For the next six weeks or so, I will be travelling throughout Southeast Asia. This blog will mainly serve to inform family that I am in fact still alive, and have not disappeared. For those looking for something particularly insightful and enlightening, please look elsewhere (unless you find detailed hockey rants and/or in-depth description of airline/airplane trips particularly enjoyable).
The recent news of the incident with the United plane at Denver is merely the latest in a series of ominous signs that would likely lead any rational person to abandon an ambitious six week trip. First bad omen: when I tried to book airfare, the website (Orbitz or Travelocity) wouldn't let me, so I had to go on the actual airline's (Cathay Pacific) website to do so, costing me an additional amount of money. Second bad omen: The recent protests in Thailand that have prompted the Thai PM to declare a state of emergency, and have resulted in protestors breaking into parliament. Third bad omen: the recent 7.7 magnitude earthquake in North Sumatra, near one of the areas that I would be passing through. At this rate, the "big one" will hit San Francisco and cause the SFO runways to liquefy just as my flight from Dallas is touching down.
For those of y'all (read: Becky, Mom and Dad, and my brother) actually interested in my itinerary for the next day and want to follow along via a flight tracking website, here goes:
AA 1575 dep DFW 2150, arr SFO 2340.
CX 873 dep SFO 0120, arr HKG 0625.
CX723 dep HKG 0850, arr KUL 1230.
Total flight time will be about 24 hours, and total trip time including layovers about 28 hours--relatively reasonable for flying Dallas-Southeast Asia. As a point of reference, the last time I flew from Dallas-Southeast Asia, I flew DFW-LAX-SIN-BKK, which took forty hours thanks mainly to an 8 hour layover in the Singapore Airport. And, in case y'all were wondering, an 8 hour layover is easily long enough for an 18-year old kid obsessed with airplanes and airports to somehow get bored in what is arguably the best airport in the world.
Dear Charlie -
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you are providing this blog! I will regularly check for updates. The way I look at the omens you listed - this is information that years ago we would not have been aware of, nor cared about and probably would not have affected our lives. So, I am confident all will be just fine for Charlie! Your airplane trip sounds really awful, however. I want you to have the time of your life - I am so excited for you and guess the real reason I encouraged the blog, I can live through your experiences! All good luck, enjoy every day, and for goodness sake, BE CAREFUL!! all my love, Becky