Leaving Scotland

My flight to Haugesund in south-western Norway is scheduled for 6.20 h in the morning so I decide to leave my Edinburgh hosts Hayley & Morgan in the late evening, cycle the last ten kilometers and have a short nap at the airport.
The day before the flight has been busy with preparations: buy a bag to fit all my panniers in, wash my stove and fuel bottle, do last-minute preps for the norwegian journey, update my blog - it is 1 o'clock in the morning when I finally feel prepared, leave the flat and ride at a leisurely pace for half an hour along a deserted highway towards Edinburgh airport.

Already there is a couple of people sleeping in the airport chairs and benches as best as they can, I roll out my mat and sleeping-bag and set my alarm-clock to 4 o'clock in the morning, sufficient time to get my bike and luggage prepared for the flight.

Ryanair charges me 30 pounds sterling (approx 35 €) for flying with a bike. The good thing: I do not have to box up my ride, just take off the pedals, turn the handlebar and deflate the tires a bit. Just pray that the bike arrives in one piece to Haugesund.

Before long I negotiate the check-in, hand in my bike to the oversized baggage counter, get my passport controlled, hand-luggage x-rayed and finally we board the plane and take off towards Norway. I plug in my MP3 player and five minutes later I am fast asleep.