Last August, two hundred and two countries came together to celebrate sporting achievement, promoting peace and fair play. Not only was it a celebration of nationalism for all the countries present but a celebration of internationalism. It was the Olympic Games in Athens Greece, where thousands of the best athletes in the world came to play. Like millions of other people, I too watched the world during its greatest achievement of humanity, setting around my television set.
I had a dream to watch the Olympics live from the Olympic Stadium where hundreds of thousands of people would flock to every day to watch athletes in their greatest form compete in front of the world. I had a burning desire to get to Athens someway, some how. Fortunately I was already on the continent so that financially helped. After watching the opening ceremonies live on Germany television I went onto Germanywings.com, Easyjet.com and Ryanair.com searching for a cheap flight. Two train rides later from Wuerzburg to Frankfurt and then onward to Colonge/Bonn Airport in the middle of the night, within twenty-four hours, I was boarding a plan to Athens, Greece. Not to mention 200 Euros charger to my Visa later. This is what I live for, having a gut feeling an going for it. This is the excitement of traveling with no itinerary.
There was one last detail I had not completely overlooked however had so far had no luck with was where to stay? Traveling on a student budget I decided to put a post on Expatriates.com, as follows.
Title: Accommodation needed for Olympics Athens 2004
Category: Housing Wanted - Rooms Wanted
Region: Athens
Description:
I am a male Canadian student staying in Germany for the summer and am
traveling to the Olympics and cannot find accommodation because it is so
expensive. I hope that someone has a spare room or couch in there
home/apartment that they are willing to sublet to me for the few nights that
I am in Athens(Aug 18th-22). I am a responsible and clean 21 year old
and well traveled. Hope someone has a room to offer me. Thank you.
Matthew Harriman
I had an overwhelming number of people inviting me to stay in their home with in hours, some at a more moderate price then others. I decided on staying with a Canadian couple from Greek origin in their home in the heart of Athens city, for a fraction of the cost of staying in a hostel. Only forty euros a night for Olympic standards is an excellent deal. I shared a room with a man from Romania, a lady from the Netherlands and a male flight attendant from the UK.
After telling the flight attendant I was traveling alone he told me a pearl of wisdom that gave him comfort no matter where he was resting his head in the world that night. Remember, whether you are in a foreign country or continent, even if you are twelve time zones away, you are still connected to the entire world because "home is only a flight the length of two movies and a nap away." I guess this rings true if you are already at the airport. After thinking of the world from this prospective, it seemed a little smaller to a lone traveler making their way through the world. After experiencing the spirit of internationalism of the Olympic Games, it made me feel the world was a little more comforting because every country represented at the games shares a common goal of peace.
