Departure

Excitement and nerves were hitting me in equal measure as the day of departure got nearer. I had done a fair bit of planning for the, what was essentially a fairly structured, North American leg of the journey. There had to be some considerable planning going on in this one as I need to make sure I was in St Louis and Portland at fairly specific times. There was of course room for some flexibility but I had a certain need to be in those places at pre-arranged dates.

The rest of the trip was largely unplanned. I had figured a vague route and highlighted places that I would like to go to if nothing else came up but there was plenty of room for plans and routes to change along the way. hopefully I'd get a few hints and tips along the way!

I had a fairly small leaving party in London at the beginning of May and a dinner out with my family back home a few days before I left. With just a day or 2 remaining it was to late to really change much now and just a case of packing and making sure everything I wanted to take was there and ready. Stuff went in and then back out of my backpack like a yoyo in those last couple of days. Eventually it was set and there was room at the top of it for my day bag.

My flight out of Heathrow on the 12th was at a pretty sociable time, however having to be there 3 hours early and having to make the one and a half hour trip up to the airport meant an early start and away by 6.15am! My parents and sister had come up to London with me to see me off, I have to admit I did feel more emotional saying goodbye than I thought I would. Now it was just me, alone, in Heathrow, the next year staring me straight down!

The nerves were in full swing despite having been abated for a few minutes as I checked in. The very sweet girl at my desk was startled at how many flights I was about to take and proceeded to confirm, with a smile, every single one of them. She was also kind enough to book my seats on all my upcoming American Airlines flights! I could have sworn the airport must have heard my heart pumping as I passed through security into the departure lounge, the realisation of what I was about to do now firmly taking a hold of me.