Allons! 25 août

My last breakfast in the States: McDonalds. Haha

I arrived the morning of 25 August at RDU with one large suitcase that barely made the maximum requirement, my large purple carry-on bag that I also checked in, and then a roller duffel and my purse (which went from being slim and light to super chunky and uncomfortable. I also had my wonderful clothes-filled neck pillow and my mother. Thanks to traffic, I made it minutes before they started calling people to board. 

I don't know if this is how all statravel bookings work, but I wasn't able to pick my seat, and ended up sitting in a middle seat. It wasn't the most uncomfortable, but I couldn't have done it for more than two hours. And the pilot next to me smelled a little.

The lady to my left was very sweet and helped make sure I knew where the baggage claim was since I had to rush around to the tram and get to the next terminal to check everything back in and go through a very strict security check for my next flight at JFK to KEF. This is why I like terminals that are connected behind security points, like Charlotte.

My first accident - I dropped my 44lb (20kg) suitcase on my foot when dragging it off the belt in JFK. 

The attendant at the IcelandAir desk was very sweet. She was able to ship my luggage all the way to CDG so I didn't have to lug it around during the layover. She also let me have a window seat, but I didn't realize that when she was putting me beside an exit, it was going to be the door that we entered the plane. It wasn't that terrible, but I did have to awkwardly hang out in the plane partially in everyone's way, and my luggage was put in a compartment a few seats back (this became a pain when everyone is trying to exit and you need to get in their way), and my other items, such as raincoat, purse, and documents, were thrown into a compartment a few seats ahead. When someone opened it, some of my stuff fell on the lady sitting below it. Whoops.

I did get to sit near a guy from Copenhagen, and across the aisle was a guy from Australia who was trying his best to be suave with the hostess. It was kind of funny because later we learned her boyfriend was on board.

Bye America!

I'm coming to you, Iceland!

On the airplane pillows.

Free water? I'll take it!

After arriving at the Keflavik airport, I made my way through the slightly confusing terminal, found a busing desk to check in, and was on my way to Reykjavik. 

Icelandic Words.. I seriously can't pronounce them.

Oddly enough, this was in fact quite the opposite direction from the hotel I was staying at  (I will post a review soon). Turns out, from the tourism office I had to change over to a smaller shuttle and then travel back the way I came, and I was the only one on the bus. Finally, around 1am, I made it to Hotel Laxnes.