Things to do
1. Pack snacks! Pack a lot of snacks.. all the snacks.. snacks are important.
2. Pack many days before hand (something I just felt the need not to do) so that you know for a fact that you didn't forget anything since you have multiple days to think about each situation.
3. Make friends with the person sitting next to you... I already knew Kallie, but I had intentions of making friends with whomever sat next to me.. so it's on the list (thank God I didn't have to talk to someone new)
On our first flight we learned that the woman sitting next to us was actually on her way back home to Alaska.. and that Alaska is having much better weather than Cleveland this year! (good information for future travels when I need to get out of Ohio)
4. Book with an airline that allows you to pick which movies, tv shows and music stations to enjoy (We flew British Airways and were totally spoiled)
5. Sleep.. as much as you possible can.. you are a time traveler and that takes a lot out of you! (I am currently writing this post without sleeping in the past 29 hours)
Also, to the people that are embarrassed to sleep in public:
1. No one cares
2. You will regret not sleeping
3. Yes your friends will take embarrassing pictures of you with drool all over your face... you will live.
4. It makes the flight seem way shorter
5. No one cares
Things NOT to do
1. Do NOT bring a baby on an 8 hour flight unless you know how to entertain them for that long.
2. Do NOT get your hopes up about the in-flight meals... just be glad that you are being fed.. I didn't realize how incredibly hungry I was until I started smelling the pasta and I put everyone that was fed before me on my hate list.
3. Don't be afraid to look out the windows..
It puts your life into perspective about the fact that you are such a small part in this world
Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean with nothing else on the horizon might be the most paralyzing feeling ever, but its amazing how huge our beautiful planet is!
Also, I had the amazing experience of looking out my window in the middle of the night without any light interruptions (yes I had to make my own tented barrier, that was super hot and in an uncomfortable position but it was so worth it!) I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. I knew I was supposed to be sleeping but I probably stared at those stars for an hour
4. Don't forget to stretch every few hours.. and be courteous to the people around you if you are in the window seat-- try to sneak into the upper or lower deck of the plane-- and if you don't get arrested, let me know what it's like!
5.Don't be a spoiled brat. You are lucky enough to be going on this once in a life time trip.. not everything is going to go your way and that's okay.. just roll with it!
There were two Canadian ladies that got in the shuttle with us and they were PISSED about having to wait and having to walk... and pretty much everything that they could find to bitch about, they did.
I am super impressed with our driver though.. he was a middle-aged black man that talked in a mixture of an English and Jamaican accent that wasn't taking any of her shit and said:
"Ma'am, I did nothing wrong and you need to stop being mad at me about the events that occurred today.. also the fact that you won't let it go is just ruining your entire first day in this beautiful country, so stop! You can't come to a new country and expect everything to be perfect. It is different than anything you have experienced and you just need to learn to roll with it."