Goodbyes & Corfu airport

Today was the day I would officially depart from my friends and restart life as a solo traveller. I'm now just over two months into my trip, and I barely feel like I've actually been solo travelling. I was with Jack throughout most of Italy and all of Croatia. Then I spent some time on my own until reaching the south of Montenegro, but since then I've been travelling with either Lewis or Erin. I absolutely loved my time with all of them, but just as happened with Jack, there eventually comes a point where you start getting excited about the freedom that comes with travelling alone again.

Erin and I said our goodbyes as she boarded the bus to Turkey, while I headed towards the port to catch a ferry to Corfu. It was pretty sad. Like Lewis, Erin will also be heading home soon, so there's a good chance I won't see her again for quite some time. She lives in Sydney, though, rather than Perth, so there's at least a slightly better chance we'll cross paths again at some point. Regardless, it was always going to happen eventually, and I'm sure I'll keep in contact with both of them.

The unfortunate part about the timing of my ferry was that I was going to miss the Matildas' next World Cup game. As a result, I wouldn't know the result until I reached Corfu. I hadn't had any mobile data throughout the Balkans, but I was expecting it to work once I reached Greece. So, I held onto the hope that my data would kick in somewhere along the ferry ride and I'd be able to follow the game. Unfortunately, it came too late. As we arrived in Corfu and my internet finally started working, I learnt that Australia had lost 3–1 to England. It was pretty heart-breaking. Everyone back in Australia had started following the tournament incredibly closely, and Lewis had even mentioned that the previous game against France had attracted a larger audience than the AFL Grand Final. Insane stuff if true.

Still, the show must go on, and I had a lot to fit into a single day in Corfu. I started by finding a nice little café for some food to fuel me through the day. I'd heard Greece was expensive, so I expected this to be my only meal until midday the following day, when I reached my next destination. At this point, I needed to be extremely careful with my budget to make sure I had enough money to last until I could sell my car. Thankfully, the meal was cheap and more than enough to keep me going.

I dropped my bag off at a little luggage storage shop and headed out to explore. My plan was essentially to wander aimlessly around the town, only stopping whenever something caught my interest. The whole town was adorable. The narrow streets filled with little shops were incredibly wholesome, and everyone seemed friendly. The architecture and design of the town were also amazing. It was clearly old and full of character, but unlike some places I'd visited, you never felt unsafe walking around. It didn't have quite the same level of history I'd expect to find elsewhere in Greece, but I still got my history fix by visiting the Old Fortress. It was really cool to explore, and the views over Corfu from the top were incredible. Unfortunately, the sun made it difficult to capture the views properly in photos. It looked amazing in person, though, which is what really matters.

After exploring the fortress, I started making my way back towards the luggage storage before it closed. Along the way, however, I came across a traditional Corfu dish called pastitsada. It was only about €9, so I was easily tempted into trying some traditional food before leaving the island. It was interesting. At first, the flavour seemed quite bitter, but I quickly got used to it and ended up really enjoying it. Highly recommend.
After collecting my luggage, it was time to complete what I consider to be one of the essential backpacker experiences: Sleeping in an airport.

Accommodation in Corfu was expensive, and the reality was that paying for somewhere to sleep, only to wake up early and pay for a taxi to the airport, seemed like far too much effort. It also meant saving around €100, which was a pretty easy decision for me. More importantly, I wanted to avoid the stress of waking up early, organising a taxi and potentially missing my flight.

I'm not a huge fan of flying, despite it being a fairly regular part of my work, which is why my original travel plan was designed to minimise the amount of flying I'd have to do. In fact, I wasn't supposed to catch a flight until 14 weeks into the trip. That clearly didn't go according to plan.

So, I found a seat near the very entrance of the airport, where it was relatively quiet, and settled in to wait until things died down. It quickly became obvious that I wasn't the only person with this idea. By about 10 p.m., people had already spread themselves across rows of seats with sleeping bags, eye masks and whatever else they needed for the night. I respected the commitment but decided to wait until a little later before taking over a full row of seats. That decision almost came back to bite me.

A woman eventually laid down across the seats I'd been eyeing, and for a moment I thought I was going to be forced to sleep upright for the entire night. Eventually, some space opened up next to her daughter and she moved, giving me the opportunity I'd been waiting for. I immediately claimed the seats before anyone else could. By now it was around midnight, I asked a girl sitting nearby, who had briefly woken up, to keep an eye on my stuff while I went to the bathroom. When I came back, I took a sleeping pill, covered my head with a towel... And bang. Lights out.

I slept far better than I ever expected under the circumstances. I managed about five solid hours of sleep, which was significantly more than I thought I'd get. I woke up just in time to check in my luggage and get ready for the flight. And with that, I'd officially completed another major backpacker rite of passage: Airport accommodation.Read more