flight(s) to america: highs and lows.

Just a few notes as we make yet another trip around the globe.

Low: Yes, we started on a low that included four nights in a row of no more than four hours of sleep each. We packed our bags until just before we hopped on the bus. We initially told our friend we’d be at her house at 6pm so we could have a nice dinner together before our bus at 8pm; we ended up arriving to her about 7pm and grabbing very quick street food.

Low: Street food is not really a very good idea before getting on a bus.

Low: Our bus driver was terrifying.

High: We survived!

Low: We were told that the ride to Bangkok would be 7 hours, so we took the 8pm bus to arrive at 3am. That gave us two hours to catch a taxi to the airport, about an hour away. The bus was running late, though, and didn’t deliver us to the station until 4:30am. That gave us 30 minutes to grab a taxi and get to the airport to get checked in for an international flight. Just a smidge stressful.

High: We caught our first flight! And this is in spite of extra-heiytened security, which included four security checks in Bangkok alone. By the end of our trip, we will have been security screened seven times. If I have to pull out that bag o’ liquids or get patted down invasively again in the next few weeks, I might explode.

High: These are the lowest priced tickets we’ve found yet! They were on Delta, which we were a little nervous about since we love Korean so much. They also went through Narita, which is one of our least favorite airports after we were locked inside for 14 hours in 2009.  These tickets were also very, very tight–we had a one-hour layover in Japan, a two-hour layover in Minneapolis (which included immigration & customs), and a then a 2.5 hour layover in Dallas (where we were required to get our luggage and re-check in with American Airlines).  That said, we made {almost} every connection, and things went really smoothly.

Low: We missed our last connection in Dallas. Not only was our Delta flight moved later a few weeks ago, but then the flight was running late. We were also switching to American and learned you get your Delta baggage in a very, very different side of the airport than you check-in to American. Missing our flight means we’ll miss tonight with family and our big pick-up at the airport; the kids will all be asleep.

High: We are Advantage credit card owners this year, and this certainly benefited us. They moved our tickets to the next flight at no cost, checked our bag with 3 pounds overweight, and put us in priority boarding.

High: With such short layovers, we didn’t have any time to eat anywhere!  Without eating airport food or exchanging money or having to pay for our missed flight, this was by far the cheapest we’ve been able to travel. This is such a blessing!

High: We did grab dinner in Dallas after we missed our flight, since we had a little while to wait and hadn’t eaten a non-air meal in 36 hours. A very, very kind gentleman in front of us asked where were coming from, was so interested in what we do, and then bought our meal for us. Really?!? We were like reeling in it for the next hour, trying to sort out the conversation–the English, the friendliness, the kindness; it was a little overwhelming for tired travelers that haven’t been in the South in awhile! It was really so, so kind though. And just a testimony to God looking out for us in the little things and from such unexpected places.

And so we’re here! Let the fun times begin!