After all the waiting, I finally flew out of JFK on Monday the 20th at 4:45 pm. It was very surreal to know that I was actually about to leave the country and fly half way around the world. As nervous as I was after getting my ticket, my last couple of days were surprisingly laid back and relaxing. If not relaxing, because if you know me, you know that I never fully relax, then at least they took my mind off the fact that I was leaving.
My sister drove me up to NY from MD, so I got to spend my last night in my favorite state...NY! (Only narrowly beating out Wyoming, which is an insanely close second.) We spent the night with my sister's friends and it was really great to just relax, eat, drink and laugh before I had to go to the airport. As fun as hanging out was, it hadn't relaxed me enough to sleep on Sunday night! I was up stressing about baggage fees and if I had packed all of the right things. I managed to squeeze in a few hours and then I was up and at 'em!
We spent the morning at a bounce house place watching the girls tumble around on a bunch of inflatables, and then it was time to head towards the airport. Our last stop was Olive Garden, to grab lunch with Cathy and Annie before I flew out. I am so happy they were able to come see me off!
Now for the hard part...facing the inevitable goodbyes at the airport. It was great to have so many lovely ladies see me off, but really sad to say goodbye to them. I know I will see them again soon, but in the moment, I felt so uncertain about what I was doing, I didn't really want to let any one of them go. But, I had to, so we took lots of pictures and I went through security, only to keep turning back until everyone was completely out of sight.
Very luckily, I found my two travel buddies, Maureen and Ben, within about five minutes. If not for them, I probably would have sat blubbering at the gate, wallowing in loneliness! Yet, there they were, fortunately looking exactly like their Facebook picture told me they would. Both of them are awesome and we all sat close enough to each other to keep track of for when we disembarked in Istanbul.
Once on board, I settled back and prepared for my last views of New York for five months, and prayed that no one would take the seat next to me so I could spread out. Prayers answered! The middle seat remained empty...and, oh yeah, we had a safe flight too. Not only safe, actually pretty comfortable as well. I was pleasantly surprised by the food too. I was brave and, when given the option of pasta or fish for the main course, chose fish. I know, right? Salmon, on a plane, what could I possibly have been thinking? I'll tell you, it was delish! Not fishy at all, and served with a bunch of tasty stuff. I even ate all of my vegetables. (Insert pat on the back here.) We also had a good breakfast, so no complaints here.
As for entertainment, I watched the movie Flipped. Based on a really cute, late elementary level chapter book, I probably never would have seen it otherwise. It wasn't half bad, really. I also watched Unknown, with Liam Neeson, but unfortunately missed the last twenty minutes, due to to landing earlier than anticipated. Oh well, I'll see it eventually and figure out how it ended.
Overall, a pretty good flight with tasty food and decent entertainment. I would have preferred a little more sleep and a few less air pockets, (i.e. none), but still good. We touched down in Istanbul and I was ready for my first big adventure! Stay tuned!!
My sister drove me up to NY from MD, so I got to spend my last night in my favorite state...NY! (Only narrowly beating out Wyoming, which is an insanely close second.) We spent the night with my sister's friends and it was really great to just relax, eat, drink and laugh before I had to go to the airport. As fun as hanging out was, it hadn't relaxed me enough to sleep on Sunday night! I was up stressing about baggage fees and if I had packed all of the right things. I managed to squeeze in a few hours and then I was up and at 'em!
We spent the morning at a bounce house place watching the girls tumble around on a bunch of inflatables, and then it was time to head towards the airport. Our last stop was Olive Garden, to grab lunch with Cathy and Annie before I flew out. I am so happy they were able to come see me off!
As for entertainment, I watched the movie Flipped. Based on a really cute, late elementary level chapter book, I probably never would have seen it otherwise. It wasn't half bad, really. I also watched Unknown, with Liam Neeson, but unfortunately missed the last twenty minutes, due to to landing earlier than anticipated. Oh well, I'll see it eventually and figure out how it ended.
Overall, a pretty good flight with tasty food and decent entertainment. I would have preferred a little more sleep and a few less air pockets, (i.e. none), but still good. We touched down in Istanbul and I was ready for my first big adventure! Stay tuned!!
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