Today was the first day of my adventures traveling around Sound America. It was the day I left the UK and went to New York City on the first stage of my journey. Except that it wasn’t.

Today was the day that I discovered my ESTA visa has expired and I needed to get a new one. Today was the day that it took too long for the ESTA visa to come through and I missed my flight.

From there I spent about 3 hours at the airport trying to figure out how to get to the first stage of my adventure. The airline I had booked my ticket through couldn’t offer me any other flight until the 12th of April. No bueno! I would already be done with New York by then and be in Miami, rollerblading by the beach and drinking at juice bars (I actually have no idea if this is what happens in Miami, but this is the image I have in my head for that week). My travel insurance doesn’t cover passport or visa issues, so I had to sort it out myself. Booking a new flight seemed to be around £550-£600 pounds, so I had to decide if that was really the best use of my money or would it be better to skip New York completely, try and recoup some pennies from my Airbnb and NYC to Miami flight and book a cheaper flight to Miami in a few days? Maybe I could make it to New York on my way home instead.

A Stroke Of Good Luck!

Then, suddenly, an incredible flight came up to New York from Dublin. Just £200-something pounds and a cheap Ryanair connection from Edinburgh to Ireland. I made a quick decision to take that one and was filling in the form when suddenly the page glitched. My free 2 hours of airport WiFi had just expired! The page refreshed and I lost all hope. Every other time this happens, those amazing, cheap flights tend to disappear. But instead, the price dropped by about £100. I now had a flight to New York, tomorrow, for £126. What the…??

Needless to say, I jumped on that and prayed to all listening deities that the signal heald out. Phewf! Then I tried to book the £20 Ryanair flight. This causes a bit of confusion because I had to check in a bag, but the only option was to add a baggage charge for a 10kg bag and my bag is 17kg. Luckily, I was in an airport surrounded by Ryanair check in desks, so I had someone to ask about how to do it. That’s when the page refreshed and, you guessed it, the £20 flight vanished. Still, there was another one, slightly more expensive, that would get me to Dublin on time, so my friend went ahead and started booking that for me. At the moment of pressing the pay button, the phone died. Aaaargh! So, start again. Again.

Time To Reflect Didn’t Help

Finally, my visa was approved and all new flights were booked. Pancakes had been consumed and it was time to return to Edinburgh for an extra day. I actually had a really nice day in Edinburgh. It was like a bonus day to visit my favourite places one last time and say goodbye to them properly. But as the night has drawn in and bedtime has gotten closer and closer for my 5:00am start tomorrow for leaving the country, take 2, I’ve become more and more unsettled. Having this extra day in Edinburgh has been lovely, but it’s also reminded me off all the things that I’m leaving behind and it saddened me to look around me and think that I don’t belong here anymore. I was ready to leave this morning. I had done all the things that had to be done and I was ready to face the next thing. To start the adventure. Instead, I’ve had time to think about the adventure and it’s scary.

Tomorrow, I have to get myself to the airport and then to another country with more luggage than I’ve ever carried before. I had a trial run today so I know that I can manage the bag, but I hate carrying things. Having this backpack makes me feel clumsy. I have to go alone tomorrow whereas today I had a friend come to see me off. I have to get across New York City from a more remote airport on my own. Then after that, I’m going to Argentina, where I don’t even speak Spanish. How am I going to get out of the airport? I always find that really stressful, but usually there is someone with me and we figure it out together. I’ve travelled loads, but never truly alone. I’ve always had a friend with me or else I’ve been meeting someone when I get there. This time it’s just me. And while I really do believe that I am perfectly capable – often I am the one organising the other person with me – I still don’t have any actual proof of that.

Although, as I write that, I am thinking of today and how well I handled this. I didn’t get upset or panic. I accepted the situation in front of me found a solution to the problem I had found myself in. So I guess I can do it. I suppose the difference is that it happened on home turf, where I’m comfortable and safe. I know how things work here. Can it really be so different abroad though?

I’ve had too much time today to think of all the what ifs. Tomorrow is another day though. Day 1 of Adventures, take 2. I want to be brave and strong and all the things you all believe that I am, so I am going to go in the morning with a deep breath and determination and get myself to New York. Do or die.