A Brief Guide to Jetlag and Solo Travel

Get on a plane to Sydney, then Cairns. Watch Frozen but also way too many installments of the Conjuring series. Deplane. Wonder why you're holding all of your tension in your shoulders.

Try to hail an Uber. Fail to notice that your cellular coverage isn't great at the airport, so wonder why the only available Uber is something called scUber, a $3,000AUD Uber-sponsored sea trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Wonder how you could possibly board a ship from the airport. Be grateful that you are headed to the reef for one-tenth the cost on Saturday. Finally find enough data to hail an Uber.

Find the Airbnb. Realize there is no key in the front lockbox. Walk around the block to use the electronic gate. Finally drop your barely-holding-it-together rucksack on the couch and head for the shower. Realize that the shower head only stays up if it's pointed straight out. Realize that the slightest move turns the water freezing cold. Appreciate the shampoo and conditioner bars gifted to you by your sister-in-law. 

Go to the grocery store. Notice that there is a US-emulating breakfast cereal aisle, but the only brands available are Nestle and Kellogg. Talk yourself through the moral dilemma of choosing between patronizing Nestle (and the problematic bottled water industry) and buying Kellogg (when John Harvey Kellogg was a huge enormous creep.) Decide that modern Kellog cereals would have mortified the late John Kellogg, who (among other things) stole the concept of granola from someone else...but ultimately purchase an Australian brand of granola instead. Also buy TimTams. 

Get some work done. Be relieved that work is still a resource because you rolled into Australia on fumes from your Icelandic account. Be thankful that Iceland has a responsible tax structure and you don't have to worry about Iceland anymore.

Go to bed early. Before that, post one last Instagram from Singapore and watch old episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Sleep fast. Have a super strange dream. Blame it on your airplane movie selections.

Repeat, with different nouns, every 3-15 days for five months. Realize that you do the most, and you're so fortunate, and that you'll probably turn out alright.

Happy travels. 

Tropical Beach, Okinawa, Japan