So this morning, I got up and finished off. Firstly I took a trip to Sainsbury’s to get some essentials. Then, I got myself some pyjamas for the trip. It was quite a stressful morning as the stress was piling up.

Basically, I bought a lot of toiletries that I thought I could take, but upon reading official sites and the TSA website, I discovered I couldn’t take some of the stuff I bought, not even in the hold luggage. So I got stressed and had a bit of a moment. After speaking to my folks, however, it eased my mind a bit! So this is what I bought:

What I found out during my research is that in America, the TSA (which is like our border force) will only allow you to take a cumulative amount of liquids in your hold luggage; that limit was 1 litre, so of course, combined with my mouth wash, shampoo and shower gel (not pictured) I hit that limit, and of course, this stressed me out as I really don’t want something a simple as that causing me trouble at the airport! I also found you can’t have any deodorant, which makes sense as it is flammable. So when I get to America, I will have to make a quick trip to Walmart for these essentials! Who’d of thought it’d be so stressful to pack? I even found out you can’t even put an electric toothbrush in your hold luggage due to the battery, so it’ll have to go into my hand luggage to be scanned, which will be ok! Correct me if I am wrong, though; it’s all new to me!!

Alongside the day mum bought me lunch to celebrate my holiday, we got a Five Guys delivered, which was quite a nice treat after getting so stressed out! After that, I relaxed a bit and focused on my packing. First, I added my pyjamas and some of the stuff I bought. I placed them in a bag and put them in my suitcase. I also grabbed charger cables for my iPhone and iPad alongside my razer blades and electric toothbrush head and placed them in the zipped pocket.

After the stressful morning, I have finally completed my packing. I think I got everything; I literally went through this about three times to ensure I have everything I need!! If I miss anything, I’ll have to grab it in America or the airport’s departure lounge.

With the stress of the day, I did have good news: my bid was successful, and I have been upgraded to economy delight, which gives me more legroom and priority check-in. I picked my new seat with this upgrade; I was torn on which one to have. I had the option of a window seat or even more legroom at the front of the bay. In the end, I chose to sit in the window seat so I could get some awesome pictures of take-off and landing for my memory and this blog too! If you were wondering, I bid £70 for the upgrade, which seemed reasonable! I am really getting excited now!! So here is my case, all zipped up and ready to go for Tuesday!!

Finally, to top off the day, my brother and sister-in-law Facetimed me to wish me well for my journey; we had an excellent 30-minute chat about my trip and how they were getting on. They reassured me a lot, so now I can start to get excited. Of course, there are a few things I am worried about, but I am sure as I go through the process, I’ll understand it a bit more!!

Tomorrow I will be blogging about my Pre-Travel day here. As I said, tomorrow’s plan would be for me to go to the Premier Inn on Bath Road, which is outside Heathrow Terminal 3, which will make the travel day more manageable as I can grab an Uber from the hotel to Heathrow. Shout out to my Dad, who is driving me there tomorrow!

See you tomorrow! Time to get excited!!!

First things first, let’s get my suitcase and open it up! As I said at the beginning, I am very new to long-haul holidays, and what I need to pack, I chose this suitcase as it had good reviews and stated it was big enough for two weeks holiday, plus it’s red, and that is my favourite colour!

I have also activated my Apple AirTag and placed it in the netted part of the suitcase this is so that I can keep an eye on my case in case it goes missing and to make sure it’s in the right place! I chose the AirTag because it connects to iPhones worldwide. In America, they mostly use iPhones due to the iMessage feature to communicate, so it should be easily located should it get lost!

So now that the basics are sorted, it’s time for me to begin packing! I am taking a bigger towel with me, as usually hotel towels are pretty small! I started packing my pants and socks, ensuring I counted as I went. At least at the Aventura hotel, they have washing facilities, so I can wash stuff if I am short! You can see my blue towel at the back there! I need to write a list to ensure I have everything I need! I also have some trainer socks there for my shorts as socks and shorts don’t go!!

Now finally, today, I need to pack my shirts; I found out while I was doing this that I have primarily black shirts!! So will probably warm up like an oven while I am out there, but oh well! While doing this, I ensured I had enough clothes for the next few days, which would be pretty embarrassing!! I folded my shirts so all 14 shirts would fit on the right-hand side of the case. That way, I can leave the top part with other things I need, like chargers, wash bags and so on! I think it looks pretty neat! I have also added my travel adaptors to the netted bit of the suitcase.

This took me most of the morning, with me being inexperienced, but I think it turned out alright; I had some family come around in the afternoon. Hence, I could not do all of it, but tomorrow I need to head out to the supermarket for the last few bits I need, like pyjamas and some wash stuff to take with me. So join me tomorrow for part two!! I am getting excited now! My Auntie and Uncle gave me some solid advice for managing my trip next week which has helped reduce my stress a little! Also, weirdly I had an email from British Airways saying I am booked on their flight which is weird as they cancelled my flight in September. I have checked my Virgin Atlantic ticket, and it shows me on that flight, so god knows what will happen on Tuesday! I don’t feel too stressed, as it will work itself out in the end!

Anyway, thanks for following along – see you tomorrow for part two!