Hello from Heathrow! And the travels of 2008 in review . . .

December 31st, 2008 7:45am Heathrow, London

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist.

I feel as if the entirety of the past year has been a lesson in this message from The Alchemist. Again and again this year I have decided what I want and have worked towards it successfully. I feel so blessed to have had such a fantastic 2008, and I have no idea how 2009 could ever top it!

First a quick sum-up of the last 24 hours or so . . .


For a major international airport, things certainly were dead last night in Heathrow Terminal 3. Apparently all of Heathrow shuts down at midnight and there is an 11:30pm landing curfew for arriving planes. While it is a very civilized way to run a business, it seems like a rather odd way to run such a major airport.

Things were open and bustling this morning when I arrived just past 6am on the shuttle from the Heathrow Lodge Hotel. While I had hoped to sleep a bit later since my British Airways flight to Istanbul doesn’t depart until 9:45am, all the later shuttles from the motel were booked when I checked in at 1am last night. The plane from Chicago arrived just under curfew into Heathrow . . . an hour later than expected because there were some last minute repairs done to our flaps (better to have things repaired than not, I think). The motel was a bit on the dirty and dodgy side, but it was very cheap and I did manage to sleep for about three hours.

British Airways check-in was blessedly quick and easy with a personal attendant who did everything for me. Such a difference from the madhouse that Laguardia was at 6am yesterday (*shiver*). In a couple of hours I fly to Istanbul, and I am growing more and more excited by the minute.

Yesterday I realized that since I will arrive in Istanbul today (December 31st) it will in fact be the 17th country I will have been in during 2008 (including the US). Last year on this date I was in County Clare, Ireland with my parents, Nick and Eric. That trip was an amazing way to start 2008, and I can't imagine a better way to finish it than by visiting a country I have never been to.

An attempt to quantify the level of spectacularness that was 2008:
17 countries
26 (+?) airports
15 major world cities (NYC, DC, Galway, Lima, Buenos Aires, Auckland, Canberra, Florence, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Stockholm, Paris, Reykjavik, Istanbul)
Countless new friends
14 hours of graduate school courses completed


I can't help but feel ridiculously blessed and happy. What has made this year possible?

A loving and supportive family.
A belief that the universe is constantly conspiring with me towards my dreams and the greater good.
A general avoidance of guilt, fear and worry whenever possible (its not like they really help anything).
Regular attempts to give back to the universe.
A whole lot of prayer.




Hopefully I will be blogging again soon in Istanbul.

A Happy New Year to all!!

Remember: Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny.

Love,
Anna

And She's Off . . .

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
~ Goethe ~

December 29th, 2008.

I should be asleep but I'm not quite yet . . . tomorrow in the early morning I head out on my January adventure. First a quick overnight near Heathrow followed by two and a half days in Istanbul. On January 3rd I will arrive in Baku, Azerbaijan where I have an internship for the month. I'll be returning to the states on February 1st!

Stay tuned for pictures and travel tales!

"Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, 'I'll do nothing until I can be sure.' Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean!" – Rumi

(unless you are in charge of the financial future of the global market . . . )