This morning, I woke up at 5am with excitement and also a new crippling fear of oversleeping. I did most of my packing when I woke up and I also used the early morning time to take my luggage down early. Just imaging all of us trying to cram into the elevator with our bags also helped jolt me out of bed. After packing and getting ready, I took my luggage down and secured it in the luggage room before having my final Ibis breakfast. I wanted to make sure I had a good amount of time to savor my last bites of this breakfast buffet. I’ve had some interesting meals being here, but one food I never took for granted was the hotel breakfast and especially the coffee machine. I’m not even a coffee person, but I found myself going down earlier and earlier to make sure I had time to sit and slowly enjoy my morning coffee. Once we headed on the bus to the Munich airport, I started re-reading my book and I continued listening to my ‘Germany’ playlist. Last summer when I studied abroad in Ireland, I made a playlist of all the music I listened to during that time to allow myself to make memories attached to the songs. Now, I enjoy listening to my travel playlists because they take me back to previous trips and help me revive old memories. I look forward to revisiting the music I listened to during this trip and unlocking hidden memories later on.
Something unique about the airport I took note of is the high level of security. We had to show our passport to get scanned in and out the gate each time we left. Once we arrived at the airport, I couldn’t wait to get settled on the flight to sleep. I somehow have a easier time falling asleep on flights compared to my own bed. With my travel pillow, 2 jackets, and noise cancelling headphones I was more than ready to sleep for most of the flight. The 9 hours flew by and I’m now grateful that I didn’t have access to wifi the entire time because I was able to reflect on the trip and every mistake I’ve ever made in my life. Staying busy with school and work, I do not allow myself to have extended amounts of time being unplugged and alone with my thoughts. I arrived at some great revelations as I let the existential thoughts creep in.
Once we got off our first flight, the stress started to hit as we were on a tight schedule with long lines at customs and a short layover. Luckily after waiting at customs for a majority of the layover, the security line was quick. We still had time to spare to get food and regroup before our second flight to Pittsburgh. At first I was regretting not changing my flight because I live only 4 hours away from D.C, but my dad met me in Pittsburgh to help me move out of my apartment. So, after we landed in Pittsburgh and said our final goodbyes, I had another 10 hour road trip back to North Carolina. I was almost more excited to get my Chipotle bowl than my dad! Words cannot describe the level of peace I felt taking my first bite of Chipotle after such a long travel day, everything felt right in that moment.
