No Day But Today

Even after 3 hours at the airport, we still took off in darkness.

I can't believe it, but my trip is finally here.  I had a great last evening in Phoenix with my book club friends.  Stacey and Steven graciously hosted a special seder to mark the first day of Passover, and I always appreciate their willingness to share their traditions.  I'm not sure any of my contributions to the book discussion made any sense, as I was in an altered state of anxiety-induced consciousness.  But it was a wonderful way to be sent off into the biggest adventure I've tackled in my life in a very long time.

Just a word of warning : do not trust the Super Shuttle math at all times, especially when your flight leaves at 5am.  My "window" was supposed to be 2:30-2:45am, but I live 5 minutes from the airport.  My driver was bored (imagine that - it was the middle of the night), and arrived a full 10 minutes early.  He was knocking on my door at 2:20am.  I made him wait (I needed every single minute) but when we did arrive at the airport, it was 2:40 and no one was working yet.  

Public service: the United counter crew doesn't start working until after 3am

I spent a lovely 3 hours at the airport, pining for coffee, and making friends with my fellow passengers.  After a late arriving crew and some mechanical problems, we left about an hour late.  I'm now typing this up in the tranquil confines of the United Club in the International Terminal at the San Francisco Airport.

I had a interesting experience on the flight, one my parents would no doubt attribute to God's grace.  I fell asleep listening to my iPod on shuffle, and after an hour or so I woke up to the rousing RENT finale.  As I became conscious the chorus rang through my brain:  "There's only this - forget regret or life is yours to miss - no other road, no other way - no day but today."  Those words struck me to the very core of my being - I tried very hard to hold back the tears that immediately sprang to my eyes.  I've been so worried about whether or not this was the right choice; whether or not I could travel across the world on my own.  But progress is never made without taking risk, and when would I ever do this, if not today.

So I'm leaving soon (in 3 hours) heading to Beijing, and as I do so, I am filled with gratitude for the love, support, encouragement I've received from my colleagues, friends and family.  Several of them even made kiva-like investments to support me as I equipped myself with supplies and entertainment.  I could never tackle this without all of you.