And so it begins...

And just like that my journey down-under had begun. Just as soon as I had dreaded the long flight and thought that this moment would never come, it has come and passed. On Sunday, February 16th, I said a teary farewell to my mom and dad at the Chicago O'hare airport and got on my four hour flight to LAX. Once we arrived at LAX, I had no time to grab anything to eat or drink, as my next flight was already boarding.

I forgot to mention, Kathy Griffen made an appearance on my first flight:

I boarded this 13 hour flight with dread. When I found out that I would have an empty seat next to me, the dread subsided a little. Because it was an overnight flight, I was hoping for at least a little bit of sleep, and it did come, only to be interrupted by meals that not even a dog would eat. TIP: To all wishing to take an international flight for more than 6 hours, BUY A NECK PILLOW, they work wonders.

I had finally stepped foot in the land of the Aussies, but alas in was only the airport floor. I had one last layover in Sydney before I reached my final destination, Melbourne. While here, I decided to contact all of my family, as well as my boyfriend to let them know that I had arrived in Australia without so much as a scratch. Then FINALLY, after one last hour long flight, I had made it to Melbourne.

I then had to retrieve my luggage from the baggage claim, which was a strenuous task all on its own. And I was off again, one 50 lb. suitcase, a carry-on suitcase, and my backpack in tow. From the airport, I caught a SkyBus that took me to the South Central Train Station. Here I rested for a bit before I found a VodaFone shop where I purchased an Australian SIM card for my phone (for those wondering my number here is +61 449 890 416). After this I caught the tram to Thornbury, where I am staying with a lovely fellow that we found on a great website. 

Although, my journey did not end that quickly. Because of my inadequate navigation skills, I walked 15 minutes in the wrong direction. At this point, my brilliant mind remembered that I owned an iPhone and typed in the address that I needed to reach and walked the 15 minutes back (mind you, all the luggage was still dragging behind me while slowly killing my arms). But I saw this on the way, which can only be interpreted as a lucky sign: 

I then proceeded to shower and sleep...for 12 hours. Jetlag's a killer, eh?