It was almost freezing; the air was crisp and damp and I was exhausted from traveling all night. I was in dire need of sleep. My family and I were on a road to freedom. I was petrified and I didn't know what would happen next. I have heard many stories of people dying along these journeys. Just imagine if you had to abandon your family, friends, pets, all of your belongings, your home, and everything you ever knew. My mother told me that we had to pack up right away when she found out about ISIS advancing into our region. We came from Damascus, Syria and our next stop was Athens, Greece. Our ultimate destination was Berlin to live with our aunt and uncle. We had heard promising things from Athens. My family had already trekked across Turkey and we were almost in Europe. My name is Nicholas and I am traveling with my father, my mother, and my grandfather. I am fifteen years old.  Grandpa had not seemed happy ever since grandma died. We were traveling halfway across the Aegean sea when a giant wave hit us. We all panicked for a second but they were hitting us so often that it was almost felt normal at this point. The water smacked me and knocked me down. All of the sudden a tear dropped from my eye. I rarely cry, even in this situation. I couldn't pull myself together. I kept thinking about my home. I would do anything just to go back and say goodbye to everyone I knew. I missed them so much. We were only halfway to Athens. The boat was packed like a subway car during rush hour. I hadn't slept in eighteen hours. My mother was telling me we could sleep when we got to the camp. It was another three hours before I got to sleep and I was as tired as a sloth. I could barely move while we kept on trudging through the brisk air. We were close to our freedom but it hadn't arrived.

When we finally got to Athens, all I wanted to do was sleep. I slept for probably twelve hours before my mother woke me up. I could taste freedom the closer we got to Berlin. We had to sleep in this refugee camp that didn't look promising. I really didn't care though I just wanted to sleep. My stomach was eating itself I was so hungry, so I asked my mom, “Can we get something to eat.” The officers were handing out free meals at the entrance to the camp. I was starving but I couldn't imagine how hungry my parents were. They didn't eat the last three times that I ate because it was too expensive. When we received our meals they came in a little brown bag. “I can't eat this.”, my grandfather exclaimed.There were ham sandwiches in the bag. I really wasn't a devout Muslim but my parents and my grandfather were. They can't eat any type of pork because it is against the Quran. They went back to the entrance to see if they had any substitutes for the sandwiches. “Is there anything else we can eat, sir.” My grandfather pleaded. One officer said, “You should be happy you're even getting food. Most of these families aren't even getting food. Just hold on a sec i’ll see what I can do.” He came back with some freeze dried spaghetti. He said that all you have to do was add water and you should be fine. My dad was so happy with this that he almost cried. We thanked the man and went back to where we were sleeping. I ate and fell asleep right away, I was so tired. Our family had a big day ahead of us.

When we woke up we had to get to Tirana, Albania. The camp we were at offered shuttles to the capital but they cost way more money than we had. They said that the next free shuttle would be tomorrow. Looks like we needed to stay another dreadful day at this camp. We were all just very thankful that the camp was willing to do this for us. While we were waiting for the day to pass, I met another boy about my age. He said he was from Damascus. I told him that is where I am from. He and his family were also fleeing ISIS and wanted to escape Syria before they killed them, just like our family. He said that, “We are headed to Frankfurt, Germany. We have relatives there and are going to live with them for a while. Where are you headed?” He said. “Me my mother, my father, and my grandfather are headed to Berlin to also live with some relatives for a while, just like you.” We talked for a while and eventually my mom wanted me back for dinner. Later that night a lot more immigrants came from the Middle East . They were creating a huge ruckus and I could not sleep. They were protesting because they were being separated from their families. It was a terrible sight. I had to wake up really early the next morning because it is a nine hour bus ride to get to Tirana. When my mother woke me up we went immediately to the vehicle that was transporting us. We got in and we were off. I noticed some very strange things along the way to Albania. There were a lot of people walking and didn't know why. My mother told me,” They were immigrants like us that didn't have a ride. I now realized how lucky I was to be in this bus with my family. When we got to Tirana, We had to stay at another camp. Just one night this time. I could tell that my grandfather was having trouble assimilating with the rest of the immigrants. He was probably the oldest person that I have seen on this journey. I asked him, “Are you okay?” He said, “I'm alright. Ever since Grandma passed away I have not been feeling like myself. I am however very happy to get out of Syria. Germany is our new home and I am going to start a new life there.” He seemed happy all of the sudden and so did I.

When we arrived in Tirana, there were a lot less people there than there were in Greece. we ate a traditional meal as in Chicken and rice. The officers there were very hospitable and gave us some sleeping bags for the night. The next day we had to walk to Kruje, Albania to get the next shuttle to Zagreb, Croatia. It was a dreadful walk. We had all of our belongings on our backs. My legs felt like they were hanging on by only a string. I couldn't imagine how much pain my grandfather was in. We took a stop in a little town and I didn't even know were I was. My father was an excellent navigator and I could tell he knew where we were, “We only have an hour left” He said. My throat was as dry as the Turkestan Desert. We got to Kruje just in time for the shuttle to depart. It was a ten hour ride but It was fine because I slept the whole ride. I woke up about halfway through because my mom asked me if I was hungry. I haven't thought about food in a day or two and I realized that I was starving. We stopped off for a minute and got burgers. We had to be quick so we could get to Croatia faster. We arrived and we slept once again in another camp. There were even less people here this time. It seems the deeper you travel into Europe, the less migrants there are. This was the worst camp we stayed at. It was nasty and nobody seemed to care. There were rats everywhere. It looked like a concentration camp. They gave us numbers on our hands. I did not know what the point of that was but my mother told me to just do what they said. The next day we had to take a shuttle to the coast of Croatia. My family and I would then take another dreadful boat ride to Venice, Italy. We would stay in Venice for a night. Then we would finally take the train from Venice to Berlin where our family would meet us and we could begin our new life.

We woke very early the next morning and we got on the shuttle to head for the coast. This was a quick ride, only about an hour or two. The boat ride was very expensive. They didn't even give us any life preservers. I could not swim so I was shaking like maracas. I clung to my mother and she held on to me. I was having a terrible time, but when we finally arrived in Italy, it was fantastic. The people were so welcoming. They offered us clothes, toiletries, food, and even places to sleep. I got to take a shower for the first time in over a week. This nice Italian couple took us in for the night. I couldn't believe that they did that. They fed us and gave us information on what train to take. They were treating our family like we were the king and queen of England.  I slept in a bed for the first time that night and I had this dream about freedom. I was running in this field and It was if no one was stopping me. It was the happiest I have been in a very long time. I woke up shortly after that. My mom said that we had to go. We thanked the couple and we departed with all of our belongings. We walked the three blocks to the train station. When we got to the train station, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was pure chaos. The station was packed with refugees, just like us. So many people were headed to Germany. We got our tickets the previous night so we didn't have anything to worry about. Just the crowds. There were so many crying people because they couldn't afford the ticket and it was a terrible scene. When we got on the train we were crammed in the car like all of Venice was on the train. It was about a twelve hour ride and I was so eager to arrive.

Freedom was getting closer and closer. I couldn't wait to arrive. When the train stopped in Berlin, I was so excited. It was a feeling of hope and prosperity that all of the sudden came over me. All those sacrifices that my mother, my father, my grandfather, and I had to make over the course of the past week, were worth it in the end. We were greeted by my aunt and uncle who led us back to their apartment. We were so thankful for them. My new family was all set to begin our new life, in Berlin.