October 18, 2008
My journey has begun. I am settled into my business class seat on United 837 from SFO-PVG (Shanghai). The guy next to me is an American ex-pat who has lived in Shanghai for the last 5 years, and he has basically given me so much information that I don’t even need to open the Time Out Shanghai guide that I have tucked into my seat back pocket.
I am embarking on a trip that will last almost four weeks and will cover seven countries: China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Botswana got the last minute axe as I refined the itinerary. I can always go back…it is enough for now.
Today started off early from Chicago with an 8am flight to SFO. The upgrade cleared early, so that was one segment I didn’t have to worry about. Unfortunately the long haul flight from SFO-PVG had not yet cleared as of this morning. I had been keeping tabs on the flight and I knew that it was still showing C9 as of this morning. The agent at ORD told me that I was #3 on the upgrade list, so I wasn’t freaking out quite yet… The upgrade didn’t actually clear until the gate – the nice agent called my name right as First/Business boarding started. I has already checked in with him and the ‘when we clear upgrades we will call your name’ comment given with a smile and a wink had calmed my fear of sitting in coach for 12.5 hours across the Pacific. Still, I think this was the latest clearing upgrade I’ve had since the SIN-HKG-ORD flights back in 2002 that cleared at the last minute to the immense relief of both me and my travel companion.
I will spend two days in Shanghai – the least amount of time that I will spend anywhere on this trip except Bangkok (but I’ve been to Bangkok numerous times, and it is really just a connection point between Beijing and Siem Reap, Cambodia). My seatmate thinks this is not enough time. I tell him I will come back. My trip is about the journey as much as the destinations. We made friends with the people across the aisle and share a glass of wine and, later, a glass of port. I think it is funny how amazed everyone is that I am doing this trip on my own – the underlying comment being ‘as a female’! lol.
This is a completely flexible trip, and yet I have some plans – a drinks/dinner outing with a travel group in Capetown, drinks in Beijing with a fellow wanderer, a delta cruise in Vietnam with friends that I met many years ago in my travels….and of course, there are always the random meetings along the way with other travelers that result in the moments you recall with a laugh for years to come.
For now I am going to recline my seat and read. I have a stack of about 15 magazines that have piled up in my house over the last months that I am going to finally read. Some may be outdated… the March ‘Shape’ I just read was all about making the most of your summer. LOL. I guess that means something different to everyone. I made the most of my summer by racking up as many ‘faster free nights’ at Hyatts as I could to use on my travels. J I also have quite a few chick lit books with me that I have inherited from Bridget but never got around to reading. I have about 30,000 miles worth of travel in these four weeks…that is a lot of blissful time on airplanes to eat, drink, read, make friends, sleep, relax, watch movies….
Have I mentioned that I love to travel?
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1 comment:
Sounds like a great start to me!
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