The journey

04/06/08

So today the journey begins! 3 months ahead of stepping into the unknown, new experiences, exciting opportunities!

How do I feel? Nervous - Yes. Excited - Yes. Slightly out of my depth - Oh Yes!

I said goodbye to most of the family first thing this morning (5.30) and later to dad at the airport after an intimate breakfast with the notorious orange and carrot juice (don’t do it).

I did find it quite difficult to walk away from dad into one of the worlds biggest and busiest airports, and was pretty choked up for the first couple of hours. I’ve discovered that airports can be a very lonely place if you are on your own!

Anyhow, I’m writing this at the end of the first leg of my journey, the 9 hour flight from Gatwick to Atlanta. Aside from the smell of the baby being changed 10 feet from me, all is well! It’s 5.35pm GMT, so naturally, as is the american way, I’ve already had a lunch and dinner on this flight, played many trivia quizzes, lost far too much (virtual) money on the onboard multiplayer poker game, done a few sudokos, and read some of a Bill Bryson Book.

Life is good, if a little isolated!

2nd Leg of the journey.

Atlanta Airport:
Noun et verb
Def~
1) Something that is intrinsically bad/rubbish/total waste of time.
2) The performing of an action taking three times the length of time it should.
3) The total love of and adherence to daft rules.
4) A form of punishment, usually psychological.

Example use of noun. If you find yourself in the USA, make sure to, by whatever means necessary - up to and including rerouting via Australia - avoid stopping at, passing through, or indeed over Atlanta Airport.

Example use of verb. “If you dare even think of doing what I just asked you not to I’ll Atlanta Airport you.”

Slightly encouraged that we arrived at Atlanta Airport 20 minutes early, but disconcerted by the fact that the hour and a half it took to transfer from one plane (through customs/security/baggage) would have caused us to miss the plane if we hadn’t arrived early!

The second part to that is that on my way back from Honolulu to new York, the stopover in Atlanta is a measly 50 minutes, so it’s almost definitely not going to work! Shall have to think of a plan.

3rd Leg of the Journey

Found out at the aforementioned Atlanta Airport that my flight from Atlanta to Honolulu would be via LA, another stopover!

This flight thankfully went relatively uneventfully, and I arrived in Honolulu! Surprisingly dark for 9 o’clock at night, so didn’t really manage to see much, but was immediately struck by the heat and humidity. Looking forward to the days ahead.