Sunday 24 January 2016

Here I Go

OH MY GOD!!! On my way to India!!! I can scarcely believe that the day I’ve been looking forward to since receiving my acceptance in early May of 2015. I am about to begin traveling the world!!!—but of course that couldn’t begin without some bizarre mishaps the day of leaving.

me: hey life!!! Could I have an uneventful day of travelling???
life:

First of all, yesterday’s blizzard missed breaking New York City’s previous all-time snowfall record by only 1/10 of an inch. It was a wild storm!! And while I did of course bring boots with me to weather the storm—they broke last night, so I was trudging through the snow today in sneakers. My toes practically froze.

me in real life

My friends and I also went through the trying process of shipping all of our winter clothes back home. At FedEx, they charge an extra $7 if they “pack the box for you,” so my good friend at the shop (shoutout to ____, can’t say her name because I don’t want her to get in trouble) explained that I was going to pack the box, as she just happened to leave the tape riiiiiight next to me.
i see you, girl

Too bad I’m a legitimate idiot and couldn’t figure out how to use the tape roller, so she had to help me do the entire thing.

literally her looking at me like

But my friends and I got our coats and gloves and scarves sent into the void as we spent our last few hours in the sub-freezing temperature wandering the snowy streets in light jackets. I did get to watch Jenn step into half a foot of icy slush, which was pretty fun.

We stocked up on the essentials--



And ate some Italian food to stave off the cold.

Upon returning to our hostel, we took refuge in an upstairs lounge for a few hours to kiss our boyfriends goodbye and catch up on The Bachelor. (okay, the last one was only me. And only the first one was Caitlin.)

We all piled onto a bus to mose on over to JFK airport. Just imagine—30 college students and 3 faculty members, packed for a trip around the world, attempting to fight through airport security after a day-long ban on flight travel. Combine the stress of that with my intense lone wolf status and my unwillingness to allow another individual to dictate any part of my travel experience since I've travelled alone so often, and you've got yourself a fun time.
*gif so fun yay*

Seriously, I yelled at my family in the Costa Rica airport about printing out my ticket for me. I blamed it on my lack of coffee (which it partly was), but it was mostly because I like to control every little detail of everything ever.


Honestly, though, it wasn’t even too shabby. Emmanuel was an absolute homie and hooked up Caitlin and me with sweet seats AND a rewards membership. YOU ROCK, EMMANUEL FROM JFK.



Too bad another TSA worker managed to ruin my mood only moments later. Joyful, bouncy little Aubs flounced to security and noticed that the worker was looking a little down.
“Do you ever get bored doing this?” she asks with sweet, pure innocence.
“Yeeeeep,” he replies gruffly.

Aubs' face

“I wish I could do something to make this more exciting for you!! Is there anything I can do?” she inquires earnestly.

Aubs' face again

He looks at her, smirks, and then tells a joke so offensive and dangerous and rude that she dares not repeat it on the internet.



It was literally insane, guys. Everybody around me dropped their jaws to the ground. Just a reminder that even honest attempts to spread the joy can be met with downright meanness. BUT DON’T LET THE GRUMPS DIM YOUR SUNSHINE. Ya know what I mean?

Anyways, we managed to find a Shake Shack for dinner and enjoy our last beef for at least four weeks.

me to cows

We then encountered a Jamba Juice, so I obvs had to slurp down my last smoothie that I’ll sip for the next few months.


The ladies behind the counter were extremely rude, though—probs because they didn’t even know how to make my favorite smoothie and I had to teach them.



Three months of working at your favorite fast food place can come in handy when they remove the best items from the menu.

I also picked up an insta-follower which is always a pleasure. Successful wait in the airport.

I’m now sitting in front of security, waiting to begin my trip around the world. EEEEEP! I am over the moon!!! (Almost—I haven’t quite gotten on the plane yet.)

Leaving you with a head scratcher that a few of us came up with standing in line, bored: can there be a verb without a noun? As in can there be a “be” without a “being”? Or “living” without a “life”?

Ponder these questions for the next twenty or so hours that I’m travelling. I’ll give ya my thoughts after a melatonin-fueled daze of exhaustion and slumber.

IN ONLY AN HOUR, YOUR FAVORITE WORLD TRAVELER WILL BE AT IT AGAIN.

Catch ya on the flip side,

Aubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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