Wednesday 1st July

It's 3:00am and I'm climbing out of bed very reluctantly. Of course I'm excited about this expedition, but I know that it won't properly sink in for a while yet, probably not until I'm actually in camp, gazing at the new-found country around me. It feels like a lifetime ago that I signed up - I suppose it kind of was a lifetime ago in a way because my life has changed a lot since that moment. In October 2013, I'd only just met some of the people who today I call my best friends; the whole process of applying to university and cramming day after day in the hope of achieving those grades was still far ahead of me.
But now it's all happened.
Now, today is finally here.
And today, the biggest adventure of my life so far is fast approaching.


UK 4:30pm/ Singapore 11:30pm

I've been sat on the plane for about four and a half hours now. Typical me, I've spent much of it asleep, but I've squeezed a film in too. Time differences always confuse me, and this is my first experience of a significant time difference. I can't quite get my head around the fact that whilst on one side of the world people are only just rubbing the sleep from their eyes, on the other side of the world they're already fast asleep. I know the time difference will also make me feel further from home, because I can't mirror everyone's actions, imagining my parents eating breakfast at the same time as me. But I'll be okay!
     I knew that I would find just getting through the airport difficult, because I always do (although I wasn't expecting a nosebleed as well!) I hate airports: the crowds; the noise; the unknown. But everyone was really good, helping me through, and I managed to avoid any tears until I was sat down on the plane itself (I've never been on a plane this big) - I think by that point they were tears of relief though!
     It took me a little while to get used to the usual claustrophobic feeling which accompanies being on an aeroplane, but it's alright now. Just a case of waiting around in this tin can in the sky for a few more hours! We're due in Singapore at around midnight UK time, which is 7 in the morning in Singapore. Then it's more waiting around for the next plane to arrive, and then it's on to Borneo.
     I'm super tired already of course. I knew that I would be, even with the hours I've caught up on on the journey. I think that will be one of the hardest things about this expedition for me: learning to push myself whilst coping with my fatigue, and learning not to push myself too far at the same time.
     I know one day in the future I'll look back on July 2015 as one of the best months of my life, so I guess now it's time to go out there and make the memories in order for that to happen...