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After two months in Europe, we’re lastly house! 💕 (Properly, house 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 means of airports, getting misplaced in practice stations, boarding a bus and realizing we hadn’t purchased tickets, making an attempt a decent flip and pinning our RV and tow dolly towards one another…
It’s all made us a fantastic 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 children and I have 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 house. It was insane and worrying and value $1,000.
As soon as we lastly bought that flight sorted, we checked out our calendar.
Fly from Italy to Texas on the 18th, drive again to Colorado after a couple of days visiting household, Heath flies to a enterprise convention on the twenty second, and we go away for Mexico on July third…
On paper, all of our journey plans labored, but it surely didn’t give us a lot time at house 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 file, we had really tried to do that earlier when rebooking Heath’s flight, however the Delta agent that day stated “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 e book and reschedule flights. It made us that rather more prepared to only get house.
On the morning of June ninth, we awoke with every part packed. All we would have liked 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 gentle up on the nightstand as I walked towards the toilet one final time to verify one final time if we have 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 someday. We have been able to be again in our own residence after hopping round Airbnbs and lodges throughout Italy. We have 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 resort with Eli. We booked one other night time to provide us a spot to remain whereas we discovered after we may get a flight house.
After an hour of limbo ready for America to get up so we may discuss to customer support, we bought the notification that we have been routinely 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 have been sitting on the ground of the hallway outdoors our resort room with my purse propping the door open. The youngsters napped within the room whereas we balanced laptops on our knees making journey plans. Our suitcases have been piled up subsequent to the door ready to go someplace.
A number of resort staff got here by asking if we would have liked a baggage cart or assist to get someplace.
Sure, we may use assist getting someplace.
Form of appears unimaginable in the meanwhile.
It was readily obvious that there was no technique to get us house any time quickly. In between replies from Delta, Heath and I began fascinated by our choices.
We may muddle by means of 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 possibly can simply textual content brokers. “Simply cancel all four tickets.”
We have 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 out of the country, we lengthen our journey and do one thing enjoyable to make up for it.
I rapidly discovered low cost last-minute flights to London and used resort 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 instantly 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 bought the alert that our flight was delayed 12 hours, so why not return to Disney Village and probe for 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 bought canceled, we have been at max capability with stress.
We’d already been by means of 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 resort in Florence, we knew that even when we magically bought on the identical flight house, we might be leaving on this sour be aware of every part going incorrect.
That additional week value us more cash. It was unexpectedly thrown collectively and a bit worrying with us reserving resort nights the identical day we would have liked them and reserving flights house 48 hours earlier than boarding.
However we ended on a excessive be aware after a extremely enjoyable week.
It feels so good to be house!
A minimum of till Sunday, after we head off to the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Our son can have visited 4 nations earlier than he’s even a yr previous. Heath says if we stick with it, we are able to get him as much as 100 nations earlier than he graduates highschool 😂
Who is aware of, perhaps our flights house from Mexico can be canceled too and subsequent you hear from me we’ll be exploring Central America, making lemonade out of lemons 🍋