Packing for a year-long, round the world trip is ... difficult?
So is saying goodbye to all of those that I love and will miss like crazy. Last weekend was a whirlwind of emotions and last-minute errands, but I did it. I'm here! I survived and this is really happening!
An Ode to Mr. Bo Jangles (Not the human...also, not really an ode)
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| Goodbye, Mr. Bo Jangles! You were an AMAZING car and I will always love you! |
So many decisions had to be made before leaving Seattle for an entire year, and one of them was whether or not I should sell my car. It was a tough call.
I bought Mr. Bo Jangles (a silver 2003 VW Jetta TDI) right after graduating from college in 2003. A few days after buying him, I packed him up and drove across the country with Rita. This car has been with me for most of my adult life. It's seen me through multiple moves, exciting shenanigans, and varying degrees of road rage. It's where I held my epic rock concerts of one and perfected the art of eating and driving. It became a part of the family - plus, it gets AMAZING gas milage!
But, it was time. I was ready. After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to sell Mr. Bo Jangles. I may regret this decision when I return, but I'm okay with that. I'd much rather him go to a better place than sit around and wait on me for a year. There are many more adventures left in this car and I'm okay with someone else experiencing them. But...yes, it was hard.
Making a list, checking it twice, and packing at the very last minute!
I am a last-minute packer; I freely admit it and I am proud of it! The thing is, though, I've been preparing for this trip for a very long time. I've had years to make lists, buy supplies, and imagine possible scenarios in which I may or may not need something. Did this stop me from spending all of last week in a frenzy of last-minute Amazon Prime purchases? Of course not! But any good procrastinator will tell you that the art of procrastination begins with good planning! So, while I did indeed only get 45 minutes of sleep the night before my flight, I was prepared. All of my supplies fit into my backpack and carry-on and, as far as I know, I didn't forget anything!
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| Here is procrastination at it's finest! Instead of packing, I figured out how to tie a headscarf! IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT, GUYS! |
So, let's do this thing!
After a wonderful champagne toast sendoff at 4 a.m. (Thanks Mom, Evan, & Rita!), we arrived at SeaTac before 6 a.m. A short flight to LAX left us with a few hours to have lunch before our 8 hour flight to Lima, Peru!
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| A sign at 800 Degrees - also, a good pizza philosophy. |
We flew on LAN airlines and the flight was fantastic! I slept for a few hours and caught up on Veep! I also watched The Royal Tenenbaums. The food was great, as well. I had the chicken stew with red wine and ginger ale at the beginning of the flight. And then, a turkey sandwich with red wine and apple juice a few hours before landing. Yes, I ate more food, it was free and served to me - no judging! :)
Hola, Peru! (a.k.a. It's after midnight, we are tired, and I remember that they speak Latin American Spanish here...)
I took German in High School...which is not very helpful in this (or, really, ANY travel experience). Hopefully I will pick up SOMETHING after this amazing year, but if I was counting on the VERY little Spanish that may be lodged deep down in the depths of my brain, then that fantasy flew out the window as soon as I read the restroom signs and realized that the Spanish I am familiar with is not the Spanish that is being spoken around me. Which, honestly, is fine because I don't know any Spanish to begin with, other than occasional words or phrases that any Aunt would know after watching Dora the Explorer with her nephew.
To be fair, I DID know that South American countries spoke Latin American Spanish, but after only a few hours of sleep and an entire day of travel, I had forgotten. However, Duolingo DOES have Latin American Spanish on their app, so that is definitely a thing that I will be looking into!
Clearing Immigration (in which everyone was friendly, except the Immigrations official, who was kind of a dick)
The thing about traveling to another country, and not speaking their language, is that you KNOW at some point in your travels, you will encounter someone either talking rudely TO you or ABOUT you. Case in point: our Immigration official. I'm not sure if he hated his job, the time of night, or us, but he was being fussy and dickish about our time of stay in Peru and, while it wasn't an absolutely horrible experience, it was a little awkward. But, it was okay, because, in the end, we landed safely in Peru and so did all of our luggage!
Here are my first impressions of Peru:
- It's 1 a.m. - let's be real, it's dark outside and I can't see a thing!
- The first song that played in our cab ride was "Easy like Sunday Morning" so I knew that was a sign that everything would be fine. :)
- The lines indicating "lanes" on the roads are really just an optional guide...as are red stop lights in the city (although that one makes sense due to car thieves and DANGER!)
- Lots of casinos...which surprised me? I'm not sure why, though.
- Oh, look, there's a Starbucks! (Side-story: Bella and I did NOT get our Pumpkin-Spiced Lattes before our flight to Peru, which was both a bummer and a tragedy.)
Adventures of After-Midnight Check-in! (or Gretchen has a bad feeling and she is right)
Our lovely cab driver drops us off at our apartment in the Miraflores District of Lima a little after 1 a.m. We unload our baggage onto the curb. We were told that there would be a doorman available to let us in and he is there! All is well until we call up to the apartment and IT IS OCCUPIED!
"You are not checking in until tomorrow, I am here tonight," says the voice coming from the speaker.
A few hours earlier, Gretchen had told me that she had a bad feeling that the owner didn't really understand that we were arriving in the middle of the night, even though she emailed him about it several times to make sure. Apparently, her feeling was super accurate, because he, in fact, did NOT understand when we were arriving. All in all, it was fine. Our gentleman of a cab driver loaded up the van once again and took us to Hotel Miramar, where we checked-in and promptly fell into bed. (Or, in my case, read for a bit and then went to sleep.)
Yes, this post is finally ending!
In conclusion, I still can't believe that I am here. The trip that we have been planning for years has finally begun and it is amazing and unreal. Now, if only I can find a pumpkin-spiced latte...
