After sleeping very peacefully, my alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. As I got ready for the long plane ride ahead of me, Courtney called from one of the other rooms and said we should meet in the lobby at 5:15 to be on the safe side. Josie met up with us too. We took the shuttle back to the international gate of the airport, only to find it completely empty. It was eerie considering how busy it had just been the evening before and because we were told specifically by t...

Today was the big day! Today was the day that Courtney, Candice, Ali, Lauren, Chelsea and I were making the trip all the way to Australia- farther than any of us have ever been. Our flight from Philadelphia airport was departing at 12:20 P.M. so I needed to arrive by 9:20 A.M. to ensure enough time to get through the check-in process. I said good-bye to Trevor the night before since he had school early in the morning. I was up at 6 to run around and do any last m...