In Transit

So... I'm in Iceland now! It's been almost a week since this whole process has started, so I figured now is a good time to reflect...

To save on money and time, my parents and I decided it would be best if we flew to Boston and waited overnight in the airport for my flight into Reykjavik. In theory, this was a good plan and I would be willing to do it again. However, there were a couple complications that I would seek to consider and plan for better next time. Namely:

1) Food. I recently discovered that I am allergic to wheat! This immediately prevents me from eating anything of substance. :P Anything with wheat flour is out: hamburger buns, pizza crust, donuts, pastries, breaded chicken, pretzels... you get the idea. Finding cheap food in an airport is like trying to find the Titanic on Mars. Trying to find cheap food that doesn't have any wheat on it.... Okay, stop laughing. I'm being serious here!

2) Sleeping. For some reason that only God knows I bet, the Boston/Logan airport doesn't have chairs without armrests. Not. Conducive. To. Sleeping. Which... I guess is good... because there were other people with the same idea as us, and then a couple shady characters... So you don't want to be completely asleep, in order to feel your backpack suddenly go missing, but I still had another day and night (and day) of travelling ahead of me. Be sure to get a good nights rest the night before you head out at the very least.

3) Airport security. Yes, collective groan indeed. Compared to what I wanted to bring, I packed very lightly, and as a way to cut down on luggage I decided that I would wear layers and pack travel sized toiletries instead of packing full-scale in my carry-on. This was a bittersweet decision, and though it helped immensely when I got to campus, it bogged me down quite a bit in the security lane. With all the many restrictions, I had three of those gray buckets, as well as my bag. It wasn't as time consuming as say the couple with three kids who haven't been to the airport in the last ten years, but it was time enough.

My experience in the Reykjavik airport went much the same way. As soon as I got off the plane we were sent through security and customs, of course, but because my flight didn't get in until midnight and the airport is 45 minutes out of town, I once again opted to just stay in the airport overnight. In Boston I had my dad to keep me company, and the incredibly annoying floor cleaning man who was getting off on waking everyone up, but in Iceland it was just me. Luckily I found a place near the bathroom where a couple of other people were staying and there was an outlet so I could use my computer, but if I ever do this again... I will definitely get a hotel room (airport security was fervent about no sleeping on the floor). Come Monday morning, after only dozing for a handful of minutes between the two previous nights, I was desperate for a big, warm, comfy bed.

But regardless, I managed to find the currency exchange, drink a Red Bull, collect a few maps, get on the right bus and make it safely to campus.