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After two months in Europe, we’re lastly dwelling! 💕 (Nicely, dwelling till Sunday, after which we’re off as soon as once more!)
Heath and I’ve been touring collectively for ten years and we’ve skilled all of the ups and downs that include it—operating by airports, getting misplaced in practice stations, boarding a bus and realizing we hadn’t purchased tickets, trying a good flip and pinning our RV and tow dolly towards one another…
It’s all made us an awesome touring group.
However getting stateside from Europe was a saga.
It began the day earlier than we left the US after I realized that the youngsters and I had been booked to return to the states on June 18th…
And Heath was booked on the seventeenth.
I child you not, we talked to TEN totally different brokers at Delta over the course of two weeks earlier than somebody may get us all on the identical flight dwelling. It was insane and demanding and value $1,000.
As soon as we lastly obtained that flight sorted, we checked out our calendar.
Fly from Italy to Texas on the 18th, drive again to Colorado after a number of days visiting household, Heath flies to a enterprise convention on the twenty second, and we depart for Mexico on July third…
On paper, all of our journey plans labored, but it surely didn’t give us a lot time at dwelling to reset earlier than our subsequent worldwide journey.
So we rescheduled our flights to June ninth, which magically saved us $600 of the $1,000 we simply spent and gave us again 50,000 miles. Good!
(For the document, we had truly tried to do that earlier when rebooking Heath’s flight, however the Delta agent that day mentioned “there are NO days in June that may match all four of you on the identical flight.” 🤷🏻♀️)
Flying is loopy proper now.
You’ve in all probability heard that on the information or seen it from associates’ posts on-line or perhaps even skilled the loopy your self.
We skilled a lot loopy as we simply tried to ebook and reschedule flights. It made us that rather more prepared to simply get dwelling.
On the morning of June ninth, we wakened with every thing packed. All we wanted to do was fold up Eli’s journey crib and carry his automobile seat out to our rental automobile.
House was two flights away.
I noticed Heath’s cellphone mild up on the nightstand as I walked towards the lavatory one final time to test one final time if we had been leaving something behind.
“Delta: Your flight has been canceled. See app for extra particulars.”
I finished in my tracks and groaned.
I had simply sufficient diapers and child meals left for in the future. We had been able to be again in our own residence after hopping round Airbnbs and inns throughout Italy. We had been so shut.
In a flurry, Heath and Ellie headed for the airport since we nonetheless had a deadline for returning our rental automobile whereas I stayed again within the lodge with Eli. We booked one other night time to present us a spot to remain whereas we discovered after we may get a flight dwelling.
After an hour of limbo ready for America to get up so we may speak to customer support, we obtained the notification that we had been mechanically rebooked for the next day…
ON DIFFERENT FLIGHTS.
And as soon as once more, nobody at Delta may get us on the identical flight.
Heath and I had been sitting on the ground of the hallway outdoors our lodge room with my purse propping the door open. The children napped within the room whereas we balanced laptops on our knees making journey plans. Our suitcases had been piled up subsequent to the door ready to go someplace.
A number of lodge workers got here by asking if we wanted a baggage cart or assist to get someplace.
Sure, we may use assist getting someplace.
Form of appears inconceivable in the mean time.
It was readily obvious that there was no option to get us dwelling any time quickly. In between replies from Delta, Heath and I began fascinated about our choices.
We may muddle by extra frustration in rebooking return flights, or we may change our strategy.
“You realize what?” I texted Delta—which is the one perk of coping with flight hassle in 2022. You’ll be able to simply textual content brokers. “Simply cancel all four tickets.”
We had been already in Europe. We had already endured a lot flight drama. We wanted a brand new strategy. A clear slate.
We determined our new journey rule was that if our flight will get canceled leaving us semi-stranded abroad, we prolong our journey and do one thing enjoyable to make up for it.
I shortly discovered low cost last-minute flights to London and used lodge factors to seize a free three-night keep close to Huge Bend on the River Thames.
Heath was thrilled when he came upon you possibly can practice to Paris from London AND fly straight from Paris to Dallas, so he booked us practice tickets to France.
And with our new last-minute journey plans, he discovered a room for 2 nights at Disneyland Paris on Expedia.
Fish and chips. Curry. Hyde Park. Eiffel Tower. Ache au chocolat. Disney. Macarons.
Heath and I clearly journey with meals within the forefront of our minds 😂
For the subsequent week, we went full vacationer mode exploring London and Paris earlier than spending three days at Disney.
(Three days as a result of within the Uber midway to the Paris airport we obtained the alert that our flight was delayed 12 hours, so why not return to Disney Village and probe for yet another day? The flight drama by no means ends.)
That final, spontaneous week was the spotlight of our journey.
When our flight out of Italy obtained canceled, we had been at max capability with stress.
We’d already been by the wringer with journey drama that week—like how the rental automobile firm gave away our automobile and had zero automobiles left leaving us stranded in a small city with no cabs and a thirty-minute stroll to the closest transit station. (A 30-minute stroll with a three-year-old, a child, a automobile seat, and all our baggage, thoughts you.)
Journey was kicking our butts huge time.
Sitting within the hallway of our lodge in Florence, we knew that even when we magically obtained on the identical flight dwelling, we’d be leaving on this sour be aware of every thing going unsuitable.
That further week value us more cash. It was unexpectedly thrown collectively and a little bit demanding with us reserving lodge nights the identical day we wanted them and reserving flights dwelling 48 hours earlier than boarding.
However we ended on a excessive be aware after a very enjoyable week.
It feels so good to be dwelling!
Not less than till Sunday, after we head off to the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Our son may have visited 4 nations earlier than he’s even a 12 months previous. Heath says if we stick with it, we will get him as much as 100 nations earlier than he graduates highschool 😂
Who is aware of, perhaps our flights dwelling from Mexico will probably be canceled too and subsequent you hear from me we’ll be exploring Central America, making lemonade out of lemons 🍋
