Freckles Ahoy

This was it. The start of my next chapter in life, I was off on a solo trip in South America before moving to Australia to live with one of my best friends. Fear crept in as I put my new, fully packed backpack into the car for the drive to the airport. "What am I doing?", "Why am I going alone?", "Am I crazy?"- all legitimate questions and ones I tried to suppress on the journey to the airport. My mother was worried enough. However as we neared Dublin Airport, the butterflies started, this was an adventure, something I had wanted for a long time, something I had planned in the days when I could barely muster up the energy to go to work. This was it, the day had come.

As I stood in the check-in queue, the first one to check in, something that would be a regular occurrence in my travels, I was aware that I was the only one looking frightened. I was flying via Heathrow to Buenos Aires and most of my fellow passengers were business men travelling to London. After checking my luggage and having one last coffee with my Mom, I walked through security and in essence crossed the threshold to a new life, a life of wanderlust. Me not knowing that this simple action would change my outlook on life.

Even sitting at a bar beside my gate in the airport, tears ran down my face, this was truly the loneliest place I had been. All alone, excited but scared and about to undertake the biggest adventure in my short life, I couldn't help but worry- a family trait it seems.

Calming myself with a beer and a glance through my guidebook, all the places I had been dreaming about, reassured me that I was doing the right thing. I wanted this, no I needed this.

Boarding was starting and I watched the business men collect their laptop bags and stride confidently onto the plane. I meekly walked up to the gate, day bag on my back and magazine in hand. *Beep*, my ticket scanned, "Welcome aboard Ms. Lawless".

In no time the safety check was over and we were taxi-ing down the runway, 3,2,1 and take-off. I gazed out the window and watched Dublin shrink behind me, not knowing when I would return. And so it began.

The day I took off on my first adventure has heightened the feeling of wanderlust and to date I have traveled in 13 countries, on 4 different continents, living in Australia and Malawi. I've jumped out of planes, summited Kilimanjaro, and had my whole backpack stolen. But it all boils down to that day where I conquered the fears and stepped onto that first flight.