By Sandi Morris
“Time to Dest: 3:05” is flashing on the screen mounted onto the seat-back in front of me. The number has been slowly shrinking for the last four and a half hours since takeoff. The wheels of this plane will touch down in New York, and from there I will proceed to hassle my way through customs with a 14-foot-7-inch-long bag of vaulting poles (yes, it’s as difficult as you imagine it to be) two suit cases, and a backpack. I will then make my way onto a flight to Atlanta and catch the last leg of my journey back to Fayetteville, Arkansas.
I have spent the last three weeks traveling through Europe, or shall I say “vaulting through” since I competed about every 2 to 4 days. I wanted to sit down and write more during my trip, but by the time I reached my bed at night I was too exhausted to have the motivation to do so… but here is the perfect opportunity…a long flight with time to kill.
My story begins in Eugene, Oregon, where I accomplished two dreams of mine: I signed as a professional athlete with Nike, and I placed second at USA’s, solidifying my position on the world team to represent my country in Beijing this coming August. I won’t go into detail there, being that I already wrote about that (see previous post). Since then, I have been on the “European circuit” as they call it. You see, for track athletes, the best place to make a living is Europe. Track fans in Europe are like American Football fans in the states.
