The Aegean, July 26th

26th July, Heraklion, 1930hrs. On board ‘Rethymno’ in port.

A cacophony of revving moped engines, car horns and a mixture of firecrackers and pistol fire has surrounded our ferry for the last half hour. A newlywed couple are boarding the ferry opposite and there is a crowd amassed in what we’re learning to be true Greek style. The sun is going down, the boarding is complete- the foot passengers ramp is down. A group of young men race to the top of a platform on the ramp with a moped held aloft between the four of them, the engine held at full throttle, waving illuminously coloured flares with their free hands. The noise is almost deafening as the lines are being cast off at the stern. More flares are lit and horns sounded as the ship gets underway.
It’s not a wedding I’ve just asked a frantic-looking guy in ship’s uniform what’s going on, and he explained that the men of an age of Iraklion are being taken into the army for national service. In answer to the cars, all the ships in harbour sound their whistles and horns...WOW the noise is impressive – I can feel it in my chest. The noise is echoing and resounding round the bay and the whole city as the other ferry pulls out ahead of us. The decks of the other ferry- the ‘King Minos’ are packed with waving figures. For us, the opposite is true, and those who would wish us well are far away.

We’re turning around and heading for home.

But the crowds are massed for us as well. They’re there because they know what it is to be away from home, and they’re there as a testament to that feeling. They know what it’s like to miss someone, to be missed. Goodbye chaps, thanks for the send off.

2010hrs – North of Crete

Ari and Jenny were due to fly out of Iraklion airport just as we pulled away from the harbour. There was only one plane as we cast off, so Gemma and I said a silent goodbye and good luck to them.
Love, and do what you like.

There is an air of beginnings surrounding the end of our travelling. Ari and Jenny are flying off on their honeymoon as a married couple, hundreds of men setting off on their national service, and we are turning home. New lives.
For the first time, I feel like a traveller.

The colour of the sea and the light in the haze of the mountains, the breeze, the sunset. All of this is a journey. All of it is part of me, of everyone who witnesses it. I have travelled. It doesn’t matter how cheaply, whether in youth hostels or ferry cabins, in hotels or by plane. I have travelled to travel. To experience, to see, to meet people and to learn. I feel now how reading Jules Verne made me feel when I was younger. Excited, thrilled, revelling in the colours, the smells and the feel of the world around me.

It’s all so beautiful.