A Day In The Life Of Only Me

Getting to the airport was an interesting story in and of itself.  I woke up early to get everything in line and run last minute errands. I had left my debit card in the ATM the day before and had to go get it. Genius. Another errand was going to mom's store to make copies of my  passport, ID, debit card, etc. Of course I left a billion things at home.. And once I was home grabbing my belongings to head to the airport, I realized I had left all of my copies at the store, along with my ISIC ID and my camera. Of course. Don took me back to the store "on our way" to the aiport, although it's very out of the way and I made it to the airport 30 minutes before my flight. The whole "arrive-60-75-minutes-before-your-flight-rule" is for retards like me. Turns out, I left this holographic sticker (seems official and important) at home, that I was supposed to apply on top of my photo on my ISIC card... Goooood.

My airplane ride to Chicago from Decatur was an 8 passenger plane. One 3-person family was on it and also a businessman by himself. Our pilot was reading and writing in a notepad the whole time he was "flying." Perfect. Good news though, we made it there safely. :p

After spending a few hours waiting around O'Hare, I was actually really exhausted. To my favor, luckily I somehow missed the time my seat section boarded so they moved my seat... To a window seat! Previously I had asked for one and they were all taken. It was perfect because I was able to sleep against it. Running late is in my favor sometimes, I suppose!

The plane took off about 30 minutes late because of congestion in the area, so I just hung out and got situated. My seat-mate was pretty shy, so needless to say, he wasn't very entertaining. Soon after take off, the attendants delivered our meals and I ate... Well, I don't know what I ate really. Some form of mashed/shredded chicken with maybe some marinara type sauce mixed in? It was very mysterious and very cafeteria-esque. I just ate the bread and peas and carrots. I soon fell asleep from about 8:30-10:00 central time, but woke up to some mild turbulence. It was a decent nap, but I wasn't able to fall asleep again for the rest of the trip. I got out my headphones and watched the movie "Hall Pass" on my personal television, which was alright. Breakfast was served and I downed some black coffee (gross!) preparing for who knows how long I'd be up getting to where I was going. 

Passing the UK boarder was, of course, interesting. Only me, I swear. They almost didn't let me in the god damn country! Their reasoning was because I didn't have a hotel booked and that looks suspicious, although I'm planning on flying out of the country tomorrow. I get that it doesn't make total sense, but that's just how I roll. Don't they get people coming through here all the time with "no plan" but to backpack!? After asking a billion and one questions, even asking what my parents do for a living... the man said if I had gotten any other employee on the boarder patrol, they would have "shipped me right back to the U.S." Now I'm of high suspicion to the UK and the next time I enter the country I will be closely watched and need to be able to prove every step of my plan, including my bank statements to prove I have the funds. Good god, what's this little American ginger gonna do!?

I got to a hotel and checked in and had to pee soooo bad, I was dragging all of my luggage to my room and literally just dropped it as soon as I got inside and jumped over it, trying to flip light switches on the way. Turns out you have to have your room key "plugged in" to turn on the electricity.. When you take the key out, it turns off all of the electricity in the room... Kinda cool!? So I peed in the dark. I still haven't figured out how to flush the toilet. Good thing it's just meeee. :p

Other news, I forgot to buy a Mac converter in the states and my regular converter isnt powerful enough, so I'm posting from my phone and therefore, unable to post the few pictures I have. I also only have wifi in the lobby, so I'm going to head back up to my room now as soon as KIMBERLY MESSAGES ME BACK. Clearly she's a concerned mother :p

More soon!

Xoxo
Paige