China- Off we goooooo!
I'm a huge procrastinator with travel anxiety to boot. It's a fun inner conflict I battle every time we travel. So, it comes as no surprise to me when it's the day before our trip and we have nothing packed and my nerves are on edge. I'm fully aware of how to fix the problem, I just choose not to. It's a horrible cycle, really. haha
I manage to get all four of us packed, yes with the help of the others. The house is in somewhat of a manageable way to leave it. The garbage is out, there are no dirty dishes and apart from the left over laundry we didn't end up packing on my mad dash to wash everything we own, we will be able to come home and not worry about cleaning up two messes. Our friends and neighbors have been given explicit details on how to care for our beloved Oki while we are away and so we are off.
Our travel starts like any other. Mad dash to the meeting place, the kids argue who gets to sit next to who or who is in the isle or the window on the ride to the airport, we check and re-check to make sure we have ALL the paperwork needed for travel and the drive to the airport is usually full of traffic. We get to the airport and line up to check-in. Anyone who has lived overseas as a military family knows the struggle that is the check-in counter (or maybe you are the lucky few who don't). It seems that no matter how many documents we carry to quicken the process (we usually travel with papers we know we don't need, but then end up needing), it always seems to take us 30mins from arriving to the counter to leaving it. For those who don't know, we must travel with the following items:
-Passport. Tourist is the easiest, however if you were issued the no-fee you MUST travel with two passports. The No-fee is to be used for official use only and if caught using for leisure, the country with which you enter can detain you. We had to do this in England, learning from that experience and now only carry/renew the tourist.
-Orders. These are documents that state the military member is working at the local base and has a list of dependents the military has approved to come along. Shane's has M on the back, so we began highlighting the important details and the "see other side" so they find her on the paperwork.
-Leave Papers- These papers are kind of self explanatory. They state the military member has taken leave and it has been approved. I suppose it helps to keep people from going AWOL.
-Re-entry stamp- In England we did not need this as we had a Visa in our No-Fee passports. However in Okinawa, they give you a stamp instead. When we arrived on island, we weren't given this stamp and therefore had to go to the base terminal and have one placed in our passports. When you renew a passport, you have to do this again. It is basically the same thing as a visa and signifies that we are allowed in Okinawa for the time of our "tour." If you do not have this stamp upon leaving/arriving the island, they are supposed to turn you away.
-SURF- This is a paper I know absolutely nothing about. It says almost all the same things as the military members Orders do. However, we learned last year when Shane was extended that they do not amend your orders to show the extension. This paper, does show that change and we now have to carry it as well.
-Military ID- Yup, we pull those bad boys out, too. :)
-Hotel, Itinerary, Flight info- Can't forget about all these! We usually hand carry these papers in case our phone batteries die.
All of these papers (yes even our itinerary and hotel papers) are always looked over. We've even done the "give them only what they need" and we still end up pulling the others out. Meanwhile, the people we travel with just zip on through. We all carry the same info and yet, it takes us longer. Just another thing I mentally prepare for when traveling. :)
Finally we are boarding the plane. It's usually the same thing, Shane in one isle and I'm in another. It is also the same with the kids, Shane with TK and M with me. There was one trip where M was placed in an isle without either of us parents, it was funny. M begs to sit in the window seat, so I obliged. As we settle into our seats, I am approached by another flyer who is looking at their ticket and then my seat. No english is spoken, so I could only assume he was questioning my seating arrangements. After a few looks and hand gestures towards the ticket, the flight attendant moves him along. I stare at Shane perplexed and then continue to settle in for the flight. Then another person approaches me and does the exact same thing. I pull out my ticket as the flight attendant approaches. It is then that I realize I have the same seat number as the gate number and everyone who was getting on the plane, was looking at the giant gate number instead of their actual seat number. The flight attendant moves the passenger along like the other before. I kindly smile as this happens a few more times before everyone is seated. In all the times we've flown, this is the first time that has happened. With everyone in their correct seats and the plane door shut, I hurriedly take the video of M just before turning off my phone.
We take off and land uneventfully. While doing both, I took note that the child who so desperately needed to sit next to the window, never once looked out it. For someone who enjoys taking in the scenery (and those who know my love for clouds), I took good note of this. :) As we landed in China, the sun that wasn't quite setting disappeared amongst the smog, something I knew existed but was so fascinated to see first hand. We de-planed and met up with our Japanese guides. We were doing an airport transfer, so we collected our luggage and headed out to find the Local guide. This is when Shane and TK got lost and in turn got our Japanese guides, myself and M lost trying to find them and then getting all six of us lost trying to find the bus that was transferring us. It's a funny story and one I hope to remember to give him crap for. We make it to the bus and proceed with our travels, Shane making note that he was "that guy" you dread during a group trip (don't worry, he wasn't the only one this trip). We finally arrive at the other Shanghai airport and wait for our next flight into Beijing. While waiting, the kids had a giggle about the "ewing" escalator and that during our travels M is almost always a mess or someone has ran into her. We finally boarded the next plane, landed without issue, met our official guide (Sunny!) and made it to our hotel for the next few days. Ah sleep, you are so welcomed after a day of travel!
I manage to get all four of us packed, yes with the help of the others. The house is in somewhat of a manageable way to leave it. The garbage is out, there are no dirty dishes and apart from the left over laundry we didn't end up packing on my mad dash to wash everything we own, we will be able to come home and not worry about cleaning up two messes. Our friends and neighbors have been given explicit details on how to care for our beloved Oki while we are away and so we are off.
Our travel starts like any other. Mad dash to the meeting place, the kids argue who gets to sit next to who or who is in the isle or the window on the ride to the airport, we check and re-check to make sure we have ALL the paperwork needed for travel and the drive to the airport is usually full of traffic. We get to the airport and line up to check-in. Anyone who has lived overseas as a military family knows the struggle that is the check-in counter (or maybe you are the lucky few who don't). It seems that no matter how many documents we carry to quicken the process (we usually travel with papers we know we don't need, but then end up needing), it always seems to take us 30mins from arriving to the counter to leaving it. For those who don't know, we must travel with the following items:
-Passport. Tourist is the easiest, however if you were issued the no-fee you MUST travel with two passports. The No-fee is to be used for official use only and if caught using for leisure, the country with which you enter can detain you. We had to do this in England, learning from that experience and now only carry/renew the tourist.
-Orders. These are documents that state the military member is working at the local base and has a list of dependents the military has approved to come along. Shane's has M on the back, so we began highlighting the important details and the "see other side" so they find her on the paperwork.
-Leave Papers- These papers are kind of self explanatory. They state the military member has taken leave and it has been approved. I suppose it helps to keep people from going AWOL.
-Re-entry stamp- In England we did not need this as we had a Visa in our No-Fee passports. However in Okinawa, they give you a stamp instead. When we arrived on island, we weren't given this stamp and therefore had to go to the base terminal and have one placed in our passports. When you renew a passport, you have to do this again. It is basically the same thing as a visa and signifies that we are allowed in Okinawa for the time of our "tour." If you do not have this stamp upon leaving/arriving the island, they are supposed to turn you away.
-SURF- This is a paper I know absolutely nothing about. It says almost all the same things as the military members Orders do. However, we learned last year when Shane was extended that they do not amend your orders to show the extension. This paper, does show that change and we now have to carry it as well.
-Military ID- Yup, we pull those bad boys out, too. :)
-Hotel, Itinerary, Flight info- Can't forget about all these! We usually hand carry these papers in case our phone batteries die.
All of these papers (yes even our itinerary and hotel papers) are always looked over. We've even done the "give them only what they need" and we still end up pulling the others out. Meanwhile, the people we travel with just zip on through. We all carry the same info and yet, it takes us longer. Just another thing I mentally prepare for when traveling. :)
Finally we are boarding the plane. It's usually the same thing, Shane in one isle and I'm in another. It is also the same with the kids, Shane with TK and M with me. There was one trip where M was placed in an isle without either of us parents, it was funny. M begs to sit in the window seat, so I obliged. As we settle into our seats, I am approached by another flyer who is looking at their ticket and then my seat. No english is spoken, so I could only assume he was questioning my seating arrangements. After a few looks and hand gestures towards the ticket, the flight attendant moves him along. I stare at Shane perplexed and then continue to settle in for the flight. Then another person approaches me and does the exact same thing. I pull out my ticket as the flight attendant approaches. It is then that I realize I have the same seat number as the gate number and everyone who was getting on the plane, was looking at the giant gate number instead of their actual seat number. The flight attendant moves the passenger along like the other before. I kindly smile as this happens a few more times before everyone is seated. In all the times we've flown, this is the first time that has happened. With everyone in their correct seats and the plane door shut, I hurriedly take the video of M just before turning off my phone.
We take off and land uneventfully. While doing both, I took note that the child who so desperately needed to sit next to the window, never once looked out it. For someone who enjoys taking in the scenery (and those who know my love for clouds), I took good note of this. :) As we landed in China, the sun that wasn't quite setting disappeared amongst the smog, something I knew existed but was so fascinated to see first hand. We de-planed and met up with our Japanese guides. We were doing an airport transfer, so we collected our luggage and headed out to find the Local guide. This is when Shane and TK got lost and in turn got our Japanese guides, myself and M lost trying to find them and then getting all six of us lost trying to find the bus that was transferring us. It's a funny story and one I hope to remember to give him crap for. We make it to the bus and proceed with our travels, Shane making note that he was "that guy" you dread during a group trip (don't worry, he wasn't the only one this trip). We finally arrive at the other Shanghai airport and wait for our next flight into Beijing. While waiting, the kids had a giggle about the "ewing" escalator and that during our travels M is almost always a mess or someone has ran into her. We finally boarded the next plane, landed without issue, met our official guide (Sunny!) and made it to our hotel for the next few days. Ah sleep, you are so welcomed after a day of travel!
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