The Beginning of the Adventure of a Lifetime - Los Angeles, Chicago, Dublin

Pinch me because I must be dreaming. I can't actually be in Ireland. I'm 5,157 miles away from home, and it's crazy to even just think about it. But as I wait for my third and final flight to Bordeaux, France, I figured I might as well kill time and write about my journey thus far.

I've never been great at keeping a journal, but I'm hoping that I'll be better at staying dedicated to keeping up with this blog, at least as much as possible until "life" gets in the way.

Anyways, day one/two (I honestly have no sense of time whatsoever at this point – thank God for my iPhone) began in Los Angeles. Check-in at LAX sucked, but hey, what else did I expect? I've never been a big fan of United Airlines, and my 45-minute wait at the ticketing kiosk didn't make me like them any better. No amount of travel vouchers would change my opinion on United.

It was somewhat hard to say goodbye. I kept it together, only because I knew I had to go through the security checkpoint next, and I didn't want to look like a hot mess. My mom and grandma both teared up, which I expected, and to prevent myself from also sobbing, I tried to keep the goodbyes brief.

Notice how I still have energy.

The flight from LAX to Chicago's O'Hare was pretty bumpy, culminating in one of the roughest landings I've ever experienced. Even inside the airport, it was freezing (16 degrees Fahrenheit is not the business, at least for a Californian). It was snowing outside, which was pretty cool, since it made the airport look like a winter wonderland. I barely had time to get through the airport and transfer to my connecting flight to Dublin, so thank God for that train taking passengers to other terminals. (LAX really needs to take a cue from O'Hare.) But even with the tight connection, I still managed to take a selfie, heyyyy.

Energy is dwindling.

Up until this point, I'd been traveling alone, but in Chicago, my friend Adena joined me. She arrived at an opportune time because I was kinda getting lonely, but I didn't really want to strike up a conversation with some random stranger.

The flight from Chicago to Dublin was super looooong. It lasted about 7 and a half hours, and I was over it after the first hour. I kid. I was okay until hour three when my stomach started feeling funny. I ended up eating only half of my dinner, so I was starving throughout the night. They had a pretty decent selection of movies; I ended up watching La cage dorée, which was a French film with English subtitles, and Jobs, which chronicled the life of Apple's Steve Jobs. I really enjoyed the former, but I thought the latter was lacking a little umph and left me wanting a bit more. I was bawling during certain parts, and I'm not quite sure if it was the movie or the fact that I'm not going to see my family for five or six months finally hitting me. The music selection was also fairly good, and the games on the computer were alright. I ended up getting an hour or two of sleep, not straight through but in increments. I've never been good at falling asleep in public spaces.

Our landing in Dublin was definitely much smoother than our landing in Chicago. The first thing I noticed about Ireland... green, a ton of green. Its grassy hills definitely present a stark contrast to the concrete jungle of LA. For some weird reason, they started playing Passenger's "Let Her Go," as we landed, which is the first time I've ever had a musical landing. The plane was taxing for a good ten to fifteen minutes, so they kept playing music to entertain us passengers. I didn't recognize the song they played after "Let Her Go," so Adena concluded that it must be Irish pop. But as we listened to it more and more, I realized that it was just Pink. So much for immersing myself in Irish culture.

We had a three-hour wait before our flight to Bordeaux, so Adena and I just wandered around the terminal. Here are somethings we noticed:

1. Restrooms here have no seat covers. (My poor butt.)
2. The toilet flush had the water pressure of someone softly crying onto you.
3. Everything is expensive. (We bought magnets for 6 Euros each, which is about 8 dollars each. Rip off.)
4. There is an Irish language. (Gaelic, I believe?)

We've both picked up an Irish accent over the last couple of hours. We probably sound offensive to real Irish people, so we're trying to speak in hushed tones. We've finally been able to charge our phones, thankfully. I actually got to call my parents, and it was 2 am back home so I was surprised they actually picked up. At the moment, we're both just blogging while we wait for our plane to Bordeaux. We've taken a couple pictures here and there, but there's only so much you can do in an airport terminal.

Yeah, I'm gone.

I'm still trying to find something to Instagram... maybe a sign? Or a big glass of Guinness? It would be my first legal drink. But then I realized that it's only 11 in the morning, and it probably wouldn't be wise to consume beer on a somewhat empty stomach. YOLO though? Maybe. I'm not trying to make myself sick before I actually get to Bordeaux.

Wow, I wrote much more than I actually thought I would. Granted, it's basically just me typing whatever comes to mind. (Keep in mind that my body still thinks it's 3:20 am.) I'm exhausted, and I need to wake up. A glass of Guinness doesn't sound like such a bad idea anymore...