It is finally time to pack our bags and depart for Korea! The air has been heavy with excitement and nerves for the past few days as the countdown to takeoff ticked down. We recently had our final pre-departure dinner with the rest of the Plus3 travel group and the energy was great! Everyone I talked to was happy with their performance on their finals, and coupling a semester of relief with good food is a guaranteed recipe for a good time. The reality of the trip started setting in for most people then, changing this journey from a distant idea into something far more tangible. I definitely felt this change the night before we left for the airport, not exclusively to my mindset but physically as well. We stayed in the dorms after finals week to give everyone time to finish their classes, so we needed to have all of our belongings moved out before we left. This unfortunately included everything on our beds, leaving me with a bare mattress to withstand the night on.

This did little to douse my spirits however, because next on the itinerary was travel! Sleep could come in the air and goodness knows we would have the time to spare. 30 hours A to B was a daunting task, but exciting none the less. Early morning alarms and wake up calls came and went in a blur as we checked in on each other and triple checked our packing for any necessities. Before I knew it we were on the brief bus ride to the Pittsburgh airport to set out. Passports were checked before and after we did anything as a group for fear of delays, and I patted my pocket more than I could count to make sure I kept track of it. For all of our preparation and nerves before the trip, the actual experience was just testing our ability to kill time. We waited in the check in line for too long for our group tickets (apologies to those stuck behind us), but surprisingly security flew by relatively quickly. We had arrived late in the morning (for airport standards- I tend to disagree) so there was no security line to speak of and we were on the other side sooner than expected. Beyond that, we simply waited for the flight, waited to land, and waited our way through an 8-hour layover. Music, Burger King, and Slay the Spire 2 were the trinity what got me through the time and made it far less daunting than it would have otherwise been.

A few interesting things did happen however. We saw a massive pile of mulch in the parking lot (WOW!), I saw a poodle painted to look like a giraffe (What?), and we played Wii bowling on Jacob’s phone (How?).

Overall, the experience was easier than expected and I cannot wait to get into the heart of what Seoul has to offer!