27hours and 45 minutes later - I have arrived in Brisbane!

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G'day Mates!

Well, I made it safe and sound to my destination of Brisbane, Australia! Total travel time (with flights and connections): 27h and 45m. Total distance travelled: 10, 171 miles (16,369 Km). Time zones crossed: way too many based on the amount of jet lag I'm experiencing! I am 14 hours ahead of everyone at home, 15 once you all have daylight savings time.

The flight was ok, other than being ridiculously long, of course! Saying goodbye at the airport was tough for me (I instructed Dad to leave his stuff around the house just so mom doesn't notice my absence so much) and I think we were all excited, just a bit nervous (well, I definitely was!). I flew from Buffalo to Chicago, then Chicago to Los Angeles, arrived in LA with little time to spare and was scooted off in one of those little carts to catch my next flight to Sydney!(you know, the annoying carts that are always beeping at you when you're walking through an airport? My driver even yelled at people to "Move on over" - now that's efficiency.

Once we boarded at LA, it was time to settle in and pretend that I was unaware of just how long I was going to have to stay in that seat! I had some friendly seatmates, however I unfortunately sat in the middle. So when one had to get up to pee, we ALL got up to go. Unfortunately for us (and as she informed us - several times) she only had one kidney... so the breaks were fairly frequent! I had a hard time sleeping, as we were across from the kitchen area and so the lights were on the whole time. I'm going to have to invest in one of those eye masks for the way home! Once I arrived in Sydney, the worst was over and I started to get excited. I cleared customs, gathered my luggage, found the domestic flight check in counter, rechecked everything, and headed over to the domestic terminal. Once there, things were quiet! Lots of business commuters on my next flight from Sydney to Brisbane, oh, and how can I forget a cheerleading team! They were like, totally E-X-C-I-T-E-D for their upcoming competition!

My new Aussie roomie Jodi picked me up from the airport without a hitch, and was surprised at how lively I seemed! (I think I was just so excited to finally get off of the airplane!) We made it to our unit, and then I had some time to unwind and unpack! This didn't last long, until I found my wonderful new bed and crashed!

I spent my first day sleeping, and then sleeping some more! I know, I know, try to tame it down a little!

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