Day 2 - No. Words.

Well, I got my wine and loved watching the Hunger Games & Curb Your Enthusiasm on the plane. But then exhaustion kicked in and DMB led me to sleep for 1 ½ hours (success!).

After driving 10 minutes to the terminal, we had 10 minutes to run to our connecting flight. Little did we know that we had to first go through UK Border Control and THEN another round of security and THEN power walk 15 minutes in the London Heathrow Airport to GATE 80!!!!!@#&*? (And there are 90 gates total….)

While going through security, poor Nicole had her mom’s iPad and her Michael Kors watch STOLEN FROM HER SECURITY TRAY!!! 5 security guards and 2 nice British police officers later (plus 40 minutes and a missed flight), they only got a camera visual of the crook. -___-

So now it is 9am. And 8 of us need a new flight (we found one person on the trip on the JFK flight who stuck around with us which was nice). Once we got a new flight at 955am, we called EF and realized that Nicole’s $125 EF Travel Insurance covers her stolen items!!! We all yelled with joy over that news.

So now I’m sitting on the plane. Row 3, Seat B next to Cara and Nicole. Only 55 minutes away from arriving in Dublin and starting our day. Which is funny because my day hasn’t really ended from Saturday the 7th.

Here’s to Dublin – and may the luck of the Irish be ever in our favor.

Day 1 - The flight

We are on the plane!!! Taking off! This is great! Already spent $40 in the airport on Gnome luggage tags and food. Woops.

We all have our own TV’s! I’m going to watch THE HUNGER GAMES!!! (love Katniss & Peeta) and CURB! AND THE VOW! (recommended by Bex and Paigey). I’m so excited already.

Not having texting on my iPhone for 25 days will be challenging but I think it will keep me more focused on the trip - staying in the moment as long as possible.

NOW – where is my complimentary wine?

July 7, 2012: The day I've been waiting for.

Today. It’s today. 

I’m getting on the plane today. I’m leaving the United States today to start my 25 day journey around Europe. 

I’m doing it with 7 of my closest friends in the world. I’m beginning the adventure of a lifetime.

Sounds like a dream, right? The crazy thing is that it’s not. Every day of tutoring at school, every beat of Ultra 2012 that I missed out on, every envelope I stuffed and handicap parking pass I hole punched was all for today. This moment. And it feels fucking great.

I dont have many expectations for the trip because I want to go with the flow and do whatever activity comes my way. I do have a few things to conquer though:

1. Take really beautiful and scenic pictures to capture every moment.
2. Meet some characters at Swedish House Mafia (I’m seeing them…IM SEEING SHM IN LONDON) and dance like it is the last thing I’ll do.
3. Successfully hike up the Swiss Alps.
4. Discover new ways of living by looking at life from new perspectives.

I have no doubt that I will go above and beyond each of these goals. I’m letting go of my responsibilities at home, all of my fears and pressures, and purely living in this adventure as if it will never end.

I had a gut feeling that 2012 would be a year to remember. A year to live it up and to do things that I will probably only do once in my life.

My time is now. And I’m so fucking ready for it.

First stop: JFK airport–>London airport—>DUBLIN.

phase one complete

what a trip this was. who would’ve thought that a month in DC would change my life the way it did. i didn’t think i could laugh harder or louder than i do. i didn’t think i could have my eyes opened to so much about government the way they were. i didn’t think i could glow in happiness as much as and i didn’t think i could love and be loved by people the way i was. 

but there’s always hope. hope that one day things are going to work out, that the right people will come into your life and change your world completely. hope and faith in that things will work themselves out guided my mind this past month.

and i am elated at how it all played out.

YOLO.

You Only Live Once.

…next stop - ULTRA! March 23rd, 2012.

and it all comes full circle

people will have their ups and downs. their mood swings and their most confusing moments in life. and do you know what the solution to that is? words. speaking. out loud. friends. lovers. family. whatever way is easiest for you, that’s how you bounce back from your lows and enter your highs again. it’s a circle of emotions that take you through life. we should be lucky for the ability to feel, to be, to learn, to love, to hate, to cry, to free, to die of happiness. my most memorable days are the ones where I can end my night with a glowing smile on my face. I might wake up feeling groggy, but if I can manage to get through the hard stuff and laugh at the good stuff, then life is worth the struggles because the happiness in the end is indescribable.

12 game losing streak and an emergency eye doctor visit later...

the dc adventures continue. this week i visited a friend at GW and we grabbed dinner at an awesome burger place. first time in my life i had lettuce, tomato, onion on a (chicken) burger! (it’s the small accomplishments that excite me)

then we went back to his apartment to hang and drink some brews. decided to play 1 v 1 BP continuously until i won a game…note to boys: don’t ever agree to play bp against a girl until she wins…it will take a minimum of 12 games.

that’s me getting shut out and my friend Amish laughing at me on the floor…..

and no, i didn’t do the naked lap….

MOVING ON TO THE WEEKEND

Friday everyone on the trip went to tour the Supreme Court (couldn’t take pics, but i got to sit in the actual courtroom they argue in)

Then we went on to the Capitol. First time there for me, and boy did I fall in love with that building very quickly. we got to chat with two Chief of Staffs - the highest job on a congressman’s staff. i officially have made that job my dream by age 28 (random number i just came up with…but you get my point). to have the administrative responsibility of overseeing the entire staff and giving legislative advice to a congressman sounds like the best of both worlds to me and is something that i could absolutely see myself doing.

FRIDAY NIGHT MADNESS - i really don’t want this trip to end. i’ve got 6 days left…ive grown to love and respect every person i’ve met on this trip. everyone here is so much fun to be around, make me laugh harder than i ever have in my life, and really just resonate so highly with me. we all bring something different to the table, and i don’t just mean different types of vodka every night. but damn, what good people i’ve gotten to know. i love having the loudest, wildest, flo rida filled pregames in the house with them and then drunkenly traveling the metro or stumbling over to our fav bar Tune Inn. then coming home and eating a disgusting amount of food and watching the same people pass out on the couches. to then wake up in the morning feeling shittay, starving for some good (expensive) food nearby, and laughing histerically at the pictures and few memories we have from the night before.

oh, and then i woke up this morning thinking i left one contact in my eye - to pick and poke at my eyeball ALL DAY, then finally go to an eye doctor for him to tell me that there’s nothing in my eye and that i irritated it all day. JUST my lUckkKkKk

what i want is what i’ve not got, and what i need is all around me - DMB