”The sign said Warsaw,” a woman’s voice said, setting up the departure conversation.

”Next time we can go all the way from Joensuu to Warsaw”, the man replied and laughed at the thought.

”No.. It’s just a couple of hours by plane”, he then continued.

I wanted to turn around and jump into the conversation of strangers. To say that I made that bus trip. In parts, stopping along the way, but I made it all the way to Warsaw. And from there, to Krakow, Budapest, Vienna and Italy.

I traveled with Flixbus. And Itabus. And Eurolines.

I bought a ticket to a bus named 14, which at the station was revealed to be Ecolines.

I took a last minute train from Vilnius to Kaunas and back.

I listened with my Duolingo Italian as two men were making guesses of my age.

I chatted with a non-English speaking traveler next to me about our destination.

I watched The Age of Adaline on the seat screen, holding back tears. When that didn’t work, I turned my head sideways, away from the others, and blinked as my eyes released tears down my cheeks and into my arms.

As fellow passengers filed out to smoke, I tried to find a place to breathe fresh air, to estimate time I had, to make sure I don’t miss the bus.

In Italy, the bus driver finally announced in English, a long break at a petrol station. The driver held the station door open for me, and I followed a line of travellers to the clean restroom downstairs. I bought more water, and refused the passenger next to me’s offer of a late-night espresso. I left the station while the drivers laughed at my appearance and that of another female passenger. We had opposite physical traits, both exceptional in their own way.

My longest bus journey was about 12 hours, but a budget-savvy passenger I chatted with had booked a full 24-hour trip. While I got out in Roma Tiburtina, his trip continued for another 7 hours after a break.

To me Rome was the destination. I walked to a Lidl close to the station, bought some breakfast and sat down on a bench on Vittorio Emanuele II Square. In the following weeks I would continue my travels in Italy, but at that moment I wanted to enjoy the not-as-warm-as-I-had-hoped-for winter sun. It was better than the weather of the chilly upper Europe, the place where I started my journey, and that of all the other places I had visited so far.