Unhinged Travel Diaries: Australia

I’ve truly come a long way with getting over my strong discomfort of flying. I would say “fear” but it was never like fully a fear, it’s just that I don’t like not being in control of things and being on an airplane you literally have control of nothing. So, as I was gearing up for my flight to Australia I started getting a wee bit anxious since this was going to be the longest or second longest flight I’d ever been on but definitely the longest alone. 

In December of 2019, I went to Australia with some friends to ring in the new year. We were young and optimistic — full of hope for the next year ahead only to find out that the world would completely shut down. On top of that, my best friend and I had one of the worst moments in our friendship, resulting in me dramatically disappearing from Australia to fly home early without telling anyone. I like to think that that was the right thing for me in the moment but I definitely wouldn’t do something like that nowadays. Anyway… here’s to hoping this trip to Australia doesn’t end the same way! 

I feel like I talk about my layoff too much but it’s impacted my life in so many unexpected ways. In this case for instance, it has afforded me the luxury of going to Australia sort of last minute. Because I didn’t have to worry about coordinating vacations with coworkers or worrying about taking too many vacation days at the beginning of the year, this trip was a no brainer. I’ve been so lucky to have been able to attend the other major tournaments around the world multiple times, but things had never lined up for the Aussie open. I think it’s on a lot of tennis fans’ bucket list to attend all four slams but it was actually quite feasible for me because of my grandma. My grandma is a former grand slam champion and gets incredible access and treatment at all of the slams because she’s part of the Last 8 Club, so that’s why it was “easier” for me to access these tournaments. However, I had never really dedicated much time or energy to actually making a trip happen. I was feeling every emotion under the sun when I was laid off but when I realized the timing was perfect, I knew I had to make it happen.

This was all around Thanksgiving so I knew that “Travel Tuesday” was coming up and that’s allegedly when all of the best travel deals are available but I had never actually purchased anything on that day. When I looked up the flights to see if I should even try to go a few days before Thanksgiving, I was shocked! They were hovering at right around $1,000 round trip. I mean $1k is not cheap but to go to Australia it is! I started to mobilize some things to see if I could actually make it happen and things started to come together. My mom’s boyfriend is a pilot so he has the benefit of being able to fly pretty much anywhere and his schedule was lining up perfectly to make this happen. He said he would look into it but I think neither one of us really thought it would actually happen, until it did! 

On Travel Tuesday I was so excited to pull the trigger so I went back to get my $1K flight and sadly, it was not that cheap anymore. I was so upset but I figured I would buy it before it went up any more because at this point, we were going. I ended up paying around double, so like $2,100 or something like that, which wasn’t a great deal, obviously. The only benefit was that it was with Delta, which is my favorite airline and the one I use to go to Mexico to see my grandma, so I figured that at the very least I could get all these miles to use later to go see her. But still, not a great deal. At all.

I was scrolling on TikTok (my fave) and I remembered seeing a video about changing your flights on Delta to select the same exact flight but getting a flight credit if it was listed for cheaper. I went onto my Delta app and clicked change flights just to see if there were any other options that were cheaper or if I could pull off using the TikTok hack. I wasn’t really expecting much of it and the first few times I looked, there was nothing. Finally, I randomly went in one day and was able to change outbound my flight and save $300. I kept checking almost daily and I ended up changing my flights until my total was $1,100. Because I have status with Delta, I can change flights without a fee, I can check two bags, I can select preferred economy seats for free and I can request an upgrade so I always buy economy tickets hoping for the upgrade. I get upgraded a lot from Economy to Comfort+ which honestly is the perfect spot. Obviously, first class is the best but I don’t usually take super long flights so Comfort+ is great for me. This flight to Australia, however, was like 15 or 16 hours and I was so hopeful that I would get upgraded but deep down I knew it was a long shot. I was watching the upgrade list like a hawk for days before my flight and on the day of the flight I was one spot away from getting upgraded. Sadly, I didn’t get it and I was smushed in Economy like a sardine. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad but I had worked out with my friend that morning and I was soooooo unbelievably sore. The flight was packed and I didn’t want to bother the other people in my row to get up just to walk so I just suffered in silence. 

The people in my row were so sweet so that was a huge plus but the people in the row in front of us were LOUD and rambunctious! They literally couldn’t just sit still. They kept moving around and shaking the seat and therefore our tray tables and reclining all the way back. Like, I get it, it’s a long flight but can you not just be quiet and sit there? It’s really not that hard. To make things worse, towards the end of the flight, they spilled a water bottle on themselves and it spilled onto me and my neighbors feet. There’s literally nothing worse than wet socks! I was fuming and they didn’t even say sorry, which sent me over the edge but I wasn’t trying to get blacklisted from flying so I just bit my tongue. Either they were just oblivious or inconsiderate. Then, in their same row as them there was a family with a small toddler who started SCREAMING “Nooooo!” over and over for like an hour in the middle of the flight. And they wouldn’t do anything to make the kid stop. I’m sure my opinion of this will change in the future if I have kids of my own and I find myself traveling with them but I just felt like the parents were not trying to help themselves out in the situation and so when the kid wasn’t getting attention, it would scream louder. I felt bad for them but I was so grumpy, I’m not even gonna lie. Lucky for me, I can sleep almost anywhere and through almost anything so I turned my airpods all the way up and went right back to sleep. 

Traveling to a new place always makes me nervous. To be honest, everything makes me so nervous. I usually travel to the same 5 airports each year and I know the lay of the land but I hadn’t flown to Sydney in 4 or 5 years and never by myself. At least they speak English and are known for being overly friendly. When we got off the plane, I couldn’t even tie my shoes because I was just so unwell. I knew that I was going to take my sweatpants off eventually but I was so sore and stiff that I couldn’t mentally bring myself to tie my shoes. When I was standing in line to get some sort of electronic ticket (which didn’t even work) to go through the automatic customs machines, a sweet and lovely couple was standing next to me. They had been sitting by me at the gate at LAX and asked for some tech help on their iPhones and MacBooks. They told me that my shoelaces were untied and to be careful so I wouldn’t trip or so they wouldn’t get caught in the wheels of a suitcase. I fully knew that my shoes were untied because I just didn’t have it in me to tie them. Plus my feet were so swollen from the flight that I barely even got them back on to begin with. I had so many layers on, I was sweating and I was so flustered for no reason because I had like 6 hours to make my next flight. I just turned to look at them, all flustered and severely disheveled, and said thank you but that I just couldn’t bring myself to tie them right now. Hahaha. This had to be the rock bottom of the my journey because I was like how pathetic am I? Just tie your shoes! But I swear guys, I just physically, mentally and emotionally could not. I’m not even trying to be dramatic haha but I was holding on by a thread! I had slept through almost all of the meals on the flight and I was beyond hangry. I had to pee and there was not a bathroom in sight. I had absolutely no energy and I was just going through it all. All self inflicted, but still.

My mom is also coming to Australia and so is her boyfriend but we all flew different routes for a variety of reasons. I decided to fly to LA a few days early to break up the trip, visit one of my closest friends from high school, and to make sure my entire journey was on Delta (because #miles). All I can say is future Marnie is thanking the Marnie that booked the trip this way. If I had to fly JFK to LAX (6 hours) and then have a lay over of x hours and then get on a flight from LAX to SYD and then SYD to MEL I would have simply not been able to survive. I know that sounds so stupid and dramatic but I am just not that strong mentally at this moment in time hahaha. My mom must be superwoman because her route is by far the worst. She had been working in Orlando for the past few weeks and she had been in Mexico the weeks leading up to that, so she hasn’t really been home in over a month. Almost two months. So she flew MCO to ATL then ATL to SDF yesterday — idk if it was yesterday because the time change has me all fucked up. I’m actually writing to you all from the future right now — spent the night at home in Louisville, and then flew or is flying as we speak SDF to DEN, DEN to SFO, SFO to MEL. It’s a total of like 25 or 26 hours and in her words, she’s gonna be a “hot mess” when she arrives, but at least we’ll be together! 

My mom wasn’t even supposed to be on this trip because she had to work. To this day I have no idea how she finessed the time off but shout out to her boss for being so cool about it. The trip was supposed to just be Brian, her bf, and I, which a lot of you grilled me for because Brian and I weren’t the best of friends when we first met hahaha. But we’ve been getting along so well for a while now and I was gonna go alone but he loves tennis and can fly anywhere for free or like a dollar, max. So I invited him and he was like okay! Over Christmas when we were exchanging presents, my mom was opening her present for me and she thought it was a surprise trip to Australia. Brian and I were like uhh….no hahaha because she had told us there was no way she could go! I don’t know how we convinced her and I don’t know how she convinced her boss still. But anyway, here we are, or will be, in Melbourne. A little modern family vacation. 

I’m honestly so excited for this week down under. I get to experience something I never thought I would be able to— the Australian Open. In tennis, it’s known as the “happy slam” and t makes sense because the people here are the nicest I’ve ever met. Being a pretty cold New Yorker, I’ve been caught off guard with strangers chatting and smiling at me. While I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with tennis over the years, I’ve really grown to love watching it. I truly value and appreciate the work it takes to get to that level and very much admire the players because of all the shit they have to deal with. A couple of my friends play on the doubles tour so I’m very excited to see them and cheer them on, one is even from Mexico so I feel immense pride cheering him on. I’m also excited to live somewhere else for a little bit. It’s not a long time but I love experiencing new places through everyday life rather than through tourist attractions. I want to walk to the tennis facility, check out our sister tennis club, dine like the locals and just experience Melbourne that way. Leave me a comment if you have any recommendations!

Lately I’ve been looking for jobs, as you know, but what I haven’t told you all is that I’ve been looking at jobs outside of New York, in other parts of The States but also other countries. I think coming from Mexico at such a young age was such an incredible opportunity that opened many doors for me but part of me has always wondered what it’s like to live outside of the US. During my stay here in Melbourne, I’m actually still going to have to complete assignments, assessments and prepare for some of the jobs I’m interviewing for and some are in other countries. I must say, I’ve really enjoyed the interviews and I’ve really liked the hands-on assessments. They way they give me instructions and answer my questions gives me a good understanding of how they operate and my sample work and questions gives them a good idea of how I think and problem solve. While I’m scared and anxious to get a new job, I’m really trying to focus on finding the right fit and that means on both ends. I don’t want a job where I’m going to be unhappy or wondering if I’m good enough to have that role. The best roles I’ve had are the ones where I’ve had great working relationships with my managers and partners. I think I miss that the most while I’m not working because there is nothing more satisfying than feeling like you’re working together to help solve problems. I miss that and I crave that so much — feeling useful. So while I’m here in Melbourne to have a good time, it’s kind of nice to have things to keep my brain working and continue to challenge me. I’ll keep you posted on the jobs and in case missed it, catch up on my funemployment blog post:

Right now the captain has just said we are about to land and I can’t wait to be off the plane and out of the airport in what feels like forever, even though it’s barely been a day, if that. I truly have no idea since I don’t know what day or time it is. Here’s to the happy slam and here’s to a very Ochoa family vacation. 

Cheers from down under,

Xx Marn