Exchange // A comprehensive recount of the first 24hrs

Flying to Russia. Alone. For 7 months.

You can call it an adventure, for sure.

But it's a different kind of beast if you're embarking on your first ever solo flight too.

So, my first ever solo flight was a 24-hour journey on the 11th of July that took me 8 hours to Singapore, 7 hours to Dubai and another 7 hours to St Petersburg. Talk about starting small.

I want to tell you a little story about me, and my solo travel journey all the way from Brisbane to St Petersburg. And boy oh boy was it an adventure, for one reason or the other.

For starters, it was something I didn’t even think about before I actually did it. Like, 24 hours to another country wasn't a big deal until I actually made it. Only when I was waving goodbye to my family as I was descending on the escalator, did it eventually hit me. I am leaving my friends, family and home city for 7 months and the first step is to get on a plane with my huge suitcase, backpack and handbag to begin this chain of events.

The longest I had been from home and family before was two weeks when I went on a Japan trip with my friend. From that to THIS. GAH A LEAP FOR MANKIND. And until I got to my hotel in St Petersburg, I was kinda on autopilot. Or more like in survival mode.

So, in an empty airport at 12am on a Wednesday morning, I said my goodbyes to the fam, and then went through the yellow Brisbane departure gate and down the escalator. I was keeping myself remarkably composed, and suppressing the tears under the immense excitement that I was anticipating to experience.

Going through the security checks, pulling out my liquids and electronics, and then automatically going through passport control with my strained yet frowny face. Then as soon as I walked through the duty-free section, I lost it, just a little. Walking towards the gate with my leaking eyes was like a scene out of a movie. The immensity of this whole change of scenery and concept of exchange and living in another COUNTRY FOR 7 FREAKIN MONTHS kinda just dawned on me all of a sudden. What will it be like? Will I actually make friends? Will I SURVIVE IN MOTHER RUSSIA? Well, no more time to think about that eh? Boarding was called and off I went into the plane that would transport me to another continent.

7 hours later, it was in Singapore was when I realised I packed way too much stuff I didn’t need, and probably wouldn’t need for the coming months either. First aid kit? 5 notebooks? 3 tubes of my favourite pawpaw ointment, just in case? Tip of the day: cut out as many things as you can and you'll thank yourself later. You probably won't need that extra lip balm. Trust me.

Three hours later of stretching out sore limbs and sitting around in Singapore, boarding was called a second time for the passengers continuing on to Dubai. This is where it gets interesting (not in the moment, you know, totally terrifying then, but definitely a great memory in retrospect). So we're all on the plane, seat belts fastened, and the captain says that two passengers didn't board the flight, so their baggage needs to be unloaded. This takes 40 mins. When we were finally taxiing onto the runway, literally about to take off, like, the buzzing sounds were going, the captain announced that there's a medical emergency. AAAHHHHHH. We return back to the gate, the crew unloaded the passenger (and thankfully this dude didn’t have any checked-in baggage), and then until the air control cleared us for the runway taxi and take off, it took another hour. All my heart was pumping was adrenaline for the next 8 hours. I knew I had about 3 hours to get from one gate to the other in Dubai, and I was FREAKING OUT about missing the next flight. They left me like an hour to find the gate and board. But in the end, there's nothing you can do while you're in the air, so I waited it out by sleeping, eating and watching movies in between.

Almost at Dubai International, the captain announced that it was a forecasted 40 degrees and dusty at our destination. Wew. Side note: the architecture of Dubai was looking super nice from a bird's eye view tbh.

So. Dubai. When I power-walked out of the plane, I was lost for a good 20 mins before I found someone to ask where to go. Then I had to jog for another 20 minutes to the other side of the terminal where the gate was because terminal 3 of the Dubai airport is just that dang long. Imagine me jogging with a huge, hiking backpack, a red handbag, sweaty and thirsty in a musty, hot airport in which the air conditioning just doesn’t cope with the outside heat.

When I finally got to the gate, I sat down for a bit, rehydrated, and then headed to board the plane. I hand them my passport and boarding pass that was printed all the way over in Brisbane, and the dude says 'there is no ticket for you on the plane'.

HUH?!?!? WHAT YOU SAYIN?

*queue my lowkey panic attack*

So he calls some support people, has a nice 3-minute chat about how they are, and how their day is going, which is very nice of him, but really wasn't helping my situation. I was trembling at this point. Finally, he has a solution. He gave me another ticket (since the plane was half empty anyways). It all worked out. I got three seats to myself and slept wonderfully for a few hours. Another side note: the travel neck pillow is truly a lifesaving thing. I thought it was such a gimmick, but it's a game-changer, honestly.

After all this, I finally arrived in St Petersburg. I made it. Got luggage, got in a pre-ordered taxi and got to the hotel. PHEW.

Interestingly enough, I wasn’t jetlagged at all. I was actually a bit numb afterwards, like it was so surreal to be travelling for the first time by myself, and accepting that this was how it was gonna be for the next 7 months. So so weird. I just forgot to bring the jetlag with me onto the plane. I left it in 'straya.

Since that first epic solo journey, I've flown to Moscow, got on trains to and from Kazan and flew to France all by myself. And you know what, I'm proud to have accomplished these journeys. There's definitely something to it, travelling by yourself and there being only yourself to have your back, and I guess it's a lesson in self-reliance and independence, in the end. You never know what you're capable of, and if you need a 24-hour flight journey to prove it to yourself, find yourself a ticket and fly. You'll never know what you can do if you don't dive headfirst into the water. You might surprise yourself, and others while you're at it too.

I am definitely not one you would call courageous, brave or outgoing AT ALL. So to have accomplished something like this is amazing by my standards, and to be honest, it's quite addictive. I'm predicting that in the future, you won't see me sitting in one city for more than a few months ;)

I hope I've instilled in you some hope and inspiration, to try something new and to just do it. I hope you have a lovely day, and see you soon!

All the love N xx