2Corinthians 12:9

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"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." -2 Corinthians 12:9

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A Hop, Skip and a Jump Away...

I really do wish that Thailand was only a hop, skip and a jump away from Boston, MA. Unfortunately, it was more like 5 flights, approximately 25 hours on planes, and 10 hours in layovers (consider these figures to be conservative) before I arrived in Bangkok from Boston. I boarded my first flight around 10am on December 26th and it was about 1pm before I walked off the plane in the Bangkok airport.

I have written about 3 posts so far with some background information about the people who I experienced this trip with, but I have forgotten (until today!) to tell you all about just how I got there physically and literally.

December 26: 4:45am- Sean and I reluctantly got out of bed left the house around 5:45am to head to Logan Airport
7:30am- arrived at Logan Airport, said goodbye to Sean, made my way through security
9:30am- after sitting around for awhile I finally boarded my first flight to JFK Airport

Logan to JFK = 1.5 hours
3 hour layover
JFK to LAX = 5.5 hours
4 hour layover
LAX to Guam = 12.5 hours
1 hour ground layover to refuel
Guam to Manila, Philippines = 3 hours
3 hour layover
Manila to Bangkok = 3 hours
Left Boston on December 26th at 10am and landed in Bangkok, Thailand on December 28th at 1pm.

From Cape Cod to Logan to JFK to Lax- total = 18.5 hours

From Lax to Guam to Manila to Bangkok- total = 22.5 hours


Complete trip half way around the world- total = 41 hours

So there you have it! That's how you get from Boston, MA to Bangkok, Thailand. So was it really that bad though? Well, at times yes! Standing in a tiny plane aisle, constantly dodging flight attendants, waiting TWENTY minutes for people to get out of the bathroom because I hadn't peed in 10 hours was no fun. Nor was the endless battle to keep myself warm enough to at least attempt sleep. Yes, they give you blankets on long flights but even with two sweatshirts on and that blanket I was still freezing. And heck yes the food was AWFUL! Trust me, the caps are appropriate and necessary here. Way over salted and the same thing for "dinner" and "breakfast" (we didn't actually know what time or what meal it was supposed to be...all just seemed like one LONG day). The meal: mystery meat (pork?) and rice with a really strange mushroom...same for "breakfast."

Those are some of the most memorable moments that made the journey tough. But I'm alive and it honestly could have been a lot worse. So my honest answer is no, its not that bad to travel for 41 hours straight. My suggestions? Bring lots of sleeping pills, layers, extra food, and toiletries and a change of clothes to cleanup during layovers and you'll still be at least almost smiling when you land at your destination.

NEXT TIME: Here, There, Everywhere- Our 10 Day Journey Through Thailand and Laos.

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