We are sitting at the gate in SFO, waiting to board our first flight.

With a 1hr 20min layover in Taipei, until our connecting flight on to Chiang Mai, Thailand, there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room here. Here’s hoping our first flight out doesn’t get delayed! Our flight is delayed one hour. The first flight of many more to come, a 14-hour one at that, and it’s going to depart late … which means we will not be making our connection on to Chiang Mai, assuming that actually departs on time (with airlines these days, I’m holding out hope we still make it).

Okay, no reason to panic. We are literally on vacation for 6 months. If we sit in Taipei waiting for the next flight out, so be it. There’s no way every single day is going to go according to plan – might as well be humbled stumbling out of the gate. That’s why I brought along that deck of playing cards, right?

Anyway, Back to what I initially wanted to say here tonight:

Holy #%&!. Ho. Ly. #%&! I’ve said before that this doesn’t seem real, and it still doesn’t. We have been going non-stop for at least half a year. Even after our last day at work – the very next day, we drove up to Tahoe. My family came in to town, and we spent an enjoyable few days in the cabin for belated-Chanukah Christmas. Then we drove back down to Marin, with my parents in tow, showing them around a different side of SF for a few days. Isabel’s sister was home through New Year’s, which all adds up to = we had the house to ourselves, and last minute preparations, for a whopping three days.

You talk about last-minute packing, we literally zipped up our suitcases, finished wiping down the counter tops and took out the trash, before immediately hopping in our Uber to the airport.

Sitting in the car, going over the Golden Gate Bridge – or as my mom would call it, The San Francisco Bridge … sorry mah 🙂 – for the last time, it’s not like a scene out of a movie. There’s no soundtrack playing. It’s no resolution from one act to another. What did I feel in that car ride to the airport, about to kickstart this massive journey that we’ve been planning and preparing for for so long?

I don’t know. Even now, I’m struggling to find any words to describe. All I know is that I’m tired, there’s a long 24ish+ hours in front of us, and I’m pretty sure this will all start to make sense in a couple weeks.

In the car, and walking through the airport, Isabel and I exchange smiles and looks of disbelief. Whatever’s to come, I may not be ready for it, but I sure am excited.