A Little About Me

 The planning, the waiting, the packing....for me, it is half the fun of the trip.  I had waited years for my Eat, Pray, Love moment in Bali.  It was seriously the longest journey of my life.  But a fun one it was!  As a flight attendant flying standby, I have to plan my trips with many contingencies.  "What if" is a major part of my travel plans.  I flew from BNA to LAX and got a day hotel at the Hilton LAX Airport.  The flight to Sydney wasn't until late that night, and I had arrived at LAX around 9am.  It was nice to sleep, rest, take a shower and be refreshed for the long haul to Sydney.  I had a friend and her husband who work for another airline going with me, and we were all flying through Sydney.  We chose to avoid flying through Asia due to flight schedules and to avoid having to get a transit visa.  Because we were spending a day in Sydney, we did have to get a visa for Australia, but they make it an easy electronic visa, and it only costs about $25.  

I boarded my flight in coach later that night, but surprisingly had the row to myself which as a welcomed treat.  Our two flights landed in Sydney within an hour of each other.  We were tired and needed a shower!  Paige had a friend who came to pick us up, took us to her house for a quick shower and then out to breakfast for some delicious, fresh squeezed juice and avocado toast.  A healthy Australian staple.  We took the boat across the harbor to Circular Quay, where we got off to explore Sydney.  I had been to Sydney a few years prior so was familiar with the basics-the lay of the land.  We wandered around the harbor, ogled at the Sydney Opera House, had a beer at the Opera Bar (the "see and be seen" place in Sydney) and wandered around an area across the harbor called The Rocks.  As convincing as I am, I couldn't talk Jason into a kangaroo burger, as I had tried on my previous trip to Sydney in 2015. We found ourselves at Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub, for a pint and some good music.  

We were knackered and our eyes were dark and squity at this point, so we went back to the hotel to crash.  We booked a fairly central, decently priced night at 57 Hotel.  It was basic, but we didn't need much for one night.  It was centrally located and we felt very safe!  We had a quick bowl of ramen before heading up to the hotel for a long nights rest.  Ready for another day of flying....two days in and not even to Indonesia yet!!!