Germany/Ireland — Sept. 13, 2010

It was time to go home. I had chosen flight times that would mean I wouldn't have to get up extremely early or get home extremely late. Since I had booked my trip as a package with Lufthansa, I had to go from Dublin to Frankfurt, and from Frankfurt to Boston.

But first there was the matter of returning the vehicle at the airport. After each accident, I filled out the form they had provided, and took pictures of the damage. I had also gone to the police station in Monaghan after the first accident and made a report there, but since there was no injury or damage to other property, they basically didn't care. The mirror of  the second vehicle was hanging on by a couple of wires, and as I reached highway speed, it started banging around. Fortunately, after a very short time it fell off, so I didn't have it making noise and possibly causing damage all the way to Dublin. At the rental return place the man took my damage reports very calmly and charged me the replacement cost for the mirror. It was either €46 or 64 — not bad and not more than I had expected.

In the line at the check-in for the flight, I met a nice couple from the Netherlands, originally from Austria, who knew people who knew people I knew. They had visited my home town on occasion.

The flights were uneventful, and I was met at the airport by my brother, which made the final bit of the trip a bit easier that if I had needed a taxi service.

There are a couple of things I forgot to mention when telling about the day they happened, such as the second book I bought, the English couple at breakfast one morning, and dealing with parking lots in the SUV, so there is still a wrap up post to come.

But for now I'll just mention that it was a good trip. It would have been better without having to drive on the left and without the accidents (but thank goodness no injuries), but I'm glad I went. I've been thinking about some bloggers who have recently had a university semester abroad, and I think it has been their first time going to Europe. As I think back to my first few trips outside the U.S., there was a freshness, a feeling of discovery, of adventure, which gradually diminished as I made more visits. Going to Israel renewed the feeling, and to a lesser extent going to Bosnia-Herzegovina. And of course this time, Ireland was all new to me. But all the trips have been examples of the sort of enjoyment a single guy can have in life. Being single, whether at home or away, does not have to mean loneliness, a dull existence, or a lack of meaningful human contact.