The WOW Experience

My time in the US had come to an end. After two months it was time to fly back to Europe. While there are many great stories to tell about my travels there, this one is about how it took me two and a half days to fly from Los Angeles to Europe and how I ended up in Amsterdam instead of Bristol with all the crazyness that happened in between and after.

Disclaimer: Sex, Drugs & Techno

Los Angeles – The long game

It was eight in the morning when my alarm went of, not the time I usually get up, especially not in the environment where I was in. For the past ten days I had lived in a flat right next to downtown LA with actors, artists, dancers and writers. It can't get more LA. While the city itself is frowned upon tourists and classified as boring and not worthwile seeing, I had a completely different experience because I mostly hung out with locals but before we get lost in this unreal, superficial and rich cosmos, let's get back to the main story.

As I said, eight o'clock, I had already packed my stuff and called an Uber to LAX. My flight was supposed to take off at 12.40pm but since LAX is such a huge airport I wanted to make sure to have plenty of time left when I arrive. At 9am the counters opened, I checked in my backpack (it's only getting heavier, now about 25kg!) and went through security. There were two flights from WOW airline to Reykjavik listed at 12.40pm which seemed strange, even more strange was, that those two were the only ones who haven't been assigned a gate yet. While one was stated as On Time, the other one was delayed to 11.20pm. I was hoping it wasn't my flight.

The waiting game began. Midday approached, still no gate. The other flight changed shortly to 1.20pm, while the other disappeared from the screens. 1pm came, still no gate. The other flight had popped up shortly again only to vanish a few minutes later. Something was wrong. Suddenly the scheduled time changed back to 11.20pm and stayed. It was almost 3pm when I went out of the airport again and asked at the information desk what was up. As I feared, my flight was delayed and rescheduled to 11.20pm.

My laptop was in my backpack that I had already checked-in but I had my Kindle with me and plenty of time to finally finish Armada by Ernest Cline, the author who wrote Ready Player One. The free wifi at the airport was extraordinary bad and just once in a while I could get online. When I did, I saw that I had received an email from the flight company just ten minutes after I had left the flat which would have informed me that the new time for my flight was at 11.20pm, shit happens.

At 4pm came another email saying that the flight got further delayed and will now be at 1.30am. It was getting silly. In the evening came the last email which informed me, that all passengers with onward connections to Europe will overnight in Reykjavik and be provided with accommodation. That was the first good news of the day! Since I haden't booked anything in Europe and had been thinking about staying in Iceland for a couple of days anyways, this was the perfect arrangement for me.

It was now 1.30am and I was waiting at the gate with all the other passengers. We should have boarded a long time ago. The reason why we hadn't: The cabin crew was late. At this point it really didn't matter anymore but when the crew finally arrived after 2am everyone applauded and some people even gave standing ovations. The overall mood of the crowd was mostly positive, trying to make the best out of the situation. A few were clearly pissed and it didn't help at all that there was no news for us about our connecting flights. The only answer we got is that there will be someone waiting in Reykjavik to give us further details.

I don't remember anymore when we finally boarded the plane, but I do that we didn't take of for more than another hour because "some papers had to be approved". It was 3.45am when the plane finally left the ground, nearly everyone was asleep by then. This was also due to the fact that the oxygen in the plane was lowered to make everyone dizzy and prevent any riots. When I woke up a few hours later all the lids of the windows had been shut and it was almost pitch black in the plane. I looked around and literally no one else I saw was awake. I couldn't stay awake and read and was passing in and out until the lights went back on and one of the cew members announced that we only have 1.5 hours left until we land. Shortly after they came with the wagons to buy food and drinks. During the whole time we had been offered nothing and since the flight time was supposed to be only 7.45 hours they were not required by law to do so.

When we landed it was already 6pm in the evening. There was one WOW counter at the departure/arrival lounge and quickly a very long line formed since there was just one person operating it. The answer when asked someone from the airport why so: They didn't expect such a rush....

Others told me that they can't help at the desk and that we have to go and pick up our luggage, after there will be someone waiting for us with news at the meeting point. So far no one had a clue what's gonna happen. The fact, that also the baggage claim took way longer as it's supposed to didn't make it easier.

My backpack was one of the last to appear and nearly everyone had already left. When I came to the entrance of the aiport there was no one I recognised. Luckily I discovered the meeting point shortly after at the opposite side of the airport where a bulk of people was standing. Four gentleman were waiting there. They gave everyone infos about their new flight and which hotel they are staying in. After this process we could go to a shuttle which would bring us to our hotels. I had made a different booking, but with the same airline going out from Reykjavik to Bristol and for this reason I wasn't on the list as I had feared the whole time. They made a couple of phone calls and once again I was the last one to board the shuttle. By this time I had already made plenty of friends and our shuttle felt like a party bus or a field trip in school.

The more than 220 stranded passengers got split up in four hotels. Two in downtown and two outside. Our bus was the one going to downtown which was a beautiful one hour drive through Icelands magical landscape. WOW airline has it's headquarters in Reykjavik itself and while driving into the city we saw a couple of advertisements and the HQ itself which resulted in loud booing followed by laughter from the whole bus.

It was after 10pm when we arrived at our hotel, the Plaza, right in the city center. We had decided to meet up with the people from the other hotel later and enjoy the time we have in Reykjavik. Suprisingly the check-in was super simple and I got a double-room because all the singles were already gone. I don't want to know how much the delay costed the airline because our rooms were almost 300$ per night and we spent there not even 5 hours.

Reykjavik – No sleep till ...?

Everybody went to have a shower and our little group consisting of five people headed out into town at 11.30pm. Needless to say, the temperature difference from 39°C to 9°C was brutal and since nobody had really eaten since forever the night was destined to become legendary when we hit the first bar. While the feeling of time was already inexistent thanks to the seven hours difference, the fact that it never got dark and the sky shone in light grey the whole night made me completely lose any sense of space and time.

We had time until three o'clock, that's when the first shuttle would pick us up to the airport. My flight was supposed to be at 6.20am as I've been told before at the airport. There would also be another shuttle at 7am for the people with flights at 10am but everybody was aiming for the first one. You didn't want to take any chances and even the reception at the hotel told us so.

With only three hours left on the clock, the first two pitchers were emptied fast and we headed to the next bar. Since I was the only one who had been in Iceland before I headed our little group to the cool places I remembered. Just outside the next bar we saw a fight between two guys happening and one got pinned down to the floor by the security. While this was happening on the right side of us, on the left were three girls making out in a car. We couldn't decide where to look at.

We were just about to head into the bar when we noticed the group from the other hotel standing just a couple of meters away from us. It was an explosion of joy. Everyone was hugging and screaming. Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps. Together we went to their hotel because it was closer then ours and we raided all the minibars because WOW was paying for it or better said, we let them pay for it but let's not get into any details here...

The other guests in the hotels must have hated us. We were more than ten people hanging out in one room and once all the alcohol was gone we went outside and wanted to go to our hotel. Since time was running out, it was already 2pm, the others decided to stay at their hotel.

On our way back to the Plaza, by now we were only four people left, we met a French girl again we had encountered an hour ago and once again there was an exchange of screams of joy and tight hugs. The whole city seemed to be ecstatic, also because Iceland had won a match in the European Football Championship a couple of hours ago.

Back in our hotel we gathered in my room and the last reserves of alcohol were emptied while we started singing together until it was 2:40am and everybody went back to their rooms to pack their stuff, well not everyone. I've had an eye on the girl in our group since we first met at the airport in Reykjavik and when everyone left, she stayed. We both had to pack our things though so we decided she would quickly go up to her room and come back in five minutes. I packed my stuff and waited...and waited...the time was running out and at 2:50am I decided to check out and go to the lobby where all the other guests were already waiting.

It was 2:55am when she arrived in the lobby. She got hold up by another guy from our group with the same intentions but was torn since she had already promised to come back to me. The three of us were standing in the lobby, nobody was sure what to do and the shuttle was nowhere to be seen yet. That's when she said, that we still got five minutes left and we should follow her. Still indecisive we watched her walking to my room, which should have been locked and I didn't have my key card anymore but call it whatever you want, but somehow I haden't closed the door properly and she disappeared inside. I started walking to my room, followed by the other guy.

While he left after maybe ten minutes, it was already 3.40am when she and me went back to the now emtpy lobby. We had missed the shuttle. Acting very innocent and bending the truth a little bit by saying we got left behind while we grabbed our stuff from the room, we managed to get a free taxi to the aiport. Paid once again by WOW.

It was already after 5am when we arrived at the airport. We tried to check in at the computers but it didn't work and my flight destination Bristol wasn't even listed. We joined the huge line for the check-in and met three other members of our WOW family again while waiting. Another guy from our little family was also supposed to go to Bristol and he told me that there is no flight from Reykjavik to there today and he now is supposed to fly first to Dublin and after to Bristol. I got already offered to come to Amsterdam with her instead, where she had already booked a room and now was the time where I decided to change my destination. You might wonder why I even wanted to go to Bristol in the first place. I was supposed to meet someone there who is very close to me but things had gotten complicated just a couple of days ago and instead of a full week we could have only meet up for one day but that's another very long story that is still being written.

The guy working at the desk was clearly suprised about my request to change the destination but since it meant less costs for them, all worked out after a couple of phone calls and I got my flight to Amsterdam at 10am with the others. They actually wanted to have the 6am flight but they got told that there is no more space in this one (we later got a picture from someone from our wow family showing that there were plenty of seats still free).

The time went by surprisingly fast and due to our totally fucked up feeling for time it felt totally normal to drink wine at 7am and continue until 10. Everyone was nervous, would we get this plane on time? The clock was ticking and there was no plane outside the gate to be seen. Finally one showed up, but it was completely white and not purple like all the other wow planes. At 10am we had no boarded yet, but started shortly after. Officially we were not delayed. In the meantime I got pretty tired and passed out in my seat. My wonderful dreams got suddenly interrupted by somebody touching me and when I opened my eyes I got a friendly "you've been WOWed!". Our flight got delayed one hour but at least this time they had waited to announce it until everyone was boarded. The clock said it was already 11.30am. As a nice surpise, because the cabin crew was actually from another company (this flight was only happening because of all the delays) we got drinks and a sandwich! It felt like heaven. Like on the flight from LA they closed all the window lids after we had taken off and the plane got dark, I never saw that before on a day flight. I fell asleep again until we landed and even then had a hard time to stay awake.

Amsterdam - Animals & Angels

When we finally arrived in Amsterdam it was already past 6pm and we where basically floating to the hotel room. Time, space, it was all fluid without importance and separation. But there was no time for relaxation, at 9pm we had to be at another hotel to meet two other guys from our wow family again. They had been doing blow since LA and we had to meet them because my female companion was friends with one of the headliners of the Defqon1 festival and his dealer was coming to their hotel with supplies for them.

We would have almost been on time but got out at the wrong trainstation and had therefore to walk half an hour, which was nice because the weather was hot, it felt like LA after the cold icelandic climate. We hadn't eaten yet and it felt like torture when we had to walk past a Mc'Donald's and couldn't go in because we were already late.

We settled in the billard room of the hotel where there was also another guy called Casper from Poland. He insisted on offering drinks and after the first beer it was clear that the chance to eat was gone now. The beers kept coming faster than I could drink and there were moments when I had up to three drinks in front of me because one of the other guys, Josh, was Asian and gave his Whiskey Colas to me since he, his words, genetically can't drink that much

The room closed at midnight and we ventured into the city centre of Amsterdam with an Uber. Our goal was one of the hottest clubs called The Church, which turned out to be a gay bar and the theme for the night seemed to be animals since some people were wearing spandex costumes and weird masks. It was definitely one of the craziest clubs I've seen around the world. I was very pleased when a tiger walked by with a plate full of cookies and took one, finally food! My female companion, let's call her Mia because it makes it easier, also took one. After I started eating Josh asked me if I'm aware that these are hash cookies. I wasn't, but was even more pleased by the fact! Here a short video from the balcony to give you an impression:

You may wonder what the next sentence of that bet was. I don't remember but what I do is that the others immediately bet on me because "he's the most handsome of us". *blush* Like 2min later I had to go to the bathroom and everybody had won because I got hit on three times on the way there and back. I was on fire, it felt good to be wanted. After maybe one hour we headed out again because the other guys didn't feel that comfortable.

Our next stop was the famous red light district. A weird as fuck place with women standing half naked in windows trying to lure in the lustfully tourist. On the way there Mia and I came up with the arrangement that this night would be my turn and that it is her job to find a girl to come back with us. While this story would have been even more epic, I have to disappoint you, it wasn't a stripper, but we'll come to it shortly. 

We went into another bar and besides a couple of drinks one guy also offered us a piece of his hash brownie. Seems the only food I would get tonight was spiced with drugs but food was food. The bar was not really my case, it was way too crowded and I passed the time convincing Josh to go and talk to the girl he had an eye on. He was way too shy and I was just about to go over to her myself, when the other guys wanted to leave. We wandered around the streets for a while and Josh got some french fries with cheese which he shared with me. They were unbelievably delicious. The other guy, Drake, had a bit too much to drink and probably other things started to freak out. He wanted to go back to the hotel. He and Josh left and now only Mia and me were left of the WOW family. 

I still felt surprisingly good and me and Mia wandered around the streets trying to find a girl for us. After a couple of minutes we got into a conversation with some guys sitting in chairs on the pavement in front of a store. It didn't take long until one of them went inside and gave us more beer. By this time I felt invincible. I can't recollect how it happened but I somehow started to plan an orgy. I talked about it with one of the guys and he also wanted to help me to find another girl. We talked for a bit and suddenly there was this girl.

She was from the Ukraine, tall, skinny, a face like an angel with long blonde straight hair. She was a bit shy, but still curious and very polite. In this moment she was the sweetest girl on earth and everyone admired her. She was in Amsterdam with a friend for the Coldplay concert tomorrow and as it turned out it was also her birthday. It didn't take long to find out, that there was nothing happening between her and her friend. He was not important and I didn't speak much with him. My focus was on her. Since it was originally Mia's job to find a girl she tried to work her magic but the girl was not affected by it at all. She was definitely  interested in me though. At one point I was talking with Mia how to get her and also the other guy gave me tips. It was such an absurd night. 

I started talking to her and there came the moment where you forget about the whole world around you. It was only me and her and I hadn't noticed that we were alone outside and how close we were standing to each other, our faces only a few inches apart. She was shy, I was high as I kite, I missed the chance because I didn't see it. She was in, I had her but then something else happened: The weed hit Mia all of a sudden and she completely freaked out and left. I went after her and tried to calm her down, which didn't work. She wanted to go back to the hotel and told me to stay and have fun with the girl because she didn't wanna ruin my night. Again she started walking away and I tried to catch up with her, shouting her name until she finally stopped. Clearly I couldn't leave her alone in this state and I had promised her earlier that I will look after her this night. She was a complete mess and started crying. I took her in my arms and after a while she started to calm down again.

Now I had to bring us back to the hotel somehow and I only remembered the name of it. I managed to find an open wifi network the call an Uber and together with the driver I figured out where the hotel was while she passed out on the backseat. Back at the hotel, the sun was already rising. Luckily she could still walk and I managed to maneuver her to the room and into the bed. I closed the curtains, set the alarm to 11.30am, half an hour before check-out and left the room. I went outside to smoke a cigarette and to resonate about life. How did I end up to be the more or less responsible one? What the fuck happened in the last days? It was already 6am when I finally found some sleep, for the first time in a bed again after three days.

While life didn't exactly got back to normal after this, Mia and I parted ways in the afternoon and the WOW experience came to an end. A story I will remember for a long, long time.Fun fact: All the flights back home a couple of days later from the people I met were delayed as well. If you want an adventure, book WOW airline, if you need to be somwhere in time leave it be for god's sake.