Rachel and I decided to fly to France a few days early. We were already going to be in Paris on our way to Chambery, so we left three days before we had to be at school. Unfortunately, the Friday before our travel day (Monday) I got sick. I had chills, a headache, and a cough. The entire way to Atlanta to catch the plane I was bundled up in the car sleeping the whole way. When we arrived in ATL we went to Ikea for dinner and because Rachel had never been. We shopped around and ended up making a huge purchase totaling $0.99 for a reusable shopping bag. This simple bag actually ended up helping me in countless scenarios.
In France, grocery stores do not offer bags. Well, they really do, but they cost money. After Ikea we headed straight to our hotel. We were situated next to the airport so it was very convenient for the morning. Before I passed out on the bed, I had to pack. I know. I waited until the night before I left for Europe to pack my final bag. Not to mention, I was only bringing a carry-on which means that much more thought had to go into the decision making process since I was limited to a 9in X 14in X 22in backpack and a small purse. I spent the next hour and a half narrowing my clothing choices down from 7 dresses to 3, 15 shirts to 9, 5 skirts to 3 and so on. My clothes were the only problem I had with space. I finally put everything in my backpacking backpack and pulled the tightening straps as hard as I could. My bag had fat rolls all over, but after all my work, it was exactly the right size. Honestly, I have no idea what I would have done if it was too big.
After I had my things all ready to go (complete with a giant Ikea bag of clothes to bring back home), I fell right asleep. My mom, Rachel, and I woke up early the next morning, went to breakfast at the hotel, and then my mom drove us over to the airport. Even now, it had not hit me that I was going to spend my summer in Europe. We arrived at the train that takes travelers into the actual airport. Atlanta, after all, is an enormous international airport with separate buildings for international/domestic traveling. I did not know this at the time. My mom said goodbye at the base of the stairs to the train platform. She was about to get emotional, but held it together. I was feeling too sick to think about anything but my queen sized bed at home with all the fluffy pillows I could ask for. All I wanted to do was lay down.
As soon as my mom left, it finally hit me. I was going to be all alone in Europe. I had never traveled this far without an adult. I have been to big cities, other countries, and even Europe before. But at that moment, my past experience didn't seem to matter. It felt inapplicable to the challenges that were right in front of me. If I felt this way in Atlanta, how did I plan to tackle Paris? I couldn't believe my study abroad adviser, my parents, and my friends thought I was ready to travel all around Europe on my own...with one bag of stuff! How could they let me do this? These were the first thoughts of panic I had. Of course, I knew that these thoughts were mostly irrational so I put one foot in front of the other headed towards the airport. We went up the stairs and met the first challenge of the metro even though we were only using the airport transportation. We had to figure out which train went the direction we needed to go and also what stop to get off on. When we got on the train, I remember holding onto the pole in the center of the train with just my backpack and a my purse feeling like I was homeless. Afterwards, I realized this was probably because I was going to Paris three days early with no hostel booked. I was homeless, essentially. At least for the first three days. And, if for some reason we didn't make it to Chambery before 8 pm the first night of the program, no one would be available to pick us up and show us to our apartment. I tried to put all of those thoughts out of my head and focus on navigating the airport. As I said before, it was huge. We followed the signs and were able to check in easily using a kiosk. Next to the kiosk was the carry-on bag size example. I nervously took off my backpack and tried to place it into the compartment. At first the angle was off, so I just sat on top of the metal bars. An instant wave of panic and fear shot through my body. I lifted it up and tried again. It fit perfectly, straps and all. I may have had an inch in each direction to spare. I was so grateful for the paper measuring tape I found at Ikea as well as my backpack's tightening straps.
Next challenge: security. The line was pretty short. Then we got up to the conveyor belt and saw the sign: all laptops must be taken out. Even though I had actually looked up the laptop rules, TSA decided not to follow them. My laptop was in a an approved case and was supposed to be able to stay in my bag. So, I spent
Rachel and I used Buddy passes through Delta for our airplane tickets. This essentially means that they are deeply discounted, but we were on stand-by for a flight. We didn't know if we would get on the first plane, or the second, or even any flight at all (although this outcome was very unlikely given that we had three days extra just in case). The first flight started to board right on time. Within ten minutes of the announcement to begin the boarding process, my name was called, then Rachel's. We were surprised. When we got to the desk the flight attendant said there were three spots left and one was in business class. She offered that seat to seat one of us. We looked at each other for an uncomfortable moment, but then immediately proceeded to play rock-paper-scissors for the seat, best 2/3. We attracted some attention from nearby travelers and even got some laughs. Rachel won. Oh, well. I was happy to be on the first flight! Unlucky for Rachel, though, the attendant realized that another stand-by traveler would get the business class seat over us for whatever reason --maybe he was a frequent flyer or some other reason.
The good news was that we were able to sit together. We boarded the plane after they printed our boarding passes right at the desk. Our seats were in the middle "column" of the plane and in the very back. The only issue I had was that we could not see a single window. But that didn't matter because I ended up watching the rest of season 4 of Downton Abbey the whole way. Delta has such a nice plane. They had tv screens on the back of every chair that were loaded with all of these brand new movies, music, tv shows, and games. I couldn't believe it. Where were the days of straining your neck to see a cut off screen three seats in front of you? And we had options to choose from. The movie wasn't determined ahead of time for all passengers. I guess I haven't flown overseas for a while. I enjoyed all these upgrades. The flight was also the first time I heard French spoken (as a secondary language, though). I tried to sleep on the plane, but it didn't work. By hour 5 I was getting uncomfortable and cold even with the little red Delta blanket. The rest of the flight was uncomfortable because I could't sleep. It really messed with my jet lag even more. Finally, at 6 am we arrived at CDG.