Leave more time, always carry backup underwear, and accept help from friends

As I look out over Newark International Airport, these are the lessons I've taken from my departure from DC, which is probably about the best time to learn if I'm really going to be traveling for a year.

I could tell you a long, tedious story of why I'm in Newark instead of Oslo on the morning of July 3, but now that I'm over the stress and irritation, I'll just say that the move out of my apartment did not go as planned. After my movers showed up a very fashionable 18 hours late and spent twice as long moving out as it took me to move in, I threw my keys and forwarding address into the leasing office and sprinted to National Airport. After that, I had the once-in-a-lifetime experience (I hope) of watching my scheduled flights taking off without me from two airports in the same day.

Now enough of those boring real life troubles; I'm on my way! And already learning valuable lessons! Like I need to pack better! For example, I sincerely doubt this will be the last time I'm running to make a flight/train/camel caravan, and although I was very excited when I weighed my pack and found it came in much lighter than I expected, I've since learned that 40 pounds feels very different holding it for a minute to weigh it that it does on my back while waiting for a cab in DC in summer (weather-wise, analogous to a tropical rain forest). But more than just packing lighter, or building up some actual arm strength, I also found out that I need to pack smarter (sounds like a something from a terrible management-style seminar; "pack smarter, not lighter!"), since my luggage remains checked at the airport and I remain in the same clothes I was wearing while moving my worldly possessions into storage. Despite thinking "I should always carry spare clothes in my carry on bag", I forgot/didn't have time to implement my own wise advice.

That covers "leave more time" and "always carry backup underwear". The last lesson comes from the multiple, repeated offers to help that I turned down over the last week. I've got a great group of friends and I've enjoyed seeing every one of them over the last couple of weeks, but I've refused to take any of their very kind offers or ask for any help, except for the most minor tasks that I would probably do for a total stranger (except for mailing me a package in another country - no way I'm ending up on "Locked Up Abroad"). I've got no doubt that if I had, I would have made my flights and been drinking extremely strong coffee trying to stave off jet lag in Oslo right now. So, yeah, I can survive on my own on this trip and work it out without asking for help, but generally it's much more relaxed, efficient, and fun if I don't have to. And I am also aware it's my friends reading this right now, and you're all muttering "yeah, tell us something we don't know, dummy", but this is my way of saying I admit you're right without having to actually say it....which you probably also know.

Here's the last detail from yesterday: it's been a whirlwind few weeks before leaving with a lot of drinking with friends, wrapping up details, drinking, packing, drinking, packing, drinking, and sometimes drinking while packing. Hey, I may have just realized why I didn't pack smarter! Anyway, after running to the airport, rescheduling, grabbing dinner, and getting on a later flight, I looked out the window of the plane as we're waiting to take off, and I saw the Capital dome and the Washington monument across the Potomac. I usually love that because I think it's one of the best airport views in the world, but this time it really hit home for me that I was leaving, and after years of planning and months of talking about it and weeks of furious drunken preparations (the best kind, I've learned from Mad Men), I thought "AHHH! WAIT, I'm not ready! I don't want to go! I don't want to leave my friends!!" Needless to say, it was a passing moment of panic and mental readjustment, from now on known as "panjustment" since I'm sure it won't be the last, but it did catch me by surprise and I think helped reset my expectations that I'm not just going on another vacation. I think that's a good thing, since I think it will help me be more aware and engaged with where I am at the moment. After I leave Newark, I mean.

So, tonight it's back to the airport and a second attempt to leave the country. On to Oslo!