The final 24 hours before the plane leaves for America.
A glimpse at where we were 12 hours ago through the lens of my conversation with Noel...
-
"All packed for tomorrow Lisa?"
"Just about"
"Did you fix up those jobs that needed to get done before you leave?"
"Yeah, I've totally taken care of those. Don't worry."
"Got your US money, passport and visa stuff all good to go?"
"Yep! ...you're still a few hours away... right? Oh no reason :) Yep, definitely have all those things done!"
[Translation: My passport is in a black box in the back of my cupboard and I did my visa online so I think that's taken care of... dammit I need to get to the bank... damn I need to do a lot... Okay, let's go final day before America!]
-
So after a whirlwind of a final 24 hours, I now lay in bed with a packed suitcase at my feet, a set of clothes on the chair, a charged phone by my bed and a backed up laptop at my fingers. So finally, I can sigh and smile and welcome you all back for the brand new and exciting season of Cup Full of Blank! (Who knew that I'd be committing myself to such a nonsensical title when I typed out a completely random title when we first began our adventures) I hope you all remembered to pack your Lisaisms translation dictionaries and brought your own seatbelts because tomorrow we're off to America! (Again, it's not reaaaaally "we"... it's just me. But I like to make you guys all feel included and special. It's all part of the in-flight service.)
During this final day I have learnt a few valuable lessons that I have summarised and will share with you in a not-at-all-easy-to-follow guide. Enjoy!
Lisa's guide of helpful hints for your final day before travelling:
4. Try not to be the sort of strange girl who gets engrossed in writing a bizarre blog about her odd adventures the night before you're leaving to travel.
Especially if it's nearly midnight and you're getting up at 5am. This is almost certainly a bad plan.
5. Know your personal travel weaknesses.
I know that I need to have a nail file in my handbag, set my alarm an hour early, write a little note to myself about where the gates are and the travel times, that I always have this time where I inevitably feel sick right before I travel and that I should have a playlist ready for the trip.
The really good part is, for some reason I really adore flying. I love the intimacy of the airport; even though you're actually the most anonymous there and surrounded by strangers all in transit between worlds, there's something oddly unifying about that to me. It's like you've all entered this little capsule between worlds; you're all in no-mans-land together. It's always the start of an adventure for me and its one of the main times that I feel that sense of it's-just-me-and-this-adventure sensation. I almost always feel in the moment in an airport.
Don't even get me started about actually being on an airplane (Ha, never mind, it's my blog and it appears I'm about to ramble on about it either way!), it's even more so a delightful regression into this womb of limbo. It's a complete removal from my world where I have little to no responsibilities because there really isn't much I can be doing up in the air anyway but snuggle down into the capsule high above the world and enjoy that sensation. And I do. I love everything about it; the low hum of the engine, the bing bongs of the announcements, always in those soothing tones, the little lights, the foods and drinks that are actually far less nice than what I have at home but for some reason infinitely more exciting, the very specific hairstyles of the flight attendants, the little stories of the other passengers that play out before you, the click of the overhead compartments, the sensation in your stomach as you speed up and then lift off (that's my favourite part), the hot towels, excitedly prowling through the guide to the movies that are showing, the little nest you end up forming with your chair, watching the world grow distant out the tiny thick-glassed oval windows, the dim lights when it becomes night and seeing the soft halo on the faces of the small handful of other passengers who also can't sleep and are sharing the night stretch awake with you, the sensation of leaning your head against the cool glass of the window at night and feeling the gentle rattle of the jet engines against your skin, watching the fluffy white clouds cast a soft bed below you and seeing that tiny rim of frost that forms on the windows at night when it gets so cold. That frost is maybe my favourite of all; like a tiny secret easter egg of flying I always look for. Flying for me is cloaked in nostalgia and cosiness and yet somehow also a completely contrasting sense of independence and setting forth for new things.
So there you have it, a rambling overview of the final 24 hours before you all finally get rid of me and now I have to send myself to sleep so we can get up in the morning and GO TO AMERICA!!!!
\(^o^)/
During this final day I have learnt a few valuable lessons that I have summarised and will share with you in a not-at-all-easy-to-follow guide. Enjoy!
Lisa's guide of helpful hints for your final day before travelling:
- Ensure you have functional feet.
After having injured my feet in the most moronic way possible yesterday, I cannot emphasise enough how valuable feet are. Seriously, take a moment right now to just give your feet a little foot-five and tell them they're awesome, because they freaking are and you don't appreciate that till they suddenly stop working. Apparently the recipe for ruining feet is 2 parts asphalt, 1 part extreme heat, 1 part heavy items, 5 parts pride (dust lightly with stupidity), let the damage sit for a few hours to develop very large tender blisters on the entire pad of your foot and then garnish with crushing this with your entire weight stepping on a power cord plug. I cannot believe that such a stupid thing was so utterly crippling! I would like to point out that I'm not a baby with pain, but this was insanely painful with every step. There has been no way to actually move around without using my feet and every step feels like stepping on smashed glass, and there's really no way around it when it's your whole body weight leaning on it. Suffice to say this has slowed my day down considerably and has vexed me to no end, thankfully they've been getting better (much better this morning than yesterday!) and I've still hobbled through all my jobs like some street urchin at Australia Fair. Ergo, the lesson is, prepare some functional feet for the days leading up to your travel. - Try to actually gather data about things like the weather of the place you're going to, where your suitcase is and what the weight limit is on it so you don't end up with a whole pile of eclectic clothes on your bed.
 |
| Is there some sort of cmd+F for my wardrobe? |
3. Playing tetris music while you pack makes the entire affair seem far more entertaining and rewarding!
 |
| Damn these L-shaped boots! |
4. Try not to be the sort of strange girl who gets engrossed in writing a bizarre blog about her odd adventures the night before you're leaving to travel.
Especially if it's nearly midnight and you're getting up at 5am. This is almost certainly a bad plan.
5. Know your personal travel weaknesses.
I know that I need to have a nail file in my handbag, set my alarm an hour early, write a little note to myself about where the gates are and the travel times, that I always have this time where I inevitably feel sick right before I travel and that I should have a playlist ready for the trip.
The really good part is, for some reason I really adore flying. I love the intimacy of the airport; even though you're actually the most anonymous there and surrounded by strangers all in transit between worlds, there's something oddly unifying about that to me. It's like you've all entered this little capsule between worlds; you're all in no-mans-land together. It's always the start of an adventure for me and its one of the main times that I feel that sense of it's-just-me-and-this-adventure sensation. I almost always feel in the moment in an airport.
Don't even get me started about actually being on an airplane (Ha, never mind, it's my blog and it appears I'm about to ramble on about it either way!), it's even more so a delightful regression into this womb of limbo. It's a complete removal from my world where I have little to no responsibilities because there really isn't much I can be doing up in the air anyway but snuggle down into the capsule high above the world and enjoy that sensation. And I do. I love everything about it; the low hum of the engine, the bing bongs of the announcements, always in those soothing tones, the little lights, the foods and drinks that are actually far less nice than what I have at home but for some reason infinitely more exciting, the very specific hairstyles of the flight attendants, the little stories of the other passengers that play out before you, the click of the overhead compartments, the sensation in your stomach as you speed up and then lift off (that's my favourite part), the hot towels, excitedly prowling through the guide to the movies that are showing, the little nest you end up forming with your chair, watching the world grow distant out the tiny thick-glassed oval windows, the dim lights when it becomes night and seeing the soft halo on the faces of the small handful of other passengers who also can't sleep and are sharing the night stretch awake with you, the sensation of leaning your head against the cool glass of the window at night and feeling the gentle rattle of the jet engines against your skin, watching the fluffy white clouds cast a soft bed below you and seeing that tiny rim of frost that forms on the windows at night when it gets so cold. That frost is maybe my favourite of all; like a tiny secret easter egg of flying I always look for. Flying for me is cloaked in nostalgia and cosiness and yet somehow also a completely contrasting sense of independence and setting forth for new things.
So there you have it, a rambling overview of the final 24 hours before you all finally get rid of me and now I have to send myself to sleep so we can get up in the morning and GO TO AMERICA!!!!
\(^o^)/
It's great to have you all here. I can't wait to take you on an adventure with me.
Time to drink up your in flight Cup Full of Blank, we're off!
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