The number of adventures I have had is already countless. The times I have sat in a airplane is even more! Well over 150 times to be precise (yes, I keep track of all my trips and flights in an Excel sheet). This time I will not start a new adventure, but a whole new chapter in life, which will undoubtedly include cool adventures as well.

It’s Saturday, 25^th of March 2023 and I have packed as much stuff as I could possibly take with me. Two bags of 23 kilograms, a stuffed up back-pack and an extra accessory bag for the plane. All in preparation of my departure to Indonesia for an undefined time. But first I will be making an extra stop in the U.S. for an installation. I am flying to Seattle first and after this we will see where the wind blows.

My loving and caring parents bring me to the airport in Amsterdam to say goodbye. It is uncertain when I will be back, but no doubt it will be sooner than we all think. From Amsterdam it’s a ten-hour flight to Seattle and we depart in the morning with Delta Airlines. Because this is a day time flight, I am not able to sleep. I watched several movies and series, and they are all great; Amsterdam, A man called Otto, Training Day and The Office. The movie Training Day is an old one but a golden one. I have watched it many times but I still like it. Time flies by (literally) and before I know it, we have a touchdown. It has been a very smooth and pleasant flight. Apparently, we arrived at a brand-new airport facility in Seattle and it is relatively quiet; except the 100 Japanese kids that just arrived as well – I am guessing they are on an overseas school trip – I made sure I walked a little bit faster to the immigration counter so I was in front off the group and not behind them.

I picked up my bags and walked to the immigration officer (apparently, they do things in a different order here). I was not in the clear just yet, the immigration officer had a lot of question about the nature of my business. Normally a few simple answer would have been suffice, but this time I am going to a military base for a project. The immigration officer is not so keen just yet to let me into the country and so he tells me to follow a different officer. I follow him all the way to a backroom. This was in a secured and secluded area of the customs and border control. I had no idea what was going on, but I remained calm and did not even break a sweat. I have nothing to hide and I know how to play this game. Like I just mentioned after flying more than a 150 times and arriving at dozens of different airports in many different countries, I know exactly what to do and what not to do.

They had me wait a couple of minutes before a third officer showed up with more questions, but everything checked out. My heart rate remained normal and within minutes I was released and officially entered the U.S. of A. They did not even check all the stuff I was carrying, which I suppose could have been a reason of suspicion (1 suitcase, 1 large back-pack, 1 normal backpack and a big shopper bag). But again, I would have happily showed them what I was carrying, there was nothing illegal in it.

Next stop; Hertz, to pick up the rental car. The office was easy to find and a shuttle bus brought me to the parking garage. I was in a lot of luck today. As a gold member they gave me a free upgrade and I was told I could pick out any car I wanted from the Presidents Circle. The cars in the President Circle are either big or special cars in their fleet. As soon as I walked to the parking lot my eye caught one car and I knew immediately that this was the one I wanted. A black Ford Mustang convertible. I am not really a big car fan, but I do like this car model, especially the old timers. Initially I was set out to find a car with a built-in GPS, but compromises had to be made. I’ll just use data-roaming and Google-Maps. I could have picked a different car with a build in GPS system, but I was already set on this one. The temperatures are too low to put the top down, but at least I was driving a real American muscle car.

It was a half hour drive to the hotel, only to find out I was at the wrong Holiday Inn hotel. I had to go back ten minutes, but with such a car, this was not a punishment. It was already a great day and it could not get ruined. For the remainder of the day, I took it easy and walked around town a bit. Even though I am near the city center and it looks like a modern and well-maintained place I couldn’t help but notice that it is a very quiet city, it almost feels like a ghost town. There aren’t many cars nor are there many pedestrians, I wonder if it’s always like this? It didn’t take me long to find out there is not so much to do or to see here. Except the University which was located in an old factory.

I stopped for a pizza and before sunset I went back to my hotel. Although it was only 18.00 here in the US, I was very much jetlagged and it forced me to bed. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. By the way, 18.00 hr. is 03.00 hr. in the night in my home country, The Netherlands.

Have a good night ya’ll 😃

P.S. sorry to the environmentalists that read my stories with all those flights and gas-slurping American car. On the bright side; most of my flights have a valid business reason and the installations of medical equipment build up good karma.

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