Oh hey all!
Coming to you live from Salt Lake City at this present time, and yep, you guessed it, still f'ing on route to the final destination. One.flight.to.go. Hallelujah, put yo' hands up. I have completely lost all track of time (anyone else had this problem?). No idea what time it is back in the city I just left, let alone what time it is back home. Or date for that matter. Right now it is...the 4th Jan 2012 aaatt 9:34AM Mountain Time. You do the math.
With all that in mind, plus stopovers, I think it equates to...a billion hours travelling, and -100 hours sleep. Left Melbourne at 11:20AM on the 3rd (include the 3 hours you have to be there beforehand at the airport) and enjoyed one last Australian coffee (still substantially better than Perth coffee. Good for an airport) and headed off to some place in China (still can't pronounce it, but have a squiz at the travel map on here). Made a pal on the plane straight away as we scrambled for the last available rows at the back to have a snooze. Thank you 4 seats to myself on an 8 hour flight. Ka-ching!
As I was sleeping, I didn't have much time to hydrate myself on the plane. First thing I bought in China was 2 bottles of water and skulled them (just practicing for the thousands of keg stands to come my way). UMM can anyone say rookie error???? Ingesting water = filling bladder. Toilets in China = squatters. Full bladder in China = fail. So for my 3 hour stopover in China I was sitting/standing with my legs crossed just to hold it in. Hey, give me a break, I'm already moving to a new country alone, I do NOT need to prove myself by using a drop toilet. No, no, no.
I did however, meet some more Aussies in the Chinese airport who were off to do some mission work in Nepal (seems to be the "in" thing at the mo)...mass respect guys.
Hopping onto the next flight (premium economy chyeeeaahhh, but all I really wanted was the bathroom) for the next 12 hour leg of the journey. This is where I lose track of time. Made pals with the Americans sitting next to me. Had to basically. Not that I didn't love it. But I knew that might get annoyed with me wanting to get up every couple of hours haha. Soz Brad and Chris. Nothing eventful on this flight.
Landed in Los Angeles (holla at LC and Heidi)and made it through customs no dramas. Was not loving LA. Don't know if it was due to lack of sleep, dehydration, starvation, and just generally being out of my mind, but waking up in that hotel room by myself was not fun. Housesitting and sharing a bed with one of your best friends for a month before embarking on a solo journey makes it more difficult to wake up in a strange place next to noone. Glad to say I got outta there. But, they did give me a banana that wasn't fried. Thanks guys. I'll be coming back. Lol jks, no I won't be.
After a 4am wake up call, I somehow managed to direct my body onto the next flight from LA to SLC with only one more flight to Spokane, Washington, to then be picked up by the Coach and drive an hour or so Moscow, Idaho. Finally.
Things to remember for the next time I travel:
- Buy a bag that doesnt break (not once, but twice)
- Do not refill your bladder in China (and probably Asia for that matter)
- Make a reservation in LA BEFORE you get there. This is a priority.
- Probably don't go to a remote town because it takes so fucking long.
- Don't wear so many clothes going through US customs. I basically undressed and dressed myself about 5 times this morning. If I could go through naked, I would.
- If going through China on your way to LA, and security point at your feet saying "Los Angeles", it means "please take your shoes off and put them through screening as you're going to America". Like I'm supposed to know "Los Angeles" means all that!!!!
Anyway, I'm glad that the US airports have a thousand AED's posted on every wall. If it hadn't have been for them, the culture shock would have killed me.
Until next time,
light and love.
Z
