350am - my phone alarm goes off and I rush to get myself ready and the rest of my backpack packed. I had hired a car to take me to the train station (London tube doesn't start running until 6), so I had to be downstairs before 430.
410am - on my way to the ATM, I spy the taxi idling outside my building (I've officially met the only person more prompt than me). After running to get money and retrieve my pack from upstairs, I'm off.
450am - The driver drops me off at the famed Paddington station. As someone who loves Paddington Bear, I take a moment to see if there are any bears lurking in the station. I'm disappointed to find that there are not.
510am - The Heathrow Express is off! I'm promised a short, painfree trip to the airport. They don't disappoint.
6am - I try to check in for my flight. Both the ticket kiosk and the woman at the counter tell me that this isn't possible. She motions over to the ticketing counter and says that they can help. After 15 minutes of clicking on her keyboard, the ticket agent miraculously makes my reservation appear. (apparently, the ticket agent at AMS who changed my ticket originally, forgot to do a few things in the archaic Aer Lingus system. However, because I had been toting around two scrap paper printout "receipts" for 22 days, this ticket agent could get me a seat home. Had I gotten her name, I would have promised to name my firstborn after her.)
730am - Goodbye London. Hello Dublin.
1030am - Thankfully at the Dublin airport, the US has set up a Customs and Immigration checkpoint; therefore, I could take care of all of that nasty paperwork and line-waiting in Dublin instead of New York (where I would have no patience). Hilariously, I happened to be traveling with the both the guys and girls Irish national youth basketball teams - none of whom are taller than 6 feet. Apparently, basketball isn't a popular sport in Ireland.
1230pm - we land in New York. For an ordinary human, that might be the end of the day... not for me!
234pm - After navigating the hilarity of the A and 7 trains as well as the Airtrain, I board my favorite 234pm MetroNorth train. Suffering from a weird delirium (the type that makes it okay to pay $2 for 16oz of water), i noticed that track 103 of Grand Central smells so strange that it actually tastes funny. Before boarding my train, I take a touristy photo of Grand Central Terminal after realizing that I will have been in 2 of the most famous train stations in the world in one day. (eliza = supreme nerd)
4pm (ish) - the last vestages of the trip are demolished... the Bueno bar I bought in dublin is quickly eaten. And promptly spilled all over myself, ruining my new favorite summer-weight sweater.
435pm - after a second train transfer to Shoreline East, I am finally almost home.
515pm - My train arrives in the station and (miraculously) my mom is waiting for me! After handing over a few gifts from the All England Club, we were on our way home.
So, that is it. After 5 countries, 8 flights, 2 ferry rides, 1 toe related incident and over 115 fannypacks - my trip was over. I will say that nothing has felt better than falling into my own bed that night; however, this thrip was definitely one for the record books. There were many firsts and more than a few things ticked off the 101 Things list; not to mention getting to hang out with some great friends (new and old) whilst in exotic locations. Oh yeah, and there was that international advertising award thing. That was fun too.
A special thanks goes out to Ash without whom this whole trip would never have happened. Also, to the good people at MasterCard, please go easy on me for the next few millenia until I have this thing paid off.
Until later,
e
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