I write to you from JFK. The sun was rising when I took off in Seattle this morning, and as I wait for my connecting flight to Helsinki, the sun sets slowly on the edge of my view.

When I mentioned last night that I’d have extra time to waste in the airport this morning if I arrived early, Jonathan joked that I could do some ‘pre-blogging.’ I responded that he acted as though he didn’t know I’d already taken part in this silly activity many times, and he came back with, “Oh no, I say it because I know for sure that you have.”

If you’ve spent much time with me or are privy to my story telling, you know I’ve got a bit of the procrastinator bug in me. I just don’t like the idea of wasting time by being early, and of course, this means that I run a bit late on average. So my standard airport procedure is to arrive approximately an hour before take off, maybe 1.5 hours if I’m flying from Seattle to Europe, and to assume everything will be peachy. Sometimes it’s not, and I’ve gotten my fair share of sweaty spells, cardio workouts, and bruises from running to the gate and tripping over escalators. But I’ve never missed a flight.

Until I did.

I was meant to fly out for a little adventure in Finland and Estonia during the first week of December, 2018. I was going to party it up at the Christmas markets, dance in the snow, hang out with my buddy John Jeng, and meet Santa.

I spent a good deal of time sharing my travel plans with anyone who would listen, and I spent the whole week leading into the trip gearing up in preparation. I was so diligent. Did my laundry, ate all the food in my fridge, packed carefully, planned fully. But in an unwise and deal-breaking last moment, I set only one alarm to help me wake up for a 7:38am flight on a Saturday morning. I didn’t even hear it ring. Jonathan had to shake me awake, and in response, I quickly turned it off and set another alarm for seven minutes in the future. A sort of manual snooze. I knocked out immediately. The whole ordeal probably lasted fifteen seconds.

The catch here is that the second alarm never went off because my phone auto-set it for the next morning instead of just a few minutes in the future. I woke up to check my phone, assuming it had been about five or six minutes of napping, to see that the alarm read 6:45am.

My stomach sank with the knowledge that I was going to miss my flight, but I felt the need to at least make a try for the airport. I managed to arrive at 7:17, and they were sending passengers through on TSA-pre status because of sniffer dogs, but the line was just too long. I rose up from the escalator at 7:50, and I turned to see that the plane was already gone from the gate. Four gate agents in skirt suits and heels walked towards me, and the one in front slowed ever so slightly when she caught sight of me. She turned back to look at the others before turning back to me.

“Are you Miss. Lee?” she asked in a sad, knowing tone.

“Yes,” I responded in the same.

She turned again to her colleagues, and, continuing in the same sad, wise manner, said, “This is Miss. Lee.”

The other three ladies exchanged a look that reflected the tone of the first, mouths all slightly open in a soft ‘O’ shape. I followed one to the D terminal and she tried to see what she could do for me, but my basic, basic, basic fare did not allow for any modifications, so I would need to buy a new ticket if I wanted to get to Finland. No modifications were allowed on the ticket I had purchased.

And then I found out that missing this first flight did not only cancel the first leg of the trip. It canceled the entire flight.

If I wanted to get to Finland and back in one piece, I would need to purchase a brand new round-trip ticket. On the day I wanted to leave.

My best option was about $1000 for two days of flying in each direction. Seattle to JFK to Lisbon to Stockholm to Helsinki. Four days in Europe. Then the same thing in the other direction.

Not ideal, I know. So I reasoned that I would just go into work that week and push the whole trip back. I could refabricate the entire adventure for less than the cost of that ticket, and I’d have less flying and more Europing in the mix. It was the best plan I could devise.

But it didn’t quite align with work.

So after a lot of thinking and a lot of courage, I decided to quit.

Instead of recreating the one week trip, I’d be embarking on a six and a half week adventure around the globe. (Okay, so it’s mostly Europe, but there’s a stint in Taiwan thrown in the middle for Chinese New Year. More to come on that later.)

So I got to the airport early this morning because I ended up booking the exact same flights as last time, with some extra days thrown in the middle. 7:38am. I set three alarms this time. Jonathan set two. I commissioned my early-rising Auntie Mel to text me at 4:15 and to call if I did not respond immediately. I got two hours of sleep. I cried a bit. But I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and so far, I think the only thing I’m missing is a phone charger. Ha. I’ll snag one in Helsinki. These airports aren’t about to get $30 out of me for a cord.

Oh, and the flight over was beautiful.

Canada, maybe?

Anyway, the past few weeks have been pretty hectic. I moved out of the boarding house I’ve been running for the past two and a half years (kind of a joke, kind of not – I’ve had about 15 different roommates in and out in that time, myself being the only constant), I wrapped up a bunch of work at my first job (I mean, who needs income stability, right?!), and I tried to Finnish planning this trip (ha. ha. ha.). I only made it most of the way on the last guy. I still don’t know where I’m sleeping for about 15 of my 43 nights, but that will come later.

Soooooo…. Yeah. Helsinki is my first stop, and there are about 11 after that. Maybe more. I’m kind of winging some of this. But I am resilient! And I am experienced! And I am admittedly a little unhinged at the moment! So everything will be fine!

Actually, no. Everything will be great. I’ve been wracked with anxiety and a healthy dose of terror for the last two weeks about all this unknown lying ahead of me, but that’s finally, slowly, giving way to excitement. I mean, I’m gonna meet Santa in three days!!!

Until next time.

Parhain terveisin/ best regards. (Oh gosh, I forgot to learn Finnish….)
-Lizzy-wa