They say the journey begins in the planning. So I should probably give you a little foreword to my trip. I’m going on this trip to Australia and New Zealand primarily to spend Christmas with my family in Australia and well New Zealand is just for a bit of an adventure!

The lead up to this trip has been a bit hectic as I haven’t really planned anything and for me this is a huge deal. I like to make an itinerary for most trips always knowing exactly where I’m going but the idea with this trip is just to be a little freer and to let the adventure take me. Despite wanting to be more relaxed about this trip I think that possibly the stress just got to me and it’s funny what stress can do to our bodies.

I slept terribly the night before the trip and woke up feeling nauseous, nervous an uneasy. I’m not sure what but there’s something about this trip which feels different to every other trip I’ve undergone. After saying a heartwarming goodbye to my mum, I boarded my flight to Helsinki and it was possibly one of the best flights I’ve ever had. I slept the whole duration and when I woke up I had a pleasant conversation with a lady who’s dad was a civil engineer and had grown up in the Caribbean. I felt like I was looking into a mirror of the future.

After a very short stopover in Helsinki I then caught my plane to Osaka, Japan. I cannot say the same for this flight as the one previous. Not only was the food inedible but I really struggled to sleep and awoke myself just in time to grab a sick bag. The lady next to me was not best pleased.

The Osaka airport is out on an island in the middle of the sea and the turbulence got the best of me. However, coming in on the plane and seeing the long highway leading only from the floating airport to the mainland reminded me so much of the road my brother had wished he could build between Grand Turk and Reading School to see his brothers. Despite holding my head between my legs I couldn’t help but smile.