the big adventure i went on two weeks ago was my greatest and most courageous moment of my life.
i endured an extremely grueling process to get the nine inch nails tickets (from announcement date until about a month or two prior), so it was crucial that i went. also, nin grew to become one of my favorite artists (if not my favorite) and have influenced my music taste greatly.
with that being said, i had to hear trent reznor sing-scream head like a hole for my first concert.
my boyfriend, who beautifully bought the tickets for both of us, could not attend. rest assured, i paid him back for the tickets and imagined he was sitting next to me. given that he could not attend, i had to come up with a scheme to still go w/o endangering myself (although i must admit that i still did, but i'm unscathed and here!!!). as he couldn't go, i was without transportation. my mother was occupied and couldn't miss it for anything, and going with anyone else in place of my mother or bf (friends had work, couldn't drive that far on a school night, didn't like nine inch nails).
with that, i had to develop my aforementioned scheme. i got a greyhound bus ticket that departed ~10am and arrived ~3pm to my location, and from there i would walk to the five points station in atl and board both the marta goldline (atl to doraville) and the bus to the stadium (marta bus from doraville to duluth, right around the gas south arena). from there, i could walk to the stadium.
so once i devised my plan, i set it into motion. upon emailing the school and informing my mom that i'd be out on a "college tour," i got a taxi to the greyhound pickup station about two hours early (so i wouldn't raise suspicion about the school trip plot) spent the time reflecting on my magic journey to come. after hanging out in a mcdonald's next to the station, i boarded the greyhound and began my journey.
upon boarding, i was delighted to see that the bus was clean and that i had a decent amount of room as well as a charging station under our seats. we stopped in two cities before getting to atl, and had an exchange of bus drivers (the second had a jamacian accent). i chose to stay on the bus for each stop, and just hung out in my seat and watched movies/listened to music over the duration of the ride.
once i got to the atlanta bus station, it finally hit me that i was alone and hours away from home, and i was completely exhilarated. i wasn't afraid, really, and was pretty excited for the show.
upon getting a bag of chips, i left the bus station (albeit cautiously) and began my walk to the marta station. i stopped at two magical little shops (next to eachother, near downtown) filled with body & spiritual oils, incense, etc. i was entranced by its mysticism and went ahead to check out the marta.
i went to the five points station and bought a card for the marta (after slight confusion) and got on the gold line headed towards doraville. riding the train was strange and brand-new, and seeing the dark, dimly lit tunnels become sunlit expanses where i could see the trees and world fly past was incredible.
upon getting to the doraville station, i refilled my card for the final bus ride. i got to the waiting area, which was a small sliver of street fenced off from the bus station behind us. despite being surrounded by strangers, all of us having a destination in mind and plans, made me feel connected to all of them. i checked out a route map to see which bus to get on in only a few minutes before boarding, and got on the one that'd drop me off a little under a mile from the stadium.
the bus ride was interesting. i was seated next to a mother and her child, a large elderly man, and a sophisticated-looking woman sat across from me. the child was blaring some cartoon from his tablet and looping certain segments (which was kinda irritating but whatever). as the route went on, the seats emptied and i finally saw the big billboard outside of the venue with the nin picture for the tour date!!! i pulled the rope-trigger thing to signal a stop, and the bus driver dropped me off at the bottom of an overpass.
i got off, and began my little walk to the venue. i passed by cars, intersections, and stomped my way to the area surrounding the stadium. a little before entering the actual district area, i met an older couple who were also going to see nin. we chatted for a moment, and i told them about how i was from out of town by about four hours (they were a bit shocked), and then i finally made it to the stadium.
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