So today was the day when I finally began my travels. I'm not going to deny I was extremely excited the last few weeks, although I have been a little nervous too. It has been really difficult working out exactly what I need to and what I don't need to take, but I think I got there in the end! I just tried to remember that if I do forget something I can always buy it while I'm away.
For obvious reasons I didn't sleep much last night, but it was nice to be able to an afternoon flight which meant I could have some kind of lie in. With my flight being at 16.55, arriving at 20.05 (1.05 British time) I'm hoping that I won't get jet lagged, but we will see when I try to sleep.It was typical though that when I woke up my dog was at my door waiting and jumped straight on my bed. I think he's going to miss me.
I ended up leaving about 1pm in the end, and it was nice because as well as my Mum and a few of my friends took the day off to come to the airport with me. After arriving at the airport it was a sizable wait to check in, and from there we went to wetherspoons for a last drink before I had to leave. It was slightly emotional saying goodbye to my friends and family although they all know this is what makes me happy. I probably should have allowed more time to get through security though because my bag was checked on the way through and my plane was boarding by the time I got through (although there was no rush).
Whilst in duty free I purchased a travel adapter which I needed, although god knows if it will work because apparently South America has various different plug types. I then took the long walk to my gate and made one final phone call before turning it on flight mode. I'm going to miss having a phone although I've got a tablet which my friends from Tesco kindly bought for me. Boarding was pretty straight forward, although my seat was right at the back of the plane! Take off was pretty quick too for a change.
One of the advantages of sitting at the back however meant I got my meal first which was chicken in tomato sauce with veg and potatoes, cous cous salad, and chocolate cake. It sounds better than it was! The in flight entertainment kept me amused too with an array of games and films, and a very detailed flight tracker to name a few. I even managed to watch finding dory at last. There was also a guide of things to do in New York which was very useful because I haven't actually done much detailed research, I just know what the main sights to see are.
Before landing they gave me some sandwiches and a cookie, before landing earlier than expected in New York. It did however take over half hour to park up which meant I did technically just arrive on time. Getting through security was surprisingly easy as I basically just walked out. When I went through security at LA a couple of years ago they were very tough, but not here.
Before I had any chance to get WiFi I was asked to leave the airport, where I caught the train to connect with the metro. It was really confusing in terms of payment though because their tickets worked similar to an oyster card and I had no idea how much to put on. I was advised to put on a couple of dollars, and I had no problems, despite having to change trains twice. It was very similar to the London underground.
When finally arriving at the nearest metro station to my hostel, which was like an hour journey, I checked in. My hostel is basically a couple of streets across from the north west ish corner of central park. Luckily opposite the hostel there were lots of food places so I decided to get a pizza because I was hungry after the small portions of food on the plane. I'm now relaxing in the hostel, pretty tired as it's like midnight (5am according my body clock). As I said before I will not be updating this blog daily but I will update it as much as possible. Zzzzzzz.
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