Advertisement
Published: October 1st 2014
Edit Blog Post
Condor Airlines: Is it real? Or is this an elaborate hoax that my brother Neil set up and paid all of these people to be a part of some show that leads me to believe that I am going on a trip. Yes, I booked the flight myself and yes, I was weary of the fact that I had to Wikipedia Condor Airlines (because as Alex says, it's such a credible, free entry news website. Again, Neil could be in on this.) Rachel Googled it on our way to the airport, two out of five stars... It could be worse. It could be "did not return any results." Well, it turned out to be just dandy. Well done Germans, well done.
Saying goodbyeto Alex, Ali and Rachel was rough. Not as many tears as I had pictured and not as much mascara as I had pictured having to recover in the bathroom mirror later on, but still enough to remind me of the that the strings on my heart had been tugged pretty hard. Saying goodbye to Rachel brought out the little voice that I was looking for, "Stay strong Lilly, you've got this, you've got this, Rachel is tough, she knows just as much as you do that you've got it in you." Big hugs and a $20 bill to "do something that you would never normally do." Challenge accepted m'lady. Saying goodbye to Ali, hell, she's your oldest sister. The one who has put up with my crap since day one, the one who has pushed you through tough love to never give up but belives in you with every ounce of her being and here you are saying goodbye to her for something you (sadly at my age) finally did on your own. A huge hug and a true whisper of thankfulness for her support in her ear, a kiss and a look of that overall "I love you" look that only Ali can give. Then onto Alex, they little brother that could. Lexington Concord. The guy that I waited for to make sure that he was 100% better and I would wait on him again. It wasn't easy to say goodbye, because for obvious reasons, those words are stupid. It was hard for me, it was a long hug and of course, a great deal of encouragement the type of tough love that dad would have given me if he had been there... And I appreciated and needed that more than he knew.
I walked away and down the corral of the switchbacks of security. Not even four steps in, I turned right around and ran back, right into Ali's arms without hesitation. It was a split second of " LILLY, What the hell are you doing?!" She quickly hugged me and whispered in my ear, " you're almost 30..." Touché, sister. Touché. I laughed one last laugh with them as she shared the comment and turned back and this time took that walk through the many empty switchbacks of the security line, head down, clutching the passport tightly in hand that I knew I'd be holding for so many months to come. I was last in line which made it awkward, yet comforting that my family was in full view while I walked on and through to my adventure. As I shed tears, the woman in front of me inquired of my story while we shed ourselves of the ridiculous amounts of TSA restrictions. (But hey, if you want to take accessories with you while backpacking, you can't whinE about how long it takes or how many buckets you need...) As I blotted my face with the tissue the the TSA worker gave me with a smile of condolences, I looked back to see my family crying all the while telling the woman my story who turned to me before walking through the detector and said, "say this goodbye, go cry it out at the terminal and on the plane and then you can realize that the journey you're about to embark on, most people would kill to be so fortunate to experience. Go live it up for us who can't." She wished me the best and carried on and to my surprise the good looking, well dressed hipster in front of us who was taking his sweet time putting back on all his accessories, had over heard us. He looked up from tying his pretty little shoe and said, "She's right. You're luckier than most. Go enjoy it." So I refuse to fail these strangers and the rest of you!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.065s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0389s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb