Day 0: Just Trying to Get There

Really, this blog post should be titled "Just Trying to Leave The USA" or "Three Days in One". My original hope was to fly to Singapore; however, with trying to get a last minute ticket, all of the flights were full. So I got a ticket to Taiwan instead to just get over to Asia. But that flight was over booked and weight constrained, so I didn't get a seat. Instead of waiting for a flight the next day, I just wanted to go. So I said where do you have guaranteed seats to today? Australia was the answer. 

So taking a step back, I left Tuesday May 9th in the afternoon for San Francisco to be able to catch the flight to Taiwan on Wednesday. I didn't want to catch a 5:30am flight Wednesday morning to get to San Fran (which would mean waking up at 2am to get to the airport), so I got a hotel room in San Fran instead.  

After landing, I checked into my hotel room, then headed out to find dinner. My hotel was near the airport and not near downtown. I thought about venturing down there; however, it was either 1:30 by public transit or $45 each way for Uber. I could have ate at the hotel restaurant; however, eating at hotels as never appealed to me. There were also not a lot of options nearby as the hotel was on this weird peninsula. There was only an expensive seafood restaurant nearby So I walked about 30min into a cute little neighborhood area and got a gyro. I picked up some snacks for my flight the next day and then got an Uber back to the hotel. I didn't feel like walking another 30min back and it was dark by then. 

The next day, my flight wasn't until 2pm. But I got up early to hit the gym before hand and got my workout in! Afterwards, I walked to a cafe nearby for a breakfast burrito and coffee. I went back to my hotel room to chill and pack before heading to the airport. 

That's when the fun began. I got to the airport around 11:45am and was through security by 12:00pm.  I waited for the flight to Taiwan, only to find out they overbooked and then were weight constrained (due to distance, weather, load, etc.), so they actually left with 5 empty seats. At this point, I had the itch and wanted to go, anywhere. So I said where do you have guaranteed seats to today? They said - "Australia". 

So now it was after 2:00pm and the Melbourne flight wasn't until 11:20pm. This meant I had 9+ hours to kill. I thought about using the time to go downtown, but again, it was 1:30 each way plus I needed 2 hours before my flight, which would have left me with only 4 hours. I also wasn't willing to spend $90 on Uber. Plus, I also had both of my backpacks and all my stuff with me. So instead, I decided to wait at the airport and chill. I got some things done, talked to family and friends, enjoyed their outdoor patio terrace (the first time I've seen this at an airport!), and got ramen for lunch and a sandwich for dinner. 

Once it was time to board my flight, I couldn't wait to fall asleep, and be there! (Anywhere!) 

The next day (or really two days later? I sort of skipped Thursday due to time zone + travel time), I woke up in Melbourne, Australia on Friday May 12th.