Not so ready for takeoff...

4 hours early? Seriously? What is one to do arriving at the airport the requested 4 hours before departure of an international flight? Only thing on my mind is curling up next to a nice piece of wall for a nap. Why not? I’ve slept at an outdoor Italian train station in the pouring rain before. A piece of carpet is luxury! But no, anyone who knows me knows that I live at hurricane speed, yet always behind schedule with a million things on my to-do list. So after arriving at the Orlando airport at 5:35pm, I checked my luggage, passed security, took the shuttle to my gate, ordered a coffee and created an “office” in a corner all by 6:05pm. Did I set a world-record?

Well, here I am. My backpack exploded into a makeshift desk to do all those last minute travel details like pay bills, call AT&T about freezing phone plan, schedule to move last of my house furniture, make arrangements for someone to sell my Acura and charge every apple product I own for the long flight. Did I mention I don’t have any Argentinean pesos either? No time to order money from the bank when I was vacationing in California the 2 weeks prior. Most people use the expression “jumping in feet first”, but I liken this foreign travel to being “pushed in head first”. Totally unprepared. When people ask me what I know about Argentina my typical response is “a friend told me to go to Iguazu Falls and I bought a travel guide. I’ll know whatever the book tells me I guess." There’s no nicknaming me “Frommer’s” this trip!

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Most pleasant international flight this past year! Longest leg was only 9 hours! No crying babies, window seat to lean on, I bought one of those cheesy neck pillows so my head doesn’t bob when dozing off and I had my first Spanish review lesson watching “Entrenar a tu dragon” (How To Train Your Dragon). Wow I need to work on my Spanish skills.

Also crazy that Americans, Canadians and Britains have to pay a special tax of “reciprocidad”. $140 US dollars! Afterwards they tell you it’s okay because that tax is good for 10 years. Is that motivation to skip out on visiting other countries of the world and opt for round 2 of Argentina in the future? Everyone speaking Spanish at the Miami airport and on the flight over is beginning to mess with my brain. I get confused in what language I’m thinking and what language I want to speak. I end up saying something like “si, yo want jugo de oranges” to the stewardess.

Let’s hope my 2 suitcases make it here with that insanely early check in requirement. Time to go see my living arrangements…hmmm, it’s winter here with 55 degree weather. I’ll take that over 100 degree humidified Florida.