Date: 2014-04-14
To: Nothing ever goes the way we planned it
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Flight to Atlanta by way of Chicago: 7:50 AMTime my mom and I got to the airport: 6:35 AMTime we thought was good to hang around until: 7:10 AMFinally getting through security check on a short-staffed busy day: 7:47 AMFinding out I missed my flight: 7:48 AMCurrent time in Newark Airport: 5:31 PMWhat a day this has been and who knows what's to come. My mom and I got caught up in our emotional goodbye and just wanted to spend more time with each other. We didn't really think about security taking awhile since the first line looked fine. Well, it took quite some time. At one point, I heard a man saying he thinks he's going to miss his flight because it leaves in 25 minutes. I asked if he was going on the 7:50 to Chicago as well and he was. He was a couple people ahead but we ended up at the gate together only to get turned away. The plane already left. We were crushed. The next flight wasn't until 12:05 so we got put on standby. He was 3rd in line and I somehow got 7th right after him. Regardless, the people from the Hiker Hostel were doing their group pick up at 4:45. I wouldn't get there until 6:45 if I made it on. I was even more crushed.    We headed over to the bar where my new friend in sorrow, Kashif, was even more saddened to learn that they don't serve alcohol until 9. We hung out for awhile anyway, talking and lamenting. He's originally from Staten Island and was here for a friend's wedding but didn't want to go back to Chicago last night. He's a statistician there but he's leaving in a few months to start his PhD at Columbia. We were glad we had each other to complain to and keep company so we wouldn't go so crazy. However, he was able to get on the flight and I was not, but I wasn't surprised. That did put me higher on the standby list for the next flight though at 4.    I called the Hiker Hostel to let them know what happened and they gave me two options: I can try to find a shuttle service to bring me to the hostel tonight (setback of probably $140 or so) or they can pick me up tomorrow and move my stay to that night since they have one bunk left. I took them up on the second option but was soon feeling pretty bummed out. Or more bummed out. I would be starting a day later than planned. It doesn't really sound so bad as I type it out now but it felt like such a blow and caused conflict in my head. I could try to get a ride to Springer Mountain when I arrive tonight and just sleep out there and start in the morning. But I thought about the expense and risk. And in my head I was thinking, am I using the excuse of not wanting to spend money to avoid starting another day? Am I just wanting to stay at the hostel to have one more cushy night? I suppose that was sort of the reason I decided to stick with the plan of staying with them tomorrow. I got 2 hours of sleep last night. I'm not great at sleeping on planes or in airports which I'll have to do tonight. It probably wouldn't have been the best idea to start on a severe lack of sleep.    When I took a moment to step back and look at everything that happened, I realized I wasn't wanting to accept that my plan that I had in my head for so long wasn't going to go the way I thought. I had to stop trying so hard to fix it and getting anxious about it and just accept that the plans changed and I'm starting a day later than I was supposed to. When things don't go as planned, it's easy to forget that change is the only constant. All you can do is adapt and accept it. I'm sure I'll be doing that fairly often on the AT. Finally leaving on a plane to Chicago: 6:50 PMTransfer to Atlanta: We'll see how that goes...