24 hours and counting

I did it. I was under the weight limit, got through security, got past the border, got my baggage, found my train, and finally arrived in Leeds, England. Hurrah!

The voyage was surprisingly uneventful. As a girl who has been through bomb threats, 24 hour delays, random searches, and drug sniffing, I figured that a journey of this magnitude was just begging for some ridiculous curve balls. At the very least, I was prepared for quite the hassle at the border. I chose to avoid the bureaucracy of getting UK visas and was therefore armed with a binder full of official documents to prove my legitimacy. Immigration was the one pivotal point that could change everything. For instance, had the agent decided not to let me into the UK, my writings would have been less about an amazing trip, and more about me hitchhiking my way back to Canada. I went in fully prepared for interrogation and scrutiny, but to my surprise, I was simply asked why I was in the UK and told a few jokes by a jolly balding Englishman before being promptly sent on my way.

Though my travel companion, Alysha, and I did not hit any significant hiccups, we did encounter one major problem: the time change. We officially left Canada at 4pm EST and got into England at 4am local time. The five hour time difference and constant traveling kept us on our toes and prevented us from any significant rest. While we waited for our connecting train from Machester, I tried to get some sleep; however, every few minutes I would wake up, completely confused as to where I was, the time and date, and how I had gotten there. The travel induced haze made me forget everything but my own name and by the end of the day, even that was becoming foggy. I decided to pass the time by watching an impossibly fat pigeon fly around the station and eventually poop on the seat next to an old woman. By the time we arrived in Leeds, we were drunk on adrenaline so we decided to try and keep up with the local schedule. We stayed outside and on our feet for majority of the day in order to ward off any encroaching snooze attacks. Unfortunately, a side-effect to lack of rest seems to be uncontrollable flailing and complete loss of coordination which resulted  in me breaking my new adapter the moment I took it out of its case.

The goal is to stay awake until 7pm, a respectable time for 90 year olds and weary travelers to turn in for the night. My theory is that if I completely mess with my system to the point that time is no longer fathomable,  I will be able to adjust to the time change that much faster.

It is currently 4:30pm local time and 11:30 Toronto time. I have been up for 27 hours and the patterns on my duvet cover have begun to dance in an attempt to seduce me into a slumber.