6am International Flights Are the Worst

The 2:30am alarm stabbed my silent bedroom, and I awoke with a jolt. As I sloppily yawned against my pillow, I thought that I had just gone to bed.

Oh wait. That’s because I had.

Meagan’s Travel Advice: waking up for 6am international flights suck.

I gave myself a few more minutes to lay in my bed, since after all, it would be the last time for 9 months. And that’s when all the feelings started pouring in.

For those who said how brave and courageous I am for taking this trip – thank you. But like – for the record – I was a total chicken this morning. Completely fear-driven, I honestly thought about canceling the whole thing. I felt like I could’ve literally thrown up, cried, and laughed all at the same time. I was also hungry, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the trip.

Isn’t there a quote about how courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to still face it anyway? (Welcome to ParaphraseLand. I would fact check this, but ya know, WIFI is a rare commodity now.)

Basically? I was afraid. But I still walked out my front door. Reckless or brave? Tomato, tomahto.

And you know what?? – I’m still a little afraid. Hah. But I’m also excited. Expectant. Curious. And ready. With each step I took across the airport, I grew more and more confident.

Until the San Jose airport in Costa Rica literally welcomed me with sirens. Awesome. I dodged a mob of taxi drivers calling, “Miss, miss! Taxi?” and found my way to the ATM where my debit card decided to be difficult and not work. Double awesome. Don’t fret – I persevered and got ma moolah. But there’s nothing like a money scare in a foreign country to make your whole trip flash before your eyes in a premonition of failure.

I then took three shuttles to get to my destination of Santa Elena which is right outside of Monteverde Cloud Forest. It’s two hours later, and I’m still nauseous from the aggressive driving and tight turns up the rain forest. And then I had a cold shower as my reward. Boo.

All in all, it’s been a day. I am so very very excited to curl up and go to sleep.