Homeless in Nashville Pt. 1

This post will be about how I almost didn't make it to- and subsequently almost didn't make it back from- Nashville about four months ago. But before you read, you must know that everything you read might not be true. Also know that I might have only said that so I can deny any specific part if my parents read this, and that everything you read is actually true.

Homeless in Nashville

The whole thing started when my friend Matt told me about a sweet deal; he worked for a small airline in Athens and could get me a free round trip to Nashville using his buddy pass. I could get up to two tickets each ride, allowing me to bring another person along with me. I mention that part because looking back, this whole upcoming thing would have been avoided if anyone at all had come with me. But, I didn't search very hard and ended up having to go alone, which was fine. It was going to be the adventure I'd always pictured in my mind: me going out and battling the world, surviving with just my wits, finding peace both within nature and myself. I was going to conquer Nashville. 

First, I had to call the airline and reserve my seat. A nice lady answered and asked my name. "Billy," I told her.

"I'm going to need your last name, too," was the reply.

"Hentenaar...H-E-N," I began. No one can ever spell my last name when they hear it or say my last name when they see it, so I usually just start spelling it right away.

"Whoa, slow down," she cut me off. "Hene-..Henetar?" she asked, using the most common and frustrating pronunciation.

"No, it's Hentenaar..H-E-N-T.." I tried again. She cut me off.

"Oh, okay... Hen-ten-...aar?" She pronounced it like it was offending and confusing her senses at the same time. For this moment, I had a clear picture of her facial expression just from the tone of her voice.

Something like this.

"Yes."

"..and how do you spell that?"

Once that was over with, I made my first attempt at reserving a flight for the next day- Friday. It went well until right before everything was finalized and she realized that she hadn't actually checked to see if there was still room for me. Although it was a small airline that hardly anyone used, the planes only sat nine people. It turned out that I would have been a tenth, so I made my flight for Saturday at 7:00 AM instead and planned to return Sunday at 11:00 AM.

"Alright Billy, your seat is reserved and we'll print your ticket when you arrive in the morning," she nicely told me before hanging up.

The Preparation:

As much as I wanted to take on Nashville armed with nothing but tenacity, I realized that that wasn't a very good plan and begrudgingly spent about half an hour packing for my adventure Friday night around 11:00 PM. I wasn't exactly sure what the limitations were for baggage on this plane, but I figured I would be able to fit everything I needed for a day in an old book bag. By the time I was done packing, the bag was crammed full of things I for some reason deemed completely necessary. I think this might actually be the most embarrassing part for me out of all of this-

• a change of clothes
• four small bottles of water
• pajama pants
• jeans 
• two shirts
• toothbrush and toothpaste
• extra pair of contacts
• a blanket

So far, it seems like a well planned list. I think at this point I was just really tired, because the next items were-

• a Frisbee
• nail clippers
• koozie

I don't know what I was thinking for those three; I wasn't planning on making friends there, and I had already cut my nails the day before. There were also a couple of Xbox controllers- but that's just because I forgot to check one of the pockets on my book bag.

Feeling fully equipped, I went to bed around 1 AM, ready to get up in five hours and head to the airport.