May 10th 2009 {Italy}
I woke up with my alarm buzzing non-stop. It took all three alarms to get me out of bed, which was pretty strange because this was a journey of the lifetime! I was going to Italy for two weeks, planned since February when I bought my airline ticket. The proceeding night, I was packing and repacking to make sure I had all my things ready and streamlined. No way was I going to pack like how I packed for my adventure into Ireland! I quickly grabbed my cellphone to make sure of the time. The mind can play funny tricks at 4:20 AM, so I had to make sure it was the right time four times!
Luckily for me, I pre-made hoagies and food for my flight to Italy, knowing that the airline food would be lacking for a vegetarian. While I was eating my breakfast, I was surfing facebook, my email accounts, and thinking to myself that I will not be back here for a good two weeks. Elation and joy came to my groggy self as soon as I thought about not being home and being in Italy for two weeks. Sadly, two weeks was all I could afford to be Italy. I know that I could not do year journeys, but I would love to be able to travel longer than two weeks. But who was I to complain?
My Jack Russell Terrier woke up when I woke up and when she wakes you need to get her ball or bear ready to play. But today, I could not play. I had a plane to catch, so instead I tried to give my dog a hug but she thought I was playing chase so off she went to play hide and seek. Giving up, I went down the stairs and Grace went up to my bed to hide which was when I was able to give her a hug goodbye.
It was now 5:30 AM and I was driving up to EWR, the international airport in Newark. My starting flight was to St. Louis at 10:30 AM, but as my parents who were with me had to go off to their destination, I went up there early.
Going through the security check in was really easy and stress free. I have only been pulled over by the TSA once, when I was flying off to California to travel around with Eric, Ann, and Vincent, where I was checked and had my gear swabbed. As this was an international trip, I always make sure I am there three hours before my flight. I can wait inside the airport, I mean, I did stay in Thailand’s international airport for four days. Boy was that one seriously cold! They cranked the A/C, but then again, Thailand is pretty hot.
I went through security and looked to fulfill my coffee addiction. Looking around I didn’t spot a single Starbucks! I thought Starbucks was like rabbits reproducing! There was a Java Central, though, at the terminal. Java Central and a $4.00 cappuccino. Add into that were disgruntled workers. Quench my coffee addiction and deal with the situation or go through my flights coffee free. I sucked it up and bought my coffee!
I finally boarded into a really small airplane. I usually fly with American Airlines when I travel internationally and because of my really cheap airfare to Italy, I had plenty of layovers. I don’t mind layovers that much, if I could save some money for the actual stay, so for me it was a great place to update my journal entries or just reading. The plane had two rows, like the standard airplane, but one aisle had only one seat and the next only two. If I stretched my arms I could almost touch the walls of the airplane, that was how small it was. Pretty fun first time experience. The noise of the engine, however, made sure to dash that excitement.
In the air, I put back on my iPod and had some songs playing. Ingrid Michaelson’s “Turn to Stone” was playing and I thought to myself that was an interesting song for a wedding slideshow probably during the ceremony when they have the first kiss. There is that pause and refrain and then the music kicks back in! I was thinking about this while reading the Odyssey. I have to say interesting choice in music while reading about Odysseus’s adventures! The Odyssey is my favorite classic to read, since middle school till now, I frequently read it. 
The only problem was that I am a quick read, so by the time I landed in St. Louis, I have read more than half of the text! Luckily, we just landed at St. Louis’s airport. Another hour and a half and I would be off to Italy! I have some addictions that I need to profess, first, is my coffee addiction, second is my internet addiction. This trip I did not bring my laptop with me and had my iPod touch and a hyper drive unit for my photography storage. Logging onto Boingo, I checked and sent emails to clients and friends and family. Rinse and repeat till 2:00 PM.
When 2 PM came around, I was boarding my flight to fly to Chicago! Chicago is the hub for American Airlines, so every time I fly internationally I land in Chicago before flying to my destination. There is this really cool eating area that they have that I like, even though the prices are gouging. The flight only lasted forty minutes and at 3:36 PM I was in O’Hare walking casually to my next gate.
While waiting for my final flight at 4:30 PM, I ate most of my food and went in search of a plug outlet to charge my iPod’s batteries for my flight over to Italy. The clock was ticking, this time, I was a bit more antsy to get going. The excitement was getting to me in a bad way! Then I heard the ping for our flight that we were starting to board! And my luck was not that great, not only was I in the back by the window, I sat next to a huge fellow.
But he was a nice guy, so I can’t really complain, he and I swapped seats so that I could get the aisle seat. I prefer aisle seats over window seats because of the freedom I have sitting in the aisle! I really don’t like being cramped and stuck by the window, because it is a pain to constantly ask the other person to stand up so I could get up and go about.
The flight took off at 5:45 PM Chicago time, which was delayed because of a bathroom problem. I swear it wasn’t me who clogged it! 
During my flight, I finished reading the Odyssey. I really should have brought another book to read and my iPod was not going to last the entire flight. So I did the next best thing. Plot out the business path. Which… was hard without having something to write on.
I finally dozed off and somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean unsure of the time. But sleep finally settled in and I hit the snooze button.
It’s a sad fact. But I never realized that it would be that bad.