Friday, Day #34 (Almeria, Spain) – Well, today this journey comes to a slow end. I won’t actually be home until Sunday afternoon, however. Today my flight out of Almeria to Madrid is at 2:15pm. I finished up packing in the morning, had breakfast and the Host, Esther, drove me to the airport about 12:00pm. The Almeria airport is small and not hard to navigate. Once I checked in my luggage, I made my way through Security. I bought something to drink and I found an upstairs terrace that overlooks the runway. It was a bit cool and windy, but sunny and the views of the Sea were grand.

Regrettably, my flight to Madrid was delayed one hour. Once we arrived in Madrid, it was very cold (43 degrees F / 6 degrees C), terribly cloudy and wet. It was sprinkling outside. I had to wait 30+ minutes for the hotel van service. I reserved a hotel not too far from the airport. And initially I had planned to make my way to Madrid to do a little sightseeing as my flight was to arrive at 3:35pm which would give me plenty of time to see at least one small part of Madrid and have dinner. I could easily take the Metro into town or an Uber. But it was not to be. By the time I got to the hotel and checked-in, it was 6:00pm. It was still cold and raining now, so I decided to stay in and order room service. It was a nice change. And I could do with the rest.

This evening, I received an email from American Airlines. I think I neglected to mention in a previous Blog post, that upon arrival to Dallas (prior to flying to Spain), one of my two checked suitcases arrived damaged. In fact one set of wheels was damaged and the other set was completely ripped off. I immediately filed an online claim with American Airlines and received a reply that my claim had been received. Then I promptly forgot about it, to be honest.

I was able to replace the suitcase while I was in Dallas overnight. I purchased a new bag and started my journey. So this evening in Madrid I received an email from the airline to say that my claim had been reviewed and approved. In the same email there was a link that took me to a website of an authorized luggage company that provides replacements exclusively for American Airlines. I had no idea that this is how it worked. I assumed they would send me money to replace the suitcase. This was an even better option. I was able to select a suitcase from dozens on the website of varying sizes (from 20 – 29 inches). I simply had to select it, enter my shipping address and they would ship it to me! 😯 I selected a suitcase, and sent off the order. A few days later, I received a shipping confirmation from FedEx that my bag was on the way. All very amazing and great customer service!

Saturday , Day #35 (Dallas, Texas USA) – I started off in Madrid this morning and after breakfast at the hotel, I headed to the airport rather early for a 1:00pm flight. It is scheduled as an eleven-hour flight from Madrid to Dallas, Texas. But once onboard, the pilot told us it would be a ten hour flight and from Spain to Dallas, there is a 7 hour time difference. The flight was a smooth one, I watched a couple of movies, we were given lunch and arrived in Dallas around 4:00pm

Probably the one and only glitch in my travels happened on my arrival into Dallas. We ended up waiting one and a half hours for our luggage. It turns out that the cargo door where the luggage is kept on the airplane would not open. They had many mechanics working on it, so they told us. And the group of us just stood around the baggage carousel waiting and waiting. Finally, our bags appeared and off I went to my airport hotel. I called UberEats for an early dinner (a hamburger and french fries!) and went to bed early. This had been a long, long day.

Sunday, Day #36 (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) – this morning I am traveling home. Yay! The airport hotel where I stayed overnight offered a full breakfast, and I took advantage of that. I had a waffle and some eggs and bacon along with a hot tea. I arrived at the Dallas airport a bit early and took advantage of a Spa within the airport and got myself a much needed massage! I stopped by the Admiral’s Club (an airline VIP Lounge) and had a Gin & Tonic and a snack. I boarded my direct flight to Puerto Vallarta and arrived at 3:30pm. A neighbor picked me up and brought me home… at last!

So that’s my final leg of this fantastical adventure I’ve been on for 36 days. And the final three days brought me to three countries! They were the least remarkable certainly. But it was the journey home, so I don’t complain.

I visited several towns that were on my list of possible future homes. But at the end, I did enjoy Almeria the most. It has it’s own airport, great bus and train station, great local bus service, two shopping malls, a beautiful Central Market (for fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and fish!). It’s a proper city and not a small town. The beach Boardwalk is awesome for my walking. I just feel that this could definitely be my future home.

There is still a lot to figure out regarding my possible move to Spain. But after spending 5 weeks there, I do know that I am very interested in doing so. I will begin looking into all of the necessary steps to obtain a Visa. From what I’ve read, it could easily take 2-3 months. Stay tuned… I will most certainly be “blogging” about it!

Day 34: 8,174 steps

Day 35: 8,439 steps

Day 36: 8,338 steps