How I Passed Out Yesterday Evening

I have a tendency to push myself a little too hard when it comes to getting out and exploring places. I'll walk an entire day and neglect food and water under the thrill of finding new places to discover. Back in Armenia, it was a little more difficult to do so given many places were riddled with drinking fountains that worked all day. Even under the intensity of 40 degrees (Celsius) and walking all day with a heavy backpack, I never reached the point of actual exhaustion. Though yesterday I went on a short adventure, a walk through parts of the city. First off I went bunker hunting, the city is full of Soviet nuclear bunkers and I had found the location of one of them. I went there first which took a little bit of a walk around the area. Before that I had been walking around a monument next to Tbilisi circus and had been seeking out a potential location to take off and land the drone. That area was on my list of places to capture. I didn't get to capture it, so that's for another day I guess. Moving on though: after the bunker I walked through an area of the city I hadn't really been to on foot before. I headed back to the more central part with the intentions of reaching Mother Georgia, a large statue that overlooked Tbilisi from the mountains.

It sits high up, way at the back of the city. It isn't visible from every corner of the city due to the mountainous landscape and the tall buildings that sit on them. But when it comes into view, it towers above. I had a shot in mind that I wanted to capture around it, one I had failed to capture the day before due to the degradation in the weather that led to wind and rain. I walked all the way to that side of the city. It was a bit hotter than the previous day, I was wearing quite a thick hoodie just in case the weather turned again. So I was already feeling some of the warmth, but it was nothing that I hadn't experienced before. I walked up the side of the mountain behind an old church, steep steps with some missing here and there. I reached the point, feeling the heat at that point, and stood and overlooked the city before capturing my shots. I had a blast there, I got some really fun shots that I couldn't wait to see blown up in 4k on my laptop later. And with that, I had nothing else to do in the city and planned the way back down to go home. The usual streets, nothing uphill anymore, all downhill to the main square in the city where I'd hop on the bus.

I grabbed a drink from a shop at the square, and I drank it as I walked and waited for my bus to appear. Sometimes it feels like forever. And a lot of the time the bus is packed to no end. People crammed in with no space between them. Where the doors opening and closing are a struggle. Yet somehow, the bus would still stop at the next stops and allow more people to get on. I've noticed that here the public transport is a bit thin and the result is that far too many people jump on them at once. Usually I find a way to make some space for myself and I never really feel overwhelmed with it. Well, my bus arrived and it was't as packed as it usually is. I couldn't sit though. I stood near the door and off we went. I began to quickly notice how uncomfortable I felt. That feeling of heat spreading throughout. More people would get on the bus. I'm not sure how many stops I lasted, I think it was a bout four or five in total. I didn't make it far at all. Merely down the road from the square. I felt the heat increasing. My discomfort was becoming something I could really notice now. That claustrophobia setting in as I realised I should just get off and get some fresh air. I looked around at the windows, they were open but no air was felt coming in.

I pressed the button to get off at the next stop, realising I needed to get off immediately. But it was too late. We stopped in the horrible traffic that kept us idle. About thirty seconds later, my hearing went. My arms became weak. I dropped. As I dropped I had the feeling that the next time I wake up I'll be somewhere else. I felt my body go entirely limp and the light disappear from my eyes entirely. I'm not sure how long it was after, but I had the vision return briefly, I heard people reacting, the bus doors opening before me. And a woman handing me a bottle of water. A man to my right would be saying something in Georgian and I'd be trying to explain that I'm just incredibly hot. I stumbled out of the bus to get that fresh air, in the middle of the road and somehow already back on my feet. A man who I assume was on the bus also before was trying to talk to me, I can't remember what I said back. I walked over to the street and found an outdoor seating area. Downing that bottle of water a woman had given me. I could feel my arms going all fuzzy, weightless. I sat down, drinking that water incredibly fast. Feeling that heat and lack of vision starting to return. I assumed it'd happen again, but fortunately it didn't. I ended up sitting there for an hour, I knew that if I got up again I'd feel that energy just deplete.

The interesting thing about this experience to me was how calm I was. I didn't feel a sense of panic or shock. But an odd feeling of acceptance. Almost like passing out would've been a good thing for then I'd be out of it and not feeling that discomfort still. It was as if everything going black was welcomed, to fall asleep and get some rest, even if it meant ending up waking up somewhere else like the hospital. Though, that side of things I'm glad were avoided. In the end I just downed several bottles of water, sat by a fountain in the street and felt the sun go down and a fresh breeze arrive.