth the cost. On a cloudy day, the bright greens and browns of the countryside were more beautiful than ever. Sweden seemed quite like Alaska, which is not surprising in any sense than by how beautiful I thought it was! 

10:40 Getting off my train, I made my way to a major street, taking in the major bustle of the city. I walked about a block around, giddy to myself about the fact that I was able to fully navigate my way downtown on time. 

10:45 I realized I had five minutes until I did not make my flight, I was not exaaaactly sure where I was, so I walked a little faster

10:48 Spotted: small brunette in glasses and a messy bun sprinting down the street with her backpack flapping behind her.

10:50: Made it on the train legitimately as the doors closed. Spent the trainride invisioning bragging to my father and then realized I should probably make my flight first

11:10: Theres me again, running through the airport.

11:40 SITTING ON PLANE

While this might seem straight up psycho to some people, I have to say that it was way better than sitting in an airport, trying to connect to wifi and debating gum flavors. This little race against time was thrilling and I am so happy to say that I did it! While it might be an absurd family rivalry, I love the fact that this alone pushes me out of my comfort zone. Who knows, maybe Slovakia is up next??