#1: Beginning: 2/13/2014

So I was given the idea to keep a little travel blog for others who would like to read along about my trip. So here goes!

Well this whole journey started on Thursday, February 13th. I knew that day was coming for a while, but when I first woke up, accidentally, at 5:30 am I went into panic mode. Suddenly I was so anxious, nervous, and excited all at the same time. It was crazy and way too much to allow me to fall back asleep. But I somehow managed to stay in bed a little longer and got up a little before 7. From there I began the final stages of packing, which is definitely a chore when you know you are leaving that night.

Double check, triple check, quadruple check. Ok I think everything is in there.

I looked out the window and it was snowing pretty hard, so then I put myself through the stress of trying to look up my flight and make sure it was still on time. I was pouring over a flight app and couldn't find anything. Fine, let's just hope for the best.

One thing went my way though, I discovered it was possible for me to 'check in' online 23 hours before my flight. This meant that I could print off my boarding passes before I even left for the airport. If you're going to travel, I would absolutely look into this. So I printed off my boarding passes, grabbed my temporary stay permit, and my passport and put them into my little lock box. I don't know if I'll really need this lock box, but it provides a little piece of mind.

After one last lunch, at Red Robin (yummm!), and final goodbyes, I was boarding a bus to Chicago airport. Being alone at this airport might be a little frantic to some, but just keep a clear head and you'll be fine. Arriving at the airport was a little rough for me, my bus driver insisted I needed to be at Terminal 1, so after failing to convince him, I got off at Terminal 1. But after the bus left and I showed my boarding pass to am employee I was told I needed to go to Terminal 5.

Being at the wrong terminal wasn't that bad though. I had plenty of time in case something like this would happen anyways, I was there at 3:30 and my flight was at 7:10. So I boarded the airport train and it shipped me off to the right place. With my boarding pass in hand I was able to skip the front of the line (not that there were many people there yet), my papers were checked, my bag was taken, and then all that was left was to wait.

Waiting wasn't all that bad, I thought it would take forever, but somehow it went pretty quickly. It was probably the anxiety mixed with the fact that I could watch TV. Within no time, they were calling us to board. Everyone around me jumped up to get in line, but I just sat back and waited until they died down a bit. That way I didn't have to fight the crowds. Soon enough I was in my seat, crammed next to an older gentleman. I kept my carry on by my feet because I was so worried about it.

Next we were up in the air...