A Rocky Start

In my previous post I referenced how traveling rarely goes smoothly, and this trip would be no exception. However, I didn't realize how quickly things would go south. My mom & dad dropped me off at O'hare and I went to the kiosks to do a self check-in. I scanned my passport, verified my information, and then a screen popped up that said "Something something something YOU NEED A VISA something something something" alright, it didn't say all those somethings but as soon as I saw "visa" I thought AH shit I'm not going on this trip. Remember the part in my other blog post where I said how obsessive of a planner I was and that I had a 15 page Google doc with all our info, I even applied and received a New Zealand visa, but it never crossed my mind that I would need one for Australia, since I would only be there for 5 days.

 I was still waiting for Sara, and I was pretty sure she didn't have a visa either. She called saying she had just arrived and I frantically told her to get over here now. While waiting for her, my gaurdian Angel, Merced, approached. He worked for Untied and could probably tell something was wrong as I stood in front of the kiosk and frantically searched on my phone to learn how the heck I could get a visa. He asked if everything was alright and I was like actually no....

He said I needed to have a visa to enter Australia, but that I could apply for one online and it usually takes 30 minutes to go through. This made me feel a little better. I was trying to figure out the website on my phone, then Sara arrived and I told her to do the same. We were hard core struggling. He then told us we could use their computers in the office in the back. He brought us back their and his co-workers helped us find the website so we could apply. We chose the expedited option which said we would get it within 30 minutes, and it only cost $30. At that point I would have blindly thrown money at whoever could have gotten us on that flight. We both applied and when we submitted the information it said they would get back to us within 11 days... 11 days!!! Ain't nobody got time for that. So we played the waiting game and thankfully we got an email about 20 minutes later with our visa info. I ran my passport again, validated my info and this time it worked!! It is crazy how the system knows who has a visa! And I'm so thankful we were able to get them quickly and that Merced came to our rescue. MERCED YOU ARE OUR SAVIOR AND I AM CONTACTING UNTIED TO PROMOTE YOU AND GIVE YOU VACATION FOREVER!!! 

So happy, so surprised we made it on the flight!

The first leg of our flight We got through security, boarded, touched down in LA, then hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan, well not a cardigan, but we did have a dream to make it to Australia... After our 6 hour layover.

Luckily, Sara had a college friend, Jason, who now lives in LA. He picked us up and took us to Manhattan beach, a cute little area on the beach with restaurants and shops. We got there right after sunset and grabbed a bite to eat. We then walked around and looked at adorable houses that we would never be able to afford. Jason drove us back to LAX and we are currently sitting at our gate waiting for our 10:40 flight. 

At the Manhattan beach pier

Ooof, we are only 2 hours ahead, and tomorrow we'll be 19 hours ahead. Our flight is around 13 hours but we arrive in Sydney on Monday the 11th at 8:45am because of the huge time difference.

Hoping to get plenty of sleep on the plane- so I'll sign off for now!

Sending smiles from LA,

Rebecca