I think the hardest part of travelling is the few days before you leave; filled with anxiety, apprehension, stress and excitement.

No matter how many trips I go on, I always get these feelings.

For the past year all I have wanted to do was to get out of my comfort zone and travel, but suddenly my cosy bush haven looks like the best and only place to be. But then you’re boarding the plane and all those emotions disappear and you’re filled with new ones.

The feelings you get then are what it’s all about; the feeling like your life is about to change. Because no matter how big or small your trip is, no matter where it is or what your budget is, something will shift. OK, super cheesy but I guess this blog will show this, or else I’ll just tell you all the stories of my travels... starting now!

We started our trip with a stopover in Sydney; at first I was apprehensive about going to the big smoke. But after a day of taking shelter from hail-stones, seeing incredible storm clouds and lightning over a picturesque city skyline, walking through a shopping mall filled with bikini clad locals, watching turbulent waves crash as the sky turned from blue to yellow to black, and finally drinking wine in a beach bar surrounded by friends, I was in love with Sydney. The holiday was off to a good start.

We hadn’t taken the hellish flight yet.

We had it all planned out, get on the plane at 9.50am, stay up for about 7 hours watching movies and drinking free booze then sleep for the next 6 hours… Good luck.

The plane ride was hard to say the least, how is one to sleep when you have only been awake for a few hours? Wine just gave me a headache and there was no way I could spread out comfortably over two seats – I know I was pretty lucky, poor Tom was squashed into one. But that wasn’t even the hardest part – we had a 7 hour stopover in LAX, yippee!

By the time the plane landed and we were beyond buggered, and ready for a good nights sleep. Only problem - it was 7am local time and the airport was opening. We wandered about aimlessly, wide-eyed and awe-struck by the airport and all the American people, like we’d been dropped into a movie (I think it was fatigue).

Coffee. That was my only solution.

In the line for the coffee I recognized two people, a girl with blonde dreadlocks and a guy with dark hair. I was convinced they were from Tassie, but seriously, what are the chances? In the end it was bugging me too much so I asked and guess what… Tassie! Jess and James were also flying to Mexico but heading straight for the Yucatan to go diving. After some excited conversation and some staring into space we seated ourselves at or gates and didn’t move for the next few hours as we watched thousands of people wait, board, land, wait, talk, eat, walk and wait.

Finally it was time for us to board the next leg; LAX to Mexico City, after a few attempts of shuteye (so American now) there was no way I was getting any sleep. When we finally landed in Mexico we had more waiting (oh boy) but in line with an excited American guy who gushed over as about the 2000 Sydney Olympics, at least he kept me awake!

As we stepped out of the terminal and into the hot Mexican air we were suddenly alive with excitement. Our taxi trip was insane, we watched the city zoom by as the driver sped through the busy streets at 80km/hr, running red lights, overtaking cars and introducing us to the chaotic Mexican traffic.

One of the many bizarre parts of travelling is the rapid change, the day before you were in organized, peaceful Australia and then suddenly you’re in busy, colourful Mexico. Suddenly your checking into a hostel after 30 hours of no sleep, you’re opening up windows to the noisy Mexican night and breathing in the hot, muggy Mexican air. Then you’re fast asleep… finally!

More to come…