Got my bag packed and finally got my bank card the day before leaving. I think I succeeded in my goal of packing light, as you can see by my regular size backpack that weighs only 11 pounds, including laptop and camera. Not a bad load for a trip that could be upwards of 3 months. (Take note ladies)

I spent the night before with Matt Hager and Nick Miller (who drove up to the Bay Area from San Diego) just chillin’ by the fire. I went home at 4am to drive to the airport.

My plan was to be totally sleep deprived when I got on the plane so that I’d be forced to sleep during the flight. Apparently it was a bad plan. I fell asleep in the terminal at SFO and nearly missed my first flight, but that only got me 40 minutes of sleep. Turns out I can’t sleep on the flights to D.C. or London, which puts me at Natasha’s house in London at the tail end of a 36 hour stretch with only a 40-minute nap. You might say I was tired.

The immigration checkpoint at London’s Heathrow Airport didn’t go too well either. They weren’t keen on my lack of plans beyond “Hang out in London for a couple days then fly to Barcelona and go run with some bulls.” Apparently you need better reasons to visit the UK than to “hang out.” After I convinced them to stamp my passport I got stopped again on my way out of the airport and was baraged with a bunch of questions.

I took the tube (pronounced “chioob”) towards Wimbledon, walked a few blocks, and made it to a place I could sleep. Despite the hiccups, the trip was relatively painless.

Next post: London!