Yesterday was a day of win.

Warm, humid morning. Woke up early without an alarm and switched the SIM cards on my phones so that I would have one this week (the one with the keyboard doesn't ring loud enough for me to hear in my sleep, and vibrates punily, so I'm downgrading for more functionality). Ginneh came and climbed the tree and read sci-fi on the roof.

I packed, leaving a note for the TSA explaining the mysterious-looking anti-RSI gadgetry filling my bag. Cleaned my room, showered, ran through a few jazz standards, cleaned the (gross; fruit fies!) living room, sent paperwork to UNICEF, shipped the documents that will turn my brokerage account into a noncustodial one (which, technically, you should do on your 18th birthday), printed travel documents, arranged to meet Mike (and Andy and Evan) at the edublogger afterparty, chugged some vegan cake and soymilk, bought Ginneh pupusas and lengua (tongue) tacos for lunch, and slid into the airport in time to check baggage and grab two rounds of preflight hydration.

I'm getting used enough to travel to no longer feel shy and awkward making my way through long terminals - I can skim down corridors in a backpack, remove all electronics from my bags and pockets while running towards security, redeposit keys and shoes and coins while ambling towards the gate, have a keen enough sense of line-time to spend as much time as possible writing and as little time queuing up as possible. I love the feeling of hitting a foreign pavement in battered leather sandals, looking up at a new skyline in awe,  and racing towards it. Speaking of those sandals, they've lasted nearly a quarter of my life (since my shoesize stopped changing) and are mighty chewed up now; I may need new ones soon. Unfamiliar horizons make me thrilled instead of scared. It's a big step. This didn't use to happen.

Next: notes from NECC, Day -1.