Day 1!

Let the adventures begin!

Today I set off on a journey with no end date. It’s a happy sad feeling, leaving home and not knowing when I’ll come back… but this experience has already brought along something that “regular” life wouldn’t have brought!

I got to spend over a month with my parents, hanging out, playing games, watching tv… the regular drill. It was amazing to take the time to slow down, focus on my mental health, and hang out with people I love that I wouldn’t normally have “the time” to. But after a wonderful month of this, seeing old friends, and seeing relatives it’s time to go exploring again!

After chowing down on my last homemade world famous quesadillas (yeah the food pics are coming back in full swing),

I gathered my things and headed over to the bus stop near by. It was a pretty cold walk and wait for the bus and unfortunately where I’m headed first isn’t much warmer (but I’m definitely excited nonetheless).

After a brief wait, the bus came right on time! I was very happy to get out of the cold and head off to the airport.

(If you live in central Illinois, the bus to the airport is insanely convenient! It takes about 4 hours to get to O’Hare, but you don’t have to worry about driving or parking!)

On the ride I watched the first few episodes of the new Percy Jackson show and it’s already MUCH better than the movie adaptations (I’d highly recommend it for any fans).

After arriving at the airport around 4 pm, I quickly found my way to the terminal transport and went from terminal 2 to terminal 5. I wasn’t in a rush, as I had a 5 hour wait till boarding my flight. But airport security was insanely quick and easy and only took 25min max (they even let me board with my toothpaste and deodorant 😁)!

I sat at my terminal for a while with my new and trusty backpack… which packing ended up being a bit stressful. Packing for multiple countries and climates is a lot more daunting than I had thought. But I was able to pack everything I needed all in a 48L bag! I’ll definitely be making a packing guide to hopefully help someone out in the future (me in the future too)!

While waiting in the terminal my friend, Maddie, out of nowhere sent me money to go buy dinner. I’m very fortunate to have such amazing and caring friends! I owe you one when I get back ❤️

My first flight will take around 9 hours and will land in Copenhagen! Where I’ll have a 2 hour layover before heading off to my first destination!!

Day 1 will end on the flight so I’ll pick back up once I land. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see the airplane meals and activities tomorrow 😉

I’m INSANELY excited to be back on the road. I’m looking forward to all the new places I’ll see, food I’ll get to try and especially the people I’ll get to meet (and people I’ll get to see again)!

I’m going to work as hard as I can to daily blog and keep you all up to date with what I’m up to. In exchange,

I’m about to take off… so I have to go. But I’ll update you on how travel goes tomorrow! Thank you again for being here and joining me on this journey!

– Elie