The trip

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve been on an airplane in my life, how many times I’ve got that “airport feeling” of nervousness and excitement mixed together, but somehow I knew the second I woke up this morning that today was going to be different. Sure I’m going to the airport, I’ll walk through security, board the plane, sit in this chair for an extended period of time, and get off in a completely new environment. Maybe it’s because the feeling of leaving for five months never actually sunk in. Jenna and I have been plotting and planning out excursion to Australia for almost an entire year now, but I don’t think either of us ever expected the day to come. And now, here it is, February 10, 2011 and I’m flying over a giant city thousands of miles from home, leaving most everything I’ve ever known and everyone I’m comfortable with to go half way around the world to meet new people and have all new experiences. Of course I’m excited, of course I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been, and of course I’m listening to Taylor Swift to console me. As I sit here, I can’t help but think of all I’m leaving behind, all the weekend nights in Lawler Arena watching the Warriors defeat whoever they are playing surrounded by all my friends. It’s a strange feeling, though, because I think of all of this and yet the longing to go back is only a fragment of my feelings. Mostly, I am thinking about the future ahead of me, this crazy adventure I am about to embark on with my best friend by my side. (Majority of me is still thinking about that daunting 20-hour plane ride from LAX to Sydney). Everyone I know who has gone abroad has told me how amazing the experience is and how they changed from it and it taught them so much. Those facts alone make me more excited and anxious than I can put into words.

I made it. I’m sitting in the Sydney airport waiting for my flight to Cairns (pronounced like Cans) and I could not be happier. The trip from LA to Sydney was so long! Granted, I slept for six hours, watched How I Met Your Mother (Jealous, Jamie?) and ate prett

y good food for being on an airplane. The Qantas flight was awesome though, I must say. There were individual television screens on each seat back so you could watch whatever you wanted; tv shows, movies, the flight path, and, with this application called “skyview” the actual plane flying through the air. Now I am about to board yet another plane and fly for about two more hours where I will get off, meet with a tour guide, and begin my adventure program. It feels so great to finally be in shorts and flip flops again... Even if I am wicked pale!