Pre Flight Night Jitters

The last thing I should be doing is writing right now. It is a little past midnight, exactly 12 hours before my next flight to my next destination on this six month journey abroad. Although my flight is not till 12 PM, I still need to leave my hotel by 8 AM. Flight math is so unfair, but it's better to be safe than deal with anything airlines on the phone.

This gives me extra minutes for my Grab to arrive, an hour to the airport with extra minutes in case of traffic. Then I have to wonder like a bird trying to find its nest to drop off my luggage. I like to say traveling is a whole lot of time spent rushing somewhere to wait. But you tell me, would you rather wait for a plane guaranteed to be on it, or be rushing through the depths of security with the chance something happens.

 But oftentimes I feel like I set myself up to fail. I have turned off the lights in my room 3 times and sat there trying to fall asleep. Between the relentless worrying in my mind that my FIVE alarms won't go off, though they are all separated by five to 10 minute intervals, sleep is the last thing that is easy to do when I know I have to be up early. 

Lucky for me, I am a rare breed. I can sleep on planes. Almost instantaneously in fact. You see, I started this ritual several years ago where I listen to "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. As soon as the plane hits the tarmac to take off, I time it for her big note. Sometimes I will start the song over to get it just right. If you are wondering why that song, its a reference to the final scene of the BodyGuard. As soon as she sings those sweet words of "And I hope life treats you kind and I hope, you'll have all you dreamed of...." it's like a nocturnal pill goes off in my head and I fall asleep, head cracked and all. Once time I fell asleep so quickly that that song played over and over in my headphones for a two hour flight and I never noticed. 

Nonetheless, I know not sleeping will hinder my exploration tank tomorrow, here I sit typing about wanting, hell needing to sleep, but I digress. I have all my bags packed. Everytime I am about to leave for a new place, the night before I get myself 100 percent situated. This often means, computer away, phone charging or fully charged, deodorant out as it's the last thing I put on before I leave, and oftentimes I will put on the clothes I will wear the next day so I can just roll out of bed.

Its a habit I guess you could say, but that's mostly because as soon as I open my bags to get one thing, the next thing i know all my stuff is everywhere. Now its almost one in the morning, I have to be up in seven hours, my stomach is starting to growl and I have no intention of feeding that beast till the morning. I wish I could just fast forward sleeping like you fast forward to a Netflix movie. You still get the hours without the comprehension of having to fall asleep and the next day to come. My eyes are tingling from tiredness, my stomach is growling from hunger and I still have to get up in a few hours and travel all day.

 I guess what I am wondering, is this anybody else? Do you get the Pre night flight jitters too? Not because you hate the airport or you are afraid of flying, but simply because the anticipation of waking up and being on time consumes your ability to fall asleep. As Adele says and the other song I listen to every time I land. Hopefully the next time I write it will be a "Hello from the other side"