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It's almost midnight on a small dark bus stop in Bialystok, Poland. Tonight is unexpectedly cold and windy, despite it's June. Just a handful of people are waiting beside us. We met here to start an adventure together. This trip should be our self-organized tour across northeastern Europe. I'm so looking forward to this trip, my first of a kind. The bus should come any minute now. Minutes are passing. Where is it? It should have already arrived. Are we on a good station? But there's no other. Is the bus late? Is that common here? Our attempt to communicate with other passengers was a failure because English knowledge isn't common here. It's getting windier. Main building is not working this late, so we are all gathered under a covered little bus stop. Temperature must have fallen under 10°C. Who would expect such cold weather in June? Silly me, I'm a couple of thousands kilometers northern than my hometown. It supposed to be colder. There's one bus approaching! Is it ours? No, but let's ask a driver, just in case. Definitely not. Our bus is already late more than half an hour. And there goes another one. Majority of people are already gone. Actually, except us, there is only one man left. Standing on the other side, wearing a thick blue jacket with tightly wrapped hood, we see only a part of his face around the eyes. He is definitely equipped for the weather. Let's ask him. He only shook his head in misunderstanding. Maybe all that planning a trip isn't that easy. But we're not going to quit. Suddenly my phone rings. Unknown number. Should I answer it? After all, I'm in a foreign country and that could cost a lot. Who uses hidden numbers nowadays? Maybe it's regarding the bus. At this moment I don't even know where all I've put my number while buying tickets. I hope it's something good. A man is talking on quick Polish and we don't understand a word. He's trying on broken Russian. I'm saying in all languages I know that I'm waiting for a bus to Minsk. Is that it? Are you coming? Although I'm not sure is it about that. But I want it to be. Is the bus canceled? What is he trying to say? This call is taking too long. We hang up. At this moment we are already waiting more than an hour. We are freezing up. Nothing is working. Should we leave? There's a small shop nearby which seems to be working. Let's try our luck. It's so warm inside. Young woman working there understands some English. Finally! So I'm going through my printed tickets to find bus carrier contact information. Found three numbers but no answer at these hours. Damn it! I'm staying little inside to warm myself up. We want this travel so bad. Let's wait thirty minutes more. My teeth are chattering. If we leave, that means we have to take the next bus tomorrow and we're going to lose one whole day. Everything afterward will have to be shifted as well. No, I don't want that. But after more than two hours waiting on the cold we're going to a dorm. Leaving our backpacks on the floor we're looking for the next bus. I'm right about to click on 'Buy' and my phone rings. Unknown number. Is it possible? This time we are running floor down to girl who's fluent in Russian. The bus is on the station! Somehow she manages to convince him to wait for us ten minutes. We must make it now. It's hectic! We're calling a taxi, running upstairs, getting our stuff, running downstairs. Thank God we didn't unpack! Bus station! Quickly! It took us a little more than ten minutes, but the bus was there. Tickets are fine, and we're in. Thanks! There are some seats at the back. Suddenly it's so calm, lights are off and people are sleeping in their lowered seats. While going beside them I feel like my breathing will wake these people up. I sat in wide warm seat calming myself down. We're actually going to do this. The adventure has begun.