Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My Pilgrimage to Mecca


Thoughts in the Columbus Airport
Sleep?  Who needs sleep when you're about to take the trip you've only dreamed about for as long as you can remember.  Sure, travel sites suggest a good nights rest before a long haul flight, but that's what the flight is for, right?  So what did this traveler do before embarking on her hour journey?  I stayed up all night, still packing, still making sure everything was in order, still calming my nerves and not eating so that I wouldn't barf when the inevitable nausea would set in from the excitement of traveling to Japan.

We started out on the road to the airport around three to the sounds of Weird Al's album "Straight Outta Lynwood".  My mom said it would calm my nerves, and I sang along to all the songs I knew by heart to little effect.  I was still feeling anxious.  I knew that these feelings wouldn't go away so easily.  I am making the longest and farthest trip away from home (university excluded) in my 21 years of life.  It's one thing to travel to Grand Cayman where everyone speaks English, all the food is familiar, and I'm traveling with a large group of my friends.  It's another to travel half way around the world to another time zone, another country, and another culture.  Sure, it's the place I've been dreaming about visiting but it is still a massive change.



After the Journey
After many hours of sitting/napping in planes and wandering around airports, I finally made it to my mecca: Japan.  I stepped off the plane relieved that I had made it all in one piece, passed through immigration like a pro and headed down stairs to baggage claim to wait for my luggage. 

And wait. 

And wait. 

 And wait. 

My luggage never made its way down the black belt of shame and I just stood there dumbfounded like the others who were missing bags.  One of my fears had come true.  I was without bags all the way in Japan.  Fortunately I was smart enough to pack a change of clothes, my toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant in my carry on along with a small washcloth and a small bottle of body wash.  This way I can at least be clean tomorrow.  I can only hope that my bags get here by tomorrow or at least Friday.

Other than that setback, everything seems to be going well.  I've got an apartment to myself because there aren't any other girls this summer (I'll post about it later) and the guys seem nice, so it should be fun.  My adventures in the land of the rising sun have only just begun!

1 comment:

  1. What you don't know is that this was all a big plan to send you back to your real family thats why we wont let you take your american things.

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