Machu Picchu Dream

Leaving Indianapolis after a long two years of limited travel seemed surreal. My friends, Lisa, Donnell, Heidi, and I booked the Classic Inca Trail back in Fall of 2019 for May 2020. Little did we know how long the wait would be for our trip. Rebooked twice and now with new Adventure Life representatives we now are confident that May 2022 is the right time. Let's go girls! 
My husband, Jack takes Lisa and I to the airport on a Saturday afternoon. Strange to be flying overnight to an exotic place that we have being talking about for the past five years. Lisa and I meet up with Heidi and Donnell at the airport. We all decided to pack light and not check bags for one less possible complication for our 13-day adventure. For me this meant packing exactly what is on the packing list and taking few extras. I strategically packed appropriate but older or consignment find clothing that I could part with, to gain room for souvenirs that I would be bringing home. I hoped that there would be an opportunity to wash clothes and that my travel companions would still find me pleasant to smell by the end of the trip. The check-in process with Delta was smooth, we arrived the recommended 3 hours prior to our flight since we had to check in at the counter due to COVID affidavit required by the Peruvian government. This is the earliest I have ever arrived at the airport prior to a flight, it was a bit excessive since we were through security and at our gate in 30 minutes. Two hours later I am boarding my first of three planes, a commuter plane to JFK in NYC. We arrive at JFK around 8pm, ready to have a nice dinner and relax for a few hours until our overnight flight to Lima. All of JFK's sit-down restaurants were closing at 8pm, so much for the Palm, we had to settle for McDonalds with a 30-minute wait for a happy meal. I thought this was the city that never sleeps.
We boarded our overnight Latam flight to Lima without issue. There was plenty of storage for our carry-on bags and seats were comfortable for economy. The large plane had lots of current movie and TV shows to watch, free of charge but I chose to sleep as much as possible for the eight-hour flight. Latam did serve dinner after I was long asleep, but I did enjoy the breakfast service upon waking around 6 a.m. The coffee, breakfast sandwich and yogurt were just what I needed to fuel my day.