Traveling to SAS - let the adventure begin!

I began my trek to San Diego from Anguilla two days before getting on the boat. My day started as I woke up during our sail from Anguilla to Saint Martin on a boat called Far Niente. Once anchored in Marigot, Saint Martin I said goodbye to my friends, family, and the crew as I took a short dingy ride to the dock to head to the airport. After waiting for a taxi, I ended up joining another group of people also headed to the airport for the 30 minute drive. Once there, I lugged my two checked duffle bags and my two carry on bags into the airport which was only half standing even months after the devastating hurricane. Seeing this destruction was humbling and I wish I had taken a moment to really take it in but nevertheless, I ran though the line and made my way through immigration and towards security.  Words cannot explain how long the security line was. 45 minutes later, I was still a few dozen people from the metal detectors and the boarding time on my plane ticket had come and gone. In fact, I had about 20 minutes until the plane was supposed to take off - to say I was stressed was an understatement. Thankfully I made it to the gate and on the plane before the doors closed. I had a four and a half hour plane ride to Atlanta, Georgia during which I watched Bad Moms, Crazy Rich Asians, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. All great shows - 10/10 recommend - Breakfast at Tiffany's is a classic that everyone just has to see. Ok so clearly I had a very relaxing flight, but I must say getting off the plane, grabbing my bags, and getting to my next flight was a hassle. Once I got off the plane, I had to go through immigration - which I zipped through - and then headed for baggage claim where I complied my four bags and made my way to customs before dropping my bags at a new bag drop and heading back through security. After, I happily made my way through the Atlanta tram and airport before sitting down for 10 minutes and boarding yet another plane. I fired off a few quick texts letting everyone know I was alive and headed for SAN DIEGO!! After having limited wifi and service for almost two weeks, my phone was blowing up, yet surprisingly I had no desire to scroll through Instagram and Twitter. Rather I found myself scrolling to find a good movie which led me to watch three movies including Letters to Juliet (shoutout to my F305 for watching the trailer thirty times in the last month) and the Longest Ride. 

I landed in San Diego early - not to worry though because Melissa still got to the airport before my checked bags came. I landed around 11pm and the airport was almost deserted - something which surprised me since I flew in on a bigger plane.  Eventually I saw Melissa (Hi Mel I miss ya), and ran to hug her as everyone from my flight watched as we screamed and said our hellos. 

We made our way to her apartment, picking up a burrito on the way, to get ready for bed. The next day we woke up ready to see the MV World Odyssey. We ran some errands and did some last minute snack shopping before taking a walk on the pier to find my new home. I must admit Melissa pumped me up a for my semester a lot - by the time we found the ship I was more than pumped for the next four months ahead of me.  The ship was smaller than I thought it would be. It was surrounded by students and families taking selfies and pictures. Naturally, Melissa and I sent selfies to everyone and took some pictures for my mems - you can check these out and so many more under the gallery link at the top of my page :) After staring at the ship and all its beauty we continued to walk the pier and met up with some other SASers. Finally we made our way to the Hotel where we checked in and proceeded to unpack and repack all my bags so that I could fit all the snacks we bought. My last meal was Thai food - who is surprised?? The next morning I woke up bright and early - minus the bright part because it was still pitch black. I gather my stuff, said good bye to Melissa, and made my way to the busses to head to Ensenada, Mexico.  Once on the bus, we drove to the border; this is where I met my first friend, Myla. Border control in Mexico was empty and we zipped through with our carry on bags - our checked bags went in a big truck and met us at the port. The country side and coast in Mexico was beautiful. Myla and I stared in awe at the blue ocean and sky as well as the mountains in the distance. The ride through Baja was somewhat short. As we made our way down the road to the port we all saw the ship and cheered! It was all very exciting. We each disembarked from the bus, went through security where there was a metal detector and men in uniform with guns, handed in our passports, and boarded the MV World Odyssey. We were HOME!

First time seeing the MV World Odyssey!!!