This post is (as the other ones have been) a bit late. It is my recollection of the details the goodbyes and the journey of the day I had getting to my flight for Australia from Florence.
Read on if you like...
Departure day started at 7:00AM, too early for my liking being that my flight didn't leave until 3 o'clock out of Charlotte. The night before in Florence, SC at my cousin's place was a family affair of packing, unpacking and repacking then weighing luggage. After all of that, I had a good phone conversation with an old coworker and good friend who had been in the same position headed to Australia only two years prior (thanks MatthRew). I probably didn't get to bed until after 1:00AM, but I was energetic from excitement. So the next morning came and I said goodbye to my mom and sister. The whole week before we spent on our first cruise to The Bahamas. It was great. Surprisingly, no tears were shed. I guess that's because we have that time spent to hold on to until I return.
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| Banana Boat |
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| Atlantis Hotel |
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| Freeport, Bahamas |
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| Uncle and I just before heading out from Columbia. |
Unfortunately, I couldn't assit my uncle in driving because his Mustang GT is a manual. Mine is an automatic, but my mom and sister used it for the day to get to the airport in Florence so that that could fly back to Cleveland. Anyway, before actually going to Charlotte, we had to stop in Columbia to take care of business that I had been trying to deal with for about three weeks prior. My efforts to get the situation handled over the phone proved to be worthless. I didn't want to have to go to USC and act ethnic, but it seemed like that is what it was going to take. Fortunately, because I have a super awesome academic advisor I was able to avoid making a scene. However, it was unnecessarily stressful and time-consuming.
After leaving Columbia it was around 12:30PM. That seems like great timing being that my flight didn't leave until 3:00PM, BUT it wasn't. I wanted to get to Charlotte early because one of my best friends, Travis, was also leaving for his study abroad experience in Spain on the same day, from the same airport and the same terminal (I know - weird coincidences are common in my life). Being that Charlotte is about an hour and a half from Columbia and his flight left at like 1:45PM I knew I wasn't going to make it. Yea, I was rather annoyed because if the issues at USC would have been handled properly as the employers assured told me they would, then I could have made it on time. Oh well.
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| Weight of one bag after removing some things |
We get to the airport around 2:00PM and park the car. Then we proceed to get all of my bags out of the car and onto the shuttle. When I walk up to the counter to check my bags, it's overweight! (I tried to tell my family that it would be the night before) Fortunately, I had a book-bag that I could transfer some things into so it worked out in the end. This period was dragged out as both my Uncle and I seemed to realized that I was actually leaving for a period of 6 months, when we're used to hanging out in Columbia at least once a month.
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| Unc and I before going through TSA |
We talked for a while and then the time had come for us to say our goodbyes. Getting up to that point couldn't have been possible without my him. He seriously is one of the most awesome people in the world and he deserves all the joys that life can offer anyone. Love him to death. Thanks for getting me to where I am today and for the assurance that you will help me get where I want to go tomorrow Unc. I don't even care how "punkish" that sounds.
Until next time,
Kyron S. Whitfield