Embarking on the Journey

It’s always hard leaving on a trip like this.  The interminable waiting times in too many lines, the awkward roller-coaster emotions of saying good-bye, trying to anticipate everything that will come up, knowing that it will be something you least expect.  It’s better when finally settled into the travel, and even better when the destination has been reached... only to do it all over again when returning home.

This is the longest that Deb and I have been separated in 36 years of marriage.  So how do you get enough hugs and affection to tide you over for the 18 days of separation?  I don’t think that’s possible.

I left home at 10am, carrying two suitcases weighing just under the limit of 50 pounds, a roller bag full of clothes and other essentials, and a backpack with the computer, the essential paperwork and travel documents, a bunch of snacks, and some cash.

Driving to Chicago was uneventful.  We dropped off the car, rode a shuttle to Terminal 5, and made it to the check-in counter quite early.  We were the first in line.  We had to wait for just under a half hour as the check-in counter wasn’t even open yet.

First snag of the trip:  Carry-ons are limited to 12 kilograms combined.  My two bags weighed in at 19 kilograms.  I was going to try to remove some items and stuff them into one of the checked bags, but realized it would be difficult to shed 7 kilograms of stuff in a reasonable amount of time.  So I finally transferred some snacks to the rollerbag from my backpack, transferred my camera from the rollerbag to my back pack, and let the gate agent check in the rollerbag.  If they lose that bag, I will have nothing to wear and I will be missing a camera lens and the remote controller for my drone.  There wasn’t much time to think about the redistribution. So I hope the bag makes it to the other end.

I also received a call from Zhen.  Seems he was working on his car and the battery ran dead.  Deb went to rescue him but he did manage to get it started.  Something like this always happens when I travel.  Something breaks, dies, or is otherwise rendered inoperative.  Hopefully this is the only thing.

We are now sitting at the gate, boarding in just under an hour.  We walked the entire length of terminal 5 from end to end, had a so-so meal at one of the concessionaires, and are now sitting with a full flight of people all going to Amsterdam.