It’s 10pm in Atlanta and 3am in Dublin. I’ve been up for 21 hours. Two flights down and another hour here before a 10 flight to Santiago. I think we all left our enthusiasm at 6,000 metres so hopefully we’ll pick up again when we’re next passing.

There’s not much adventure in a day of planes and airports. I spent the morning pondering the complexities of packing maths: how does a 22.8kg increase to 25.2kg after adding a 400g packet of mixed nuts? At the airport they initially weighed me in at 23kg even (bang on the limit), but somehow jumped 3kg when I tightened the straps. After we checked in, we got breakfast. I asked for mushrooms. I was given a single mushroom by the grumpy plonker wielding the ladle. A single soggy bland mushroom for €2. Dublin Airport is a rip off – the first in a day of culinary disappointments.

I made a knob of myself early on today by sitting in the wrong seat on the first plane. I wedged myself in between our expedition leader and his wife. On the second flight, I’d actually been allocated a seat between him and his wife. It has now become clear to me why we’ve been switched from 3-man tents to 2-man.

I was given a special little sticker on the plane to mark me out as a vegetarian. Initially it meant I was fed first which is nice. Later on they served a little snack. Everyone else was given a goat’s cheese and sundried tomato bruschetta followed by a chocolate mousse. But apparently my special sticker meant I could only eat vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher and gluten free meals, so I was given a slice of cucumber and an apple… whoop de doo, an apple… yay

In New York we were told our plane was full so they asked anyone with heavy hand luggage to check their bags through. Being a nice kinda guy, I handed mine in, forgetting that my mountaineering boots, down jacket, camera, and all of my foreign currency is in that bag. The guy who took it from me didn’t know if Chile was a country or a state, which isn’t reassuring. But luckily I remembered to take my earplugs and shades, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.

We’re trying to kill time here by noticing all those iconic things that make America special: the very large coffees, the very large people, and the very very large gap between the floor and the door in the bathrooms. I’m too tired to figure it out.

Tomorrow’s update should be from Mendoza, Argentina.

Cheers,
Dermot