Troy University Athletics
Leaving on a Jet Plane
8/3/2009 6:45:00 AM | Basketball (M)
Sunday, no scratch that - it's Monday, August 3, 2009 1:52 in the AM
Good Morning to you! Today is D-Day...Departure Day, that is. August 3rd has been circled on my calendar ever since Coach Felix whispered those two electric words: "Paris, France." Well, actually it was more like "Spain and the French Riviera" originally, but plans changed. Either way, I couldn't be more excited.
Since there are no support staff (media relations and radio broadcasters, specifically) other than myself and one manager on the trip, I've gladly offered to share with you through my blog. I'm supposed to take pictures and videos in addition to writing a little about the games themselves.
Yes, we're playing games over there. Don't go thinking it's just a leisurely trip to The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. This trip is solely based on winning games!
Well, maybe it's not solely about winning games, but that's waaaay up on the list of things to do. I'll share my list of Things to Do in Europe as the week progresses.
I have charged the batteries, set aside all the cables, and brushed up on my uploading skills. I think I'm ready or at least I'm ready as I'll ever be.
I'm about three hours closer to departing with the Men's Basketball team on this proverbial trip of a lifetime. Here's hoping it will be a trip to remember and not necessarily one that I can't forget, if you get my drift. Although I'm about as pumped up as I've ever been on Christmas Eve, I have tons of reservations (and not those of the dinner kind).
First of all, I've never been overseas. That in itself is enough to get my OCD character traits/flaws super charged. I have done lots of research over the last few weeks about what to wear so as not to look like a tourist, what to expect, how not to fry electrical equipment with their crazy European electricity, what to see and do and eat, how hot or cold it'll be, how to ask where the bathroom is in French, and the list goes on and on.
Even though I think I've got it figured out, there are bound to be a few unexpected things happen. There is always something new and exciting on the road with this crew.
I recently heard somebody say that the most successful people are really good at Plan B. Well, I've got through Plans K and L, so I should be good. Right?
Along that line of thought, I packed two equally distributed suitcases just in case one got separated from the group. Being the only female in the travel crew has its advantages and disadvantages, as you might assume.
On my very first trip as an Athletic Trainer for the Men's Basketball team, my luggage was left behind in Atlanta. Now, honestly, maybe some ground crew member saw "Atlantis" and thought it meant "Atlanta." I can see how that would be confusing. Unfortunately that little mistake caused me to have to wear the same clothes for more than 24 hours and go to breakfast with no makeup on, slap dab in the middle of the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. It was not a good start...but a few hours along the Caribbean made me forget all about it.
And, just in case both bags get sent to New Zealand instead of The Netherlands, I've packed a hidden set of clothes in my carry-on...
Other than luggage details and the fact that I'm still awake at 2:20 in the morning, that's about it. It has been a busy day, by design: piano at church first thing today, basketball practice at 1:00, and football from 4:00 until around 10:00. I went home with intentions of finishing packing and getting a few hours sleep, to no avail. Here I am in the Stadium Tower watching the minutes tick-tick-tick along.
We'll be leaving Troy about the time you're drinking your first cup of morning coffee, around 5:00 a.m. If you're a late riser, we're probably getting really close to Atlanta. We'll be checking in at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and our flight to Newark is scheduled to leave around 11:00.
Other high points on today's itinerary include a four hour layover in Newark. From there, it's a sleep over with 200 of my closest friends - for the moment - in the plane as we cross the Big Water.
One can only hope for sleeping children because we'll rise and shine in Amsterdam around 7AM Netherlands Time. I'm not sure what time zone they're in, but I do know they are seven hours ahead of Central Time. I won't bother trying to figure out what time it is in the states. From here on out, I'm on Europe Time.
A two hour flight to Newark with a four hour layover, a seven hour flight, and a seven hour time change should make for some interesting company on the bus Tuesday morning. Especially if nobody slept tonight like me…
It should be interesting. That's all I can say right now so I'll leave you with it...
Aurevoir and Go Trojans!
ASteed
