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The first steps back homeward - boy, you've got to carry that weight!
Facing me on my return journey were four days, five flights, two long layovers, and four international borders. For some of these I'd have to carry all my luggage with me.
So. First step was careful packing. And planning.
Sunday arvo I pulled out my bags and placed them on the tables in the living area, piling up all the things I needed to take with me and deciding where I needed to stow them.
All the books and souvenirs - some sweets, a can of specialty beer, other fragile items - took over the two big Sistema boxes that had hauled my Tim-Tams to Scotland. Yes, I had eight or so packs of Tim-Tams to give away and I made sure that they were all distributed. That made for a lot of free space.
Some of it was taken up with Volume 1 of a Sanskrit dictionary. Someone had picked precisely the right book for me. I don't use it every day, but when I need it, I need it. Eight of the William McIntyre Scottish crime books. These only have a limited availability - Amazon aside - even in Falkirk and I bought a bunch direct from the author.
I had a can of beer, a bottle of local cider, a can of Irn-Bru and a bottle of milk in the fridge. I took the beer and left the rest. Either the cleaner could have them or the next guest would find a pleasant surprise along with half a bag of ground coffee and the Finnair marmalade from the Bangkok flight.
And anything I inadvertently left behind if I wasn't careful.
I spend an hour or so carefully packing everything except what I'll be wearing and will need in the morning away. I may not have my big bag in Helsinki so I'd best be prepared for HLO, but in Bangkok I'll collect my bag there and will have a change of clothes. I'm up to date with laundry - the big advantage of an AirBnB - so I allocate clothes and socks and things accordingly.
Right. My flight to Helsinki leaves at 1000. Recommended to be there two hours in advance. I'd heard enough horror stories from other attendees, quite apart from my own two-hour wait for luggage, that I added in another hour, just to be sure. So I needed to be striding through the doors at 0700.
How would transport work?
Working backwards, I find that the
first tram of the day leaves the connecting station at Edinburgh Park at 0600, arriving at the airport at 0614. Until 0700, there are trams every ten minutes and the frequency increases to every seven minutes until the evening. So if I just miss a tram and have to wait ten minutes, that's ten plus fourteen equals 24 minutes. Plus some transfer time between train and tram. So long as I get to Edinburgh Park by 0630, I should be right.
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Stepping backwards, what train gets me to Edinburgh Park by 0630? If I want to go direct, there's a train leaving Falkirk Grahamstown (the nearest station) at 0552, arriving at Edinburgh Park at 0617. I could also travel on to Haymarket or Waverley and pick up the tram there, but this this one looks good.
Next step(s) are in the direction of the station. I need to work out how long it will take me, and what my ticket-buying options are. Will I be able to roll my bag all the way there or will I need to annoy a cabbie or Uber with a short fare?
I step out. The station is only a few blocks away and it is five minutes basically straight up the street and over the line to get to the east-bound platform. There shouldn't be much traffic at that time. A bit of a worry is the cobblestone surface here and there. Not really rough and stony like some I've encountered, but nor is it smooth all the way. I might rattle a bit but it's mostly commercial between me and the station so I shouldn't annoy too many Falkirkers.
I ask at the station about tickets and the bloke suggests I buy one then and there. Fair enough.
So long as I'm out the AirBnB door at 0547 I should be right. Add in a few minutes fudge factor.
I set my alarm for 0500. All I need do is have a shower and shave, make my last cup of coffee, throw in the few things left unpacked and I can be off. Coffee and shower will have me set up nicely for the day of travel.
And it all works out, apart from another visit to the Orchard on Sunday evening to share a last drink or two with friends.
I walk Esther and her roommate Izzy back, give them a hug where our paths diverge and then I'm effectively a solo traveller once more.
It's kind of an empty feeling after being part of a crowd of good friends for five days.
East wind, rain
I wake to wetness. Not good. I don't want to walk five minutes even in a drizzle and begin the day damp. I have a light spray jacket, but still…
I poke my nose out in the dawn. It's daylight already, though under overcast and light rain. A big change from the preceding week of glorious sunny summer. That might be it until next June…
With a cup of coffee, I'm feeling sunnier. I check out the window and although the ground is wet, the rain has stopped for the moment. I won't need a taxi.
One final check, I drag my bag down the stairs and out the door, slot the key into the lockbox and point my nose north toward the station.
It's pretty much just me rolling my bag over the various surfaces and ridges. Just as I arrive at the station - in good time for my train - I detect some roughness in the rolling. Uh-oh. One of the wheels on my duffle is mangled. Doesn't look good. For the moment, it's still working but I may need to swap out my bag, or carry it. Somewhere north of twenty kilos; that will wear me down.
A train arrives. LNER going Glasgow to Edinburgh to London. I've checked. This one doesn't stop at Edinburgh Park. My Scotrail train will be along in a couple of minutes.
And so it is. One of the ugliest trains I've seen in a long time. Maybe it's practical with a connecting door on its nose but it looks hideous.
Nevertheless it's warm and dry and practically empty inside. A bored conductor checks my ticket and I watch the Scottish morning scroll past, with sleepy passengers boarding at the small towns on the way to Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Park itself has a couple of stations but I'm awake up to this and get off at the right one. My bag's bodgy wheel seems to have healed itself, because it is rolling smoothly along the tiles to the adjacent tram station. I have to take a lift up and over and down again to get to the far platform, but that's okay. I have plenty of time.
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And, as luck would have it, a tram arrives in a few minutes. I lug my stuff aboard, dump it in a convenient location and relax for the short trip to the airport.
A conductor politely pointed out that my bags were occupying a zone reserved for wheelchairs and perhaps I might consider relocating it to a luggage rack?
I'd forgotten about the racks - too many trains and buses and trams over the past week and they were all running together in my mind - but I complied. Ten minutes later, I was alighting at Edinburgh Airport, relentlessly on time.
I'm pretty sure I tipped out that milk in the AirBnB fridge.
Keep up the good work. I'm sure many will be happy you persisted, maintained the will to live and continue to put in the hard yards this time. A most enjoyable TR, written with your personality, sense of humour and own style all evident. Cheers 
