Recently in Pre-Trip Category

As I checked my bag this morning, the obligatory question was asked of me.

"What's your final destination?"

Like thousands of others today at O'Hare and millions of others at airports all across the country, I felt incredibly lucky to answer "D.C."

D.C.-bound travelers are everywhere. The fifteen-year-old girl who said good bye to her dad at curbside check-in.The group of students sitting next to us at the gate. They'll be attending the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference.

Our fourth and final group member has arrived, and we'll be off to our first stop, Cleveland, very soon.

With college classes and work schedules in full gear, I admit it's been difficult to focus on what will be a once in lifetime experience for any journalism student. However now that I have finished packing and can put up my feet (while I still can), I feel prepared to feast my eyes and open my ears for a range of events that will bring in 44th president elect Barack Obama. Let the reporting begin.

In Chicago, people everywhere are talking about the inauguration. Tonight, during a shopping exursion in Lincoln Park, I met two of the 240,000 Americans lucky enough to receive free tickets to witness Obama's oath of office from their local Congress member. Both women were picking out a dress for the George Washington Ball, as they excitedly expressed traveling for one day on an Amtrak train was worth seeing two days of history. They'll be traveling with 20 other constituents from Representative John Fritchey's 11th district.

But you don't have to travel far to feel the excitement emerging from Chicago's hometown hero. Just visit your local subway station and you might hear this quartet singing "Barack's All Right."

Packing light was a lofty goal...so far I have a suitcase, a garment bag, a carry-on, a laptop, a still camera, a video camera and a tripod. I thought the shift to online journalism would eliminate the heavy-lifting but no luck.

The good news is it's supposed to be sunny and 30 degrees on Tuesday in D.C. - which will feel like summer after the deep freeze we've been battling in Chicago. In just 12 hours we'll be boarding the plane - hope you follow along with us!

As I get ready to fly out to D.C. tomorrow morning, I keep coming back to one thought: How will this event compare to Election Night at Grant Park?

I was one of the 70,000 lucky people to have a ticket to that event. The hype leading up to it was overwhelming, the international spotlight was stuck on Chicago all day, and the rally really did live up to the way it was billed. I'll admit I had goosebumps through the night and shed a few tears.

Will history repeat itself on Inauguration Day? What will make this event different?

While both events give reason to party, one difference is that nobody knew what the outcome would be on Election Day, though everything about the Inauguration will be scripted.

As a participant, I keep thinking Jan. 20 will have a similar feel. But if the 2 million predicted actually show up, throw those scripts out. That's where things start to get really interesting.

Here's some video I took at Grant Park Election Night. Let's live that moment one last time before the next big one takes place.