First, my boss permitted the time to work from home so I figured to go visit friends and spend Christmas in New england, in Boston and area. Many I haven’t seen in almost 3 years.

Well, the bus ride to Boston started off uneventful. At the station, we were notified 3 times that this particular bus was direct to Boston and those who would be getting off at the stops inbetween had to go to another bus. Ok thats fine- better for me since it was direct.

We get to the border and this Austrian exchange student asked me how long the process would take.

“However long the officers decide.”

The kid looked depressed,

“We dont have borders in Europe.”

“Well, not in Western Europe.” I said thinking back to my time in the Balkans and the extra security measures taken to prevent refugees from enterring the Schengen zone.

The border crossing was relatively smooth. They took the non-North Americans to the back for a few extra questions and fingerprints (the Austrian was telling me after), which took an hour to process everyone.

I was sitting next to the emergency exit and the light kept turning on and at one point just stayed on. The bus driver got frustrated and told us not to touch the door (we werent) and proceeded to open and slam it shut for 10 minutes to turn the light off. He finally restarted the whole bus and the light remained off.

We continue driving.

At about 4.30am, the lights flick on and a man by the bus driver turns around and says loudly,

“Someone call the police! The bus driver wont stop!”

Discussion continued from a variety of people throughout the bus. Basically, the man wanted to get off at Burlington, but because it was a DIRECT bus, we werent stopping and so the man wanted to just get off at the side of the highway.

“I havent paid for a ticket to Boston!” The man said.

Eventually, we stop at White River Junction and 5 people get off. Im confused as to why so many people get off. Were they all together? Was this a designated stop even for a direct bus? Were they just fed up with the treatment of the man? Answers I will never know.

The bus driver then comes to the speaker and makes a speech for 10/15 minutes about how he doesnt yell at anyone, but he raises his voice to get the point across and goes on about the man getting on a different bus back to Burlington.

We finally reach Boston to spend my Christmas in New England….actually earlier than predicted even with all of that.

I made breakfast plans with a friend and proceeded to walk from South Station (bus and train) to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, a 10 minute or so walk. It was so nice!

The weather was warm, warmer than Montreal, and it was so quiet. It was an incredibly good feeling being back in a place I called home for 4 years.

We met for coffee and then went to get breakfast on Newbury street walking through the Common.

After, I headed to the apartment of 2 of my friends and that evening met 2 more friends.

I was so happy to see all of them again.

For spending Christmas in New England, I headed to Rhode Island, taking the commuter train.

Another friend picked me up and brought me to her parents’ home. It was a nice 2 days. In total, I had 3 Christmas dinners haha, I ate so much! I also want to thank these families for embracing me into their family and even getting me presents. It was so kind!

I returned to Boston and joined yet another friend and her boyfriend. During the day, I redid the Freedom Trail and at night, they took me around the city to be a tourist again and we saw the Christmas lights and ate some good ramen.

For my last full night in the Boston area, I headed south to Connecticut to visit the last friend that was available this week.

She showed me around her city and we even got drinks that night at Barcelona tapas bar.

Now, for the return to Montreal….because this story wouldnt be complete without some problem haha.

My bus was supposed to be at 3.30pm, it didnt show up from New York until 5.20pm. Luckily, my bus back to Montreal was at 11.50pm so lots of time. The ride is 1.5 hours more or less.

So this wasn’t so chaotic as past ones, but still funny considering my track record. And this is how I spent my Christmas in New England