After 105 hours and 38 minutes, we made it to Indonesia! I hope you enjoy our travel day shenanigans!
4/4/19
5:45 PM- We’ve piled 11 people, 5 giant backpacks and 5 medium sized day packs into a van. I’ve taken 2 dramamine pills and realized all the luggage is where my feet are supposed to go.. on the plus side, my feet won’t swell sitting like this!
6:PM- After praying over us, we’re off! Thankfully the whole family is taking us to the bus station so we can put off saying our goodbyes for a little longer.
6:30 PM- I’ve made a terrible mistake. I think I took the drowsy dramamine by accident! I’m struggling to hold my eyes open and once we get to David, our bus doesn’t leave until midnight..
7:15 PM- I can’t sleep in a death cab going 60mph around mountain curves. Praying seems like a better use of my time right now..
7:45 PM- The death cab has overheated and stopped in the middle of the turn lane. Perhaps we’re too heavy?
7:47 PM- Perhaps not..we’re moving again. The smoke filled van is a good sign, right?
8:11 PM- We just drove through a huge, random puddle that splashed up in Missy’s face. Was it water? Hard to say..
9:15 PM- The bus is still moving…barely. We’re testing out a new strategy where we slow down enough that we almost break down completely and then we gun it for a while. It’s working out so far, but between the whiplash and the fumes, sleep is definitely out of the question.
10:15 PM- We’ve said our hardest goodbyes of the race so far. We reunited with another team, bought tickets and boarded our bus to Panama City 2 hours earlier than planned. This is my first ever double decker bus, and against my wishes, I’m on the top deck. Popped a melatonin, got my pillow and blanket, and I’m out!
4/5/19
3:30 AM- We made it to Panama City! We found 3 taxi’s for 11 of us and all of our crap..we’re ready to abandon it all!
4:00 AM- SLEEP…with AIR CONDITIONING!!
10:50 AM- I’ve been told there is a Taco Bell within walking distance. This is my new mission, to seek out a crunch wrap supreme.
1:30 PM- We have arrived at Taco Bell! Our lovely Canadian, Emalea has informed us that she’s never had Taco Bell..so we’re force feeding her all the best things!
1:55 PM- We’ve eaten too much. Our intestines will pay for this..
3:40 PM- Time to start getting bougie for our trip to Trump Tower
5:20 PM- We’ve arrived at the tower and as much as we try to pretend like we belong, we’re still just a bunch of hooligans who can’t figure out how to get to the roof.
6:05 PM- It took us 45 minutes, 1/2 a mile walk, and 8 elevator rides to get to the roof. WORTH IT!
8:35 PM- We’re the last to leave the roof. Finding our way down was much less dramatic. Time for Wingstop!
10:30 PM- We’re all in bed and the lights are off. I hear a loud commotion in the hallway and immediately recognize Katrina’s voice. Her, Joanna, and Codi bust into our room and literally jump on top of me. It was a bit dramatic but I felt super loved and I missed their faces!
4/6/19
6:00 AM- I have a love/hate relationship with travel days. Right now, it’s all hate. We have an hour to be downstairs with all of our bags and I don’t want to move.
7:10 AM- I made the mistake of putting my airporter on my big pack too early. Now I have to carry it down the street like the 45lbs burrito that it is, while looking like an idiot.
7:20 AM- People look at us like were crazy when trying to fit 24 people and 50+ bags on a city bus. They’re not wrong..
8:05 AM- I think the bus driver thought it would be funny for us to carry all this stuff 1/2 a mile..so that’s what we did. I knew I couldn’t carry my 45lbs pack like a burrito that far so I lifted it up on my shoulder and carried that sucker. My arms definitely won’t be useful tomorrow… but I’m fine.
9:15 AM- I got stopped in security and they pulled everything out of my bag. They took 1 pair of my tweezers but not both…it’s fine.
9:45 AM- I just paid $14.95 for a regular combo at Carl’s Jr! Absolutely outrageous!
11:00 AM- Our flight doesn’t leave until 3:30..Time for a movie!
11:15 AM- I JUST REALIZED I LEFT MY PILLOW AT THE HOSTEL! I had 12 hours to hold onto it so I could send it home with my parents and I LEFT IT! It was my favorite… I’m pouting, can you tell?!
3:45 PM- We made it on the plane! They have Fantastic Beasts for free and Mcdreamy is sitting in our row.
7:40 PM- We’ve landed. We have a connecting flight at 9:13 and we have to go through customs, get our bags, get through security, and most importantly find Chick-fil-a!
8:10 PM- We look insane. We (me, Brianna, Vanessa, & Alyssa) have run through the airport, made it through customs in record time, and we’re waiting on our bags!
8:20 PM- Good news: we finally got our bags. Bad news: I fell while running up the escalator; there is blood running down both of my legs and a pretty gnarly bruise is already visible.
8:40 PM- The devil tried to hold me back but the Lord prevails. WE MADE IT TO CHICK-FIL-A! I literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for this chicken and I’m not even mad about it.
9:20 PM- One more flight between me and my parents!
11:15 PM- Hello LA! Ready to get our packs and get to the hotel!
This concludes part 1 of my travel day diaries which is much more lighthearted than part 2.
Part 2 will be written in the same way but it will detail my experience and thoughts throughout the day after being involved in an active shooter situation.
