Yep, it was a cold journey! And a long one, too.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrapped up my wonderful visit home and headed back to my new home in Myanmar. I had a delightful time with my family. One of my favorite moments was the day I asked my niece if she wanted to join me in a yoga session. I was expected her to say no, but she actually said yes this time! Let me tell you, it is WAY more fun to make animal sounds when you are doing cat, cow, and puppy dog poses...
My new favorite yoga buddy ✌
It was FREEZING (for Florida) during most of my trip home, but it was actually a nice break from the heat of the tropics. I have definitely lost my Midwest blood, as I had to really bundle up to go running when I was home! Despite the cold weather, my time absolutely flew by. Before I knew it, the time had come to pack up my bags and head back to Southeast Asia.
I always get super anxious when I make the long trip. Once I am on the flight, I am okay. But when I come back to Yangon, I always bring a (very heavy) suitcase full of stuff that makes my life a bit more comfortable in the developing world - we're talking a whole lot of peanut butter and running clothes (the necessities of life!). Oh, and medicines and important stuff like that too.
I don't know exactly if it's the anxiety of the suitcases or the trip itself, but something always makes my stomach flip and my chest feel ever so tight. I had an especially anxious feeling about this trip for some reason... Later, I found out that my gut feeling was right!
I started my journey on a Wednesday morning (January 3rd, to be exact). I left my mom's place around 8:00 in the morning. We stopped at Publix (😍 ) and then headed to the airport in the freezing rain. It turns out that a lot of flights were canceled that day, including the early morning flight that I almost booked because of the cost (it was much cheaper than the flight at a reasonable hour). I was relieved that my flight actually got out, despite being delayed a bit by the weather. It was a bumpy ride for about half of the trip to New York, but we finally made it in one piece. I collected my bags and made my way to the hotel shuttles. I booked a hotel for that night because I was too anxious about missing my connection at JFK early the next day.
I've developed this habit of booking extra legroom for these long journeys. Worth every penny!
#iheartpubsub
When I got to the shuttle, the driver told me that he hoped I would get out the next morning. I had heard there was a storm due on the east coast, but I had no idea how big it was until I got to my hotel room and turned on the news. As it turns out, the freezing rain in Florida was a storm, and it followed me all the way to New York! I check twitter almost constantly, as that seems to be the fastest and most accurate way to get updates for flights out of JFK (I may or may not have strong feelings about that...). I was super anxious when my coworker texted me that her flight out of Pennsylvania was canceled, but Emirates maintained that we were leaving the next day. I was cautiously optimistic as I headed to the airport super early the next morning.
After checking in, I glanced out the window. This didn't bode well for my travels...
It took quite a bit of time to check in, but I had arrived very early at the airport to account for this. Delta had canceled all of its flights, and many other airlines started to follow suit. When I looked at the flights on the board, ours was one of the few flights that didn't say "canceled."
This was back when I was (almost) hopeful that we would make it out.
Around 10 a.m., they announced that our new flight time would be 11:30. This made me nervous because the worst of the storm was supposed to hit around 1:00, and the closer we got to that hour, the worse our chances were that we would actually be able to fly safely. As it was, the wind took my breath away when I stepped outside at 6:00 that morning. I was only wearing my running fleece and leggings. My layover was super short, and my winter coat and boots now live at my best friend's apartment in NYC. At 6 a.m., the weather was absolutely nothing compared to what the city had forecasted for the rest of the day...
Around 11:15, they announced that they had to stop the de-icing process on our plane because the weather was too dangerous for the workers. They claimed our new departure time was 3:00 p.m. I actually laughed out loud at that announcement because it was so ridiculous - that was when the worst of the storm was supposed to be here! I knew in that moment that we were not going to fly that day. It was just a matter of when they would finally cancel the flight.
"Your new departure time is 3:00 p.m." Mmm hmm... tell me more!
The airtran and buses stopped running in the early afternoon. I knew it was bad if those methods of transport shut down. At some point, our flight time was changed to 5:00 p.m. In the meantime, my friend in the city texted me that the mayor announced that the airport was closed until 6:00 p.m. Twitter confirmed that for me, but apparently the actual airport was running under different information.
It was all getting a bit ridiculous, but I just kept laughing at the situation. I figured I had a choice: I could be upset, but then I would be stuck in an airport AND have to be upset about it, and that just seemed like way too much energy.
Finally, the announcement came. But it wasn't a cancellation: "Your new flight time is tomorrow at 1:45 p.m." I was a bit confused, and then as I waited in a line with all the angry people, I understood why they did that. If they canceled the flight, they would have to put us up in a hotel. If they simply rescheduled our flight, then they were under no obligation.
A whole lot of yelling... and yet we were still stuck in that airport!
As soon as I realized this, I jumped onto every app on my phone that has hotel listings, and then I even went directly to pages of hotels that I knew were nearby. Nothing. Absolutely nothing available. The closest hotel was 14 miles away, and the snow was absolutely crazy by this point in the day. (I actually talked to a couple of people the next morning who paid more than $150 in taxi and uber fares to get to that hotel and back to JFK!) A couple of friends reached out and offered places to stay (💖), but I was honestly afraid to leave the airport. I wasn't dressed for winter, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get back to JFK once the cold front moved in behind the storm. So I made the decision to stay.
Luckily, I had a carry on with a few changes of clothes. I put on my warmest comfy clothes and pulled out the pack that Emirates had provided on my initial trip to the States a couple of weeks earlier. I also had a small pack of toiletries so I was able to wash my face and brush my teeth. I pulled on some socks and a very fashionable eye mask (hehe!). I had made friends with some lovely people while we waited - some of the few who were not boiling with rage. We worked together to push two benches together so we could sort of lay down. I wedged my carry on in the gap between the benches, piled my neck pillow on top of my purse, and I managed to get a solid seven hours of sleep. I was kind of impressed with myself, actually!
I also used a big scarf as a blanket.
Settling in for the night... with an entire row of strangers! What could have been a catastrophe turned into an adventure, thanks to my new travel buddies :-)
In the morning, the sun came out, and we were all hopeful that we would fly. Planes started taking off around 9:00 a.m., and our spirits were lifted. It was just a matter of time before we would take off! (We hoped...)
Here comes the sun... doo doo, doo-doo
I managed to eat healthy during my entire time in JFK (all 34 hours of it!). That is not an easy task - nor is it a cheap one! It finally neared 1:45, and I found out that I needed a new boarding pass for the rescheduled flight (even though they specifically told me that I would need to keep this ticket... but it's okay). I waited in yet another long line and managed to get a new ticket. This whole process took the better part of an hour because the rumor spread quickly, and the line was quite long. It's still strange to me that it was such a secret, but as they say, what's done is done. The most challenging part of this little ordeal was that they somehow lost my info, and I almost didn't get on the flight. That is when I started to lose my positivity. After I got my new ticket, I sulked back to my bench buddies, who managed to cheer me up.
I used Snapchat as my outlet for sarcasm... but I was only slightly joking! Seriously - that apple and bottle of sparkling water cost me a whopping $6.92. Ouch!
We finally boarded our flight around 3:00 p.m. We all actually cheered when the flight crew arrived (seriously, I almost cried tears of joy). My favorite guy was the one that shouted, "You get to board the plane... you get to board the plane... we ALL get to board the plane!" #gottaloveoprah
I was extra, extra, EXTRA happy that I had sprung for the emergency exit row on this flight. We all boarded and were ready to take off, but we hit another snag: Apparently another plane got stuck on the runway, and we couldn't clear its wings. We had to wait for it to move, and then we had to get de-iced. Once all of that happened, we were 29th in line to take off. Oh boy.
Again, there were lots of angry people. But I figured (once again), I could be stuck on a plane, or I could be angry AND stuck on a plane. Too much energy. So I sipped my water and ate the pretzels that they had passed out while I read my book. About three hours later, we took off. I felt a huge knot release in my body once we the wheels were finally off the ground!
Welcome to Dubai... Yikes.
When I got to Dubai, I found another long line. Longer, actually. Apparently JFK had not rescheduled any of our connecting flights (which we pretty much all missed!), and the workers in Dubai had to sort us all out. Lots more angry energy all around, so I popped in my earbuds and pulled out my iPad. (Side note: I love that you can now download Netflix episodes!) Three and a half episodes of Law & Order SVU later, I made it to the counter. They promptly got me on the morning flight to Yangon and put me up in a hotel for the night. I was going to have dinner and breakfast comped, AND I WAS GETTING A SHOWER. Yep, first one in three days. That was one of the best showers of my life, for those who are keeping track.
A shower and an actual bed for a few hours... it's the little things in life, really!
Our chariot awaits!
I felt somewhat more refreshed the next morning, but I was anxious to get home. At that point I had been traveling for nearly 80 hours.
I am now a Silver member on Emirates - that's what happens when you have to fly halfway around the world to go home and see your mommy! Silver status gets me into the shiny lounges with the fancy people (which is under construction in JFK, but I am happy to say that it is up and running in Dubai!). On Sunday morning, I settled into a cozy chair and sipped some sparkling water while I watched more SVU until it was time to board. The lounge life really has changed things for me... especially on that particular trip!
I swear, the Dubai Airport is from the future.
Our flight to Yangon was delayed a bit (of course), but I was so relieved to finally arrive in my city. As I headed down the escalator, my heart sank when I saw the line at passport control. It's always bad in the new terminal, but this was a whole new level of bad.
Cue heart break...
More than two hours later, I finally made my way to baggage claim. I was relieved to find that my bags made the trip! Despite being completely exhausted, I was pretty proud of myself for keeping my cool throughout all the chaos. I even managed to stay positive through most of it... until I got to the taxi stand in Yangon. They wanted to charge me an absurd amount of money to get home. Apparently I decided to take all of my frustrations out on that guy. Oops.
I found someone else to take me home for a reasonable price (taxis are negotiated rather than metered in Yangon). We hit some traffic of course, and almost one hour later, I finally made it to my apartment door.
Home sweet home never looked so good 💙
Those who know me well also know that I don't take sick days very often. I arrived home on Sunday evening after traveling for four solid days. In that time, I had slept on a bench with strangers (cross that off the ol' bucket list!), on an airplane, and in two different hotels. I was so happy to finally be in my own bed, and I actually took a day off work to recover. I'm glad I did because I really struggled with the jet lag this time (can't imagine why!). The first week back is always brutal, but this one was especially tough for me. I did manage to submit all my grades, start to plan some lessons and meet some deadlines... but most importantly (to me), I managed to continue my morning workouts. That sunrise run really made up for some of my jet lag battles.
Love.
Almost two weeks later, and I am finally back to normal.... at least, as normal as it gets around here.
No comments:
Post a Comment