It begins with a sleepless sunday night, waking up almost always at 3 am checking the clock which confirms its still too early, and then waking up with a start when the alarm does go off at 5.30 am. Bags already packed the night before, I trudge to the toilet, face washed, teeth brushed, clothes and makeup on..check, check and check.
The incoming sms alerts me to the taxi that is on its way, just before the one that informs me I can check in to my 07.40 flight to Stockholm. I kiss a sleeping husband, grab my bags containing only bare essentials, and make it down just in time to see the taxi pull up the road. Its 06.05 am. National Theatret Stasjon. I'm always there atleast 10 mins before the train leaves which always annoys me. The train pulls up and I push myself in and off we go.Everyone on the train is super quiet, bored and sleepy. Just my kind of crowd.
Then the activity kicks in, travellers of all shapes and sizes queing to get out, check in, get past security check, all these mundane steps seem like the most boring routine on the planet to me. I avoid the tax free shopping area (it just slows me down) and buy my breakfast at the last shop before the gates. The usual: an eat natural fruit and nut bar, a bottle of water and the Guardian Weekly. I make it to the gate and hover nearby so I am one of the first to board, that way I need not stand in yet another que (to board) or hassle to stuff in my hand luggage ontop of others stuff. Comfortably seated and buckled up in my aisle seat, I nibble at my breakfast and read the paper and by the time we are at cruising altitude I have dozed off only to wake up to the announcement informing us we are about to land. I am so ready for a caffeine dose. Off the plane and usually in time to make the 08.37 airport train to the city, I almost always curse under my breath as I pass the illy coffee shop just outside arrivals because stopping to grab a much needed coffee means I will have to wait for the 08.50 train into the city. Down the stairs into the cave where the yellow capsule will transport me closer to a cup of coffee and my workplace. I always sit closer to the front so I am amongst the first out, beating the long taxi ques in the morning. Ah, the little early morning victories. Taxi stops, in I go and order a caffe latte to go at the restaurant in the building, navigate through the many doors to arrive at my workstation, hellos exchanged, and internet troubles sorted I am finally at work and its only 09.20. Only another 8 hours or so to go.
