From Beijing to Ottawa....in 48 Hours!

7 September 2009

So, you’ve packed everything trying to balance out the weights of the bags and decided what you are going to wear on the plane as well as changes of clothes on the long journey. You’ve prepared yourself mentally – I can move back to Ottawa and it will be OK…and you think - it’s only a 20 hour commute and the kids will be fine.

Not really…

Off the airport on Sunday morning. We decided to take the subway and express train. We got to the Asiana Airlines counter only to be told that while our Beijing to Seoul segment was on time, our travel agent (who I had fired several weeks before) booked us on the Seoul to Ottawa flight NEXT FRIDAY….*&^&%!!

We spent the next several hours on the floor of the airport, talking to a variety of airlines, revising our budget and idea of what we were to do and thankfully, hours on the free wifi network of the airport browsing the Internet looking for options.

At one point we were going to go to Seoul and stay there for five days but we had wrapped our minds around going back to Canada. In the end, we cancelled our tickets, booked new ones via San Francisco and Chicago, handed over our credit card with our eyes closed and booked ourselves into an airport hotel up the road.

This was disappointment but of course part of the adventure. Wrapped in disappointment during the eye of the storm was of course anger, stress, upset etc.

But as I write this, we are on the final leg from Chicago to Ottawa. We are hopeful that Canada Customs will be there smiling and welcoming us home (uh-huh…) and that everyone will sleep soundly (uh-huh….). We left Beijing for the second time about 20 hours ago. The flights and connections have been reasonable but I would not say we are looking our best…blood shot eyes, upset stomachs – the fun of international travel with a family of five.

There is lots to look forward to and lots to look back on over the past 9+ weeks of our trek through South East Asia and China and the previous 2.5 years in Melbourne. What a privilege it has been. So now we begin the next chapter with a few stressful weeks of getting set up, buying a car, getting the kids in school and starting new jobs. There will always be something to look forward to. As for the kids, they have already started to plan the next family trip which involves Egypt, Fiji, Laos and France. I guess its time to head back to work.

Stay tuned for more adventures and stories from the Family of Five!