When I got back to the dismal ticket office with the long wait, all the seats were taken. I looked at the board: 292. My face was still flush, but not leaking as much and the coughing was under control. I was planning on ignoring the daily limit on those throat lozenges, popping a new…

I was finally alone. After over a week of amazing travel, incredible people and fantastic, rambling conversations into all hours of the night, I sent my navigationally-challenged friend through the turnstile at Atocha to take a wrong train and I was on my own. Just me, my bags and my increasingly sore throat. I had…