The Journey Is Complete

The entirety of my last day was spent packing - from sun up to almost sun down. I had to get my life that had accumulated over the last year into 3 large suitcases and 2 small carry ons. I spent hours trying to get everything in in a way that was cost effective, space effective, and wouldn't break. It was fairly lonely, since usually when I'm packing this much stuff I have someone else with me to help or at least talk to, so I turned to Skype for some company. I Skype with my parents first and we had a really good chat about all the preparations and the excitement about me coming home (which you can see on all of our faces). It was so weird Skyping with them knowing that the next time I saw them it would be in person and it would be the last time I Skype them from Australia. I also Skype with my Martian, but she was too sad to look at the computer. Shortly after this though she was rolling around and putting on a little show. I think she was also excited about me returning. Seeing her on Skype I couldn't wait to get home and give her a squish. After Skyping with my parents I Skyped Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn helped me pack for uni (several times) and she helped me pack to leave for Australia. I so could have used her packing skills this time around as well, but her company was enough motivation to get it happening. We Skyped for a couple hours but at least one of those hours was spent pretty much in silence as she worked on her homework and I problem solved the puzzles that were my suitcases. Having her company was amazing even if she couldn't physically help. It was also weird to Skype with Kaitlyn knowing that the next time I saw her we'd be in person. It was really cool though because if we could Skype and be our usual normal selves, then I knew that when I got back we'd be able to slide right back into our usual routine.

Louise is a gem, because after her long day and work and workout at the gym, she picked me up and we went to pick up my all time favorite pizza ever - Peri Peri Chicken Pizza from Crust!!!! The bad part about this is that now that I'm writing about it I'm craving it and we don't have anything remotely close to this here. We took it home, put on a chick flick that we both have over watched so that if we didn't pay attention to it it didn't matter, and dug in on some pizza. Let's just say there were NO leftovers. YUM!!! We chatted pretty much the whole night until we decided we should probably turn in for the early call to the airport in the morning. We said goodnight and I stayed up for a couple more hours to get on the right sleep schedule for the flight home. I had to make sure I got enough sleep to get me to the time I was allowed to sleep on the plane, but not so much sleep that I would have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. When I decided it was time to head to bed, for the last time in Australia and for the last time in my Australian family's house, I closed my eyes and drifted off. It(SN: If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned anyone else's name from my Aussie family it is because Nikki and I said good-bye a few months back when she left for Europe for travel/school and Joan, Ian, and I said good-bye a month beforehand when they left for Europe as well for travel.) So it was just me and Louise kicking it like cool kids. 

In the morning I showered and did my hair and finished up some last minute packing. Louise and I were out the door on time and off to the airport. I couldn't quite wrap my head around what was happening, because my heart was sure I was just leaving for a bit and returning like last time, but my brain knew otherwise. When we got the airport Louise and I were both on the edge of tears, but I believe for the sake of the other and ourselves, we held it together. We swapped cards/letters, gave several hugs, and with that I turned my back on the last bit of my Australian reality and walked away. Thinking about that moment now, tears still come to my eyes. It was definitely an ending point to my journey. I am glad, however, that if it had to end that it was ending with someone I love and care about dearly. 

I got in line at baggage claim just praying that this wouldn't all go to crap. I was already trying so hard not to let the tears spill over and this was already hard enough, that troubles with too overweight baggage would send me over the edge, especially considering I only had but so much money for this. I get 2 free bags at 23kg. I have to pay for any additional bags and anything over 23kg. The max weight that can be accepted is 32kg. I put the 1st bag on - 30kgs. I put the 2nd bag on - 31.5kgs. I put the 3rd bag on - 26kgs. I asked him if I could try and rearrange stuff from the 3rd bag and put it in the other 2 so it wouldn't be overweight. He just said real softly, "No, don't worry about that, I'm not going to charge you for that one." I smiled so big and thanked Him (and my Heavenly Father) many times. My next issue was whether or not they were going to weigh my carry on. They weighed it when I flew home in May, so I was sure they would weigh it this time. The max weight for a piece of carry on luggage is 7kgs. How about the fact that I had 13kgs in one carry on and about 8kgs in the other... and how about the fact that he didn't even mention my carry on or weighing it!!! I was doing some serious thank-you shouting to God in my head for that one. 

I paid for my overweight luggage and made it through customs and security with no problem. On the way to my gate I took some time to stop at a few stores for some souvenirs for myself and some snacks. Once I was at my gate and had a chance to sit and breathe and try to understand what was happening... I broke down. I was sad, scared, anxious, worried, excited, happy, and thrilled. I called my parents and chatted with them a bit. After we got off the phone I remembered the card Louise had given me. I couldn't figure out if opening it would make things harder or easier, but knowing Nikki and Louise I'm sure there would be a smile in there somewhere, so I went for it. It was a sweet card, coupled with cat nail stickers and I literally laughed out loud. It was JUST what I needed (not the nail stickers, the laugh, though the nail stickers were pretty awesome too). On my way to board I stopped at the desk and asked if they had any window seats available with an empty seat next to it. He asked my seat number and I told him and he said with a smile, "There's an empty seat next to you now." Once again a smile beamed across my face as I thanked him and threw some more serious thank yous to my God who was clearly trying to make this difficult time easier on me. An empty seat next to you on a 15 hour flight can make a world of difference for your ability to sleep, ability to get up (when you sit by the window that is a hard task when people next to you are watching movies or sleeping), and ability to maintain your sanity (with an extra seat you have an extra food tray, extra pockets, more under seat storage space, and more storage space next to you to keep you from feeling like you can't find any of your stuff and it's just piled on top of your other stuff. 

I put on a movie - White House Down (AMAZING movie, followed later by The Internship and Great Gatsby, also good movies) and with that... I was in the air and on the way to the finish line of this journey. The only thing that made this a bit easier was knowing that at that finish line, my parents would be waiting for me with open arms. 

The flight was not as pleasant as one would have hoped because almost instantly when that plane took off my head started hurting and my nose started running. It was like my body was rejecting leaving Australia. Due to me now being sick and due to all the thoughts and emotions rushing through me, I wasn't quite able to sleep as much as I would have liked so I spent some time online and then slept on the floor during my first lay over after getting some food. During my 2nd layover I got more food and talked with a friend back home on the phone. On both of my US flights I managed to get a bit of sleep, which was also good. When I landed in Raleigh, I ran as fast as my tired, sick, hungry body could carry me to where I knew my parents were waiting for me. And there they were, waiting anxiously, with open arms, just as I knew they would be. I let go of my carry on and wrapped both arms around them as we made a Nikki sandwich and cried a few tears - tears of joy and tears of sadness.

And just like that, with that step across the finish line, into the arms of my biggest supporters... my 9,900 Mile Dream Journey to Oz was complete.

<3