“Young people shouldn’t dwell on recent mistakes. They’ll make more, momentarily.” – Old Sean
Flung Away
After leaving London, I booked a bus heading north towards York. This bus had a short layover in Leeds before heading onwards to York.
Or at least, the bus I was supposed to hop on did. Instead, I ended up on a bus which accidently deposited me in Newcastle at 9 PM.
I’m grateful that I’m not the one who made a mistake. There was a printing error on my ticket which resulted in my accidental detour.
I find it a bit funny that my first misdirected vehicle on this tour wasn’t in the Polish, Danish, French or German speaking countries, where I’m utterly illiterate.
Instead, my first sleepy failure was in English.
Waiting on Reroutes
This mistake required some backtracking. I was to take a bus back to Leeds and then to York, I was asked to wait for three hours or so for the next bus. I agreed, and promptly began wandering around Newcastle at night.
Newcastle, also called Newcastle upon Tyne, is a nice little University town with heaps of old architecture, old fortifications, bright streets and the Tyne River cutting through the southern portion of town.
Luckily for me, since Newcastle is a University town, it’s used to catering to students studying and working at odd hours. Many young people were out at night, plugging themselves awake with coffee or munching on late-night snacks.
Exploring Nightly Newcastle
Visiting Newcastle at night proved nice to walk around. I was carrying my full backpack, so I wasn’t eager to do too much exploring. However, the city is surprisingly pretty, especially along the Tyne.
I ordered some KFC first and loaded myself up with the unhealthiest dinner I could scrounge up. I borrowed some WIFI to let my hostel know I would be arriving at an unholy hour. Afterwards, I began walking my fried dinner off.
Heading south, I peered into the River Tyne where lights of the city reflected off the waters. There are tons of brightly-lit bridges stretching over the waterways with cars puttering across both directions.
I also walked past the large, pale-stoned fortress of Newcastle Castle. While I couldn’t go inside, I enjoyed chuckling at the name.
Later that evening, I also passed the spires of The Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas. I kept heading north until I spent a half-hour or so walking around the University campus, which is a gorgeous place for a stroll. There are many other things I would have liked to see in Newcastle, but most were closed and I was getting tired.
Eventually, I wandered back into central town and seated myself near Newcastle Cenotaph and Grey’s Monument, awaiting my next bus.
Fine Paradoxes of Tourism
I employ a lot of anti-tourist measures when I travel. This means I go to great lengths to avoid looking like a tourist. Tourists are targets, ripe for pickpocketing and scams. It’s always safer to look a little local.
Most of the time, however, a foreign appearance can’t be avoided. There’s not much one can do with pale skin while traipsing around India.
But, in Europe especially, I make a point of looking like a weary local, especially in tourist zones.
My camera remains stored on extended walks, I wear sunglasses to avoid eye contact, my clothes are tough, semi-formal attire, I avoid gawking at rooftops, I walk with swift, purposeful strides and usually carry only a compact day-bag.
When I do have my full backpack, I hide it in a rain cover and keep it anchored between my legs, under benches and tables while seated.
In Europe, this has an amusing side effect. Other tourists, and even some locals, sometimes approach me asking for directions. While in Newcastle, I had a small group of drunk students ask me for clarification about directions to a restaurant and another traveler stopped to ask me for directions to a bus station.
Of course, I had no idea. But luckily, Google knew and I was able to lend a hand.
Google, you’ll likely crush out most competition and invade my search patterns until you know more about the inner-workings of my mind than me. But in the meantime, you’re a damn fine map-and-search-engine.
Onward to York
I was practically sleeping upright on a bench near the bus stop, tired from the lateness of night and my extended walk visiting Newcastle.
In the end, my bus arrived about ten minutes late with a very accommodating driver. I was given two seats by myself. The bus driver told me I could snooze if I wanted, and she would double check on me at the Leeds stop to make sure I woke up in time.
I hammered out some notes on my laptop so I could better remember my brief time walking around Night-Newcastle and then fell asleep.
In a couple of hours, I’ll be walking around Night-York.
Until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written June 26th, 2018
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There was an unfortunate time in life where I was in the cold and dark tundra of Mongolia trying to use a outhouse bathroom while wrangling a flashlight. Since then, I’ve only traveled with headlamps. The Black Diamond Headlamps batteries last for a year or so at a time while hardly weighing a thing. The headlamp was pretty handy while visiting Newcastle at night, ensuring I could be seen by drivers on darkened roads.
