I left my adorable baby and husband at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Monday, 9:00am and it took me 30 hours to get to Hong Kong.
In Jersey, our plane left one hour late and had a mechanical failure after leaving the terminal then had to be towed back to an available terminal entrance - that took two hours! It then took an additional 5 hours to get a replacement plane and a replacement crew - due to labor laws a crew cannot go over schedule. We left Jersey at 11pm Monday night and arrived into Hong Kong on Wednesday morning at 3am. Dizzy yet? I am!
I slept 10 hours on the plane but it was that uncomfortable sleep where you wake every hour and reorganize all limbs. In the hotel I slept 3 hours before having to get up at 7:15 to shower, eat breakfast, meet our company HK GM in lobby at 8:45am to locate photo booth in the subway, a 45 minute walk, to get passport photos taken - all because I forgot them.
So here's a summary of things forgotten:
* ball point pen - folks do not travel with a uni-ball pen, they explode on planes, they should come with warning labels, my favorite tan linen pants are tragically ruined - not that the frayed cords about to snap any day now had much to do with pants impending ruin but STILL!
* sweater - in my quest to pack only carry on, I forgot the most important element to airport and plane travel - a good sweater and layers. It was frigid!
* passport photos - duh!
* computer mouse - I can probably live w/o this one
* snacks and tea - this may count as overpacking
Highlights:
When traveling alone I like to find buddies and when stuck for an additional 8 hours in an airport people tend to bond under shared duress. I met the following lovely folks who I thank sincerely for making my day interesting:
* Cute young Caucasian mom and dad with 16 month old boy going to Shenzhen for the first time to visit family. I exclaimed at the long distance to travel with such a young one and they breathlessly exclaimed that going to China is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they couldn't pass it up. Right now my husband, while reading this, is mumbling I keep trying to tell you honey to appreciate your travel experiences more. Okay I get it!
* The BEST BEST part is getting a fabulous seat mate with one empty seat between us. I met a lovely woman from Venezuela named Natalie who has a 4 year old and chatted with me about her business in jewelry sourcing. She was so sweet and lovely to sit with. Think about a 15 hour flight, you want someone really cool to share the time with. She lives in Miami, perhaps we will get together again.
* Met a young girl headed to Bali for 3 weeks. Apparently there are only 3 flights per week to Bali and she had a 12 hour layover even with our major plane delay. Ah to be young(er) and have all the time in the world.
I have no complaints! Traveling with lovely people makes it all worth it.
Here's a few pre-trip photos (mostly for my benefit):
Baby trashing the house (I'll miss picking up CD's)
And here's are some beach photos taken the night before I left (our early Mother's day celebration):
Preparing for American Idol
Snagged mom's sunglasses, isn't she sophisticated?
And now for yoga meditation pose, Oommmmm
Ah the beach, feel relaxed?
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