LIFE UNLEASHED

Nearly a year after leaving Sydney we found ourselves heading home to Manly.  Little did we know, the adventure was not quite finished.  After a fantastic dinner of mussels on Cottlesloe Beach in Perth we boarded our plane the next morning excited about going home and reminiscing about our adventures past.

BUMP BUMP.  A bit of turbulence.

“Would all passengers & crew members sit down immediately”  the pilot announced.

That was a bit brief, I thought.  But when 20 minutes past without turbulence and the seat belt sign went off I went back to my book without a second thought.  Ok, maybe my second thought was that the pilot needed to improve his ‘pilot-side’ manner.

BUMP BUMP.  About 20 minutes from landing.

“Would all passengers & crew members fasten seatbelts” the pilot announced.  “There’s a bit of weather in Sydney” I hear a stewardess say to a fellow passenger.

Oh well, we’ve flown in snow & wind in North America.  Can’t be that bad.

JIGGLE, JIGGLE, BUMP, BUMP, WOOOOOSHHHHH.  Seems a bit windy. The sky all of sudden goes black and we notice rain outside the window.  Followed by a few cracks of thunder.  Oh and lightning too.  That’s when the plane starts swaying side to side.  That’s when I grab Brad’s hand.  The kids around us are laughing.  It’s like a roller coaster afterall.

After a few more big BUMPS our plane drops a few hundred meters down.  Ooops.  I guess the pilot is finding the weather a bit worse than ground control told him.  That’s followed by the plane tipping sharply to one side.  By this point my hand has taken to gripping Brad’s and the tears are streaming.  Admitably, I’m also a bit angry too –after 30 flights this year it’s going to end on the last one!!!!  NO WAY.

This continues for 15 minutes as we fight through the clouds and past the increasing lightning outside the window.  You’d think when the landing gear came down we’d feel relieved but not on this flight.  As the landing gear deploys there is the loudest sound I’ve ever heard in my life on an airplane.  Like an engine ripping open or a train plowing into the plane.  HMMM.  I guess it’s a bit windy out there.  Do we still have landing gear?

As you can gather from the fact that I’m writing this post, the plane did eventually land.  I should correct – the LAST plane of the evening eventually landed as once off the plane we noticed all other flights had been diverted.

“Just wanted to thank you all for your understanding during landing.  We do our best in weather but obviously there were some challenges up there” the pilot announces after we’ve reached the gate.  I think he was too scared to say anything before that point.

I came close to kissing the ground.  WELCOME HOME!!!!!!

We then stood around for 11/2 hours waiting for our luggage because it was considered too dangerous for the ground staff to unload the luggage.

Too dangerous to unload the luggage but not to dangerous to land the plane.

The next morning we awoke to what seemed like Armageddon.  The Sydney dust storm turned the whole city orange and made many worry the world was ending.  As for me, I looked out the window, said ‘Hmm. That’s interesting” and went back to sleep.  After the night before, not even the end of the world seemed all that bad.

After nearly a year of travel we were bound to have a few flight/airport stories. But really, who wants to listen to us winge? I guess our poor blog readers will Let the winging begin…

It all started out well on our flight from Toronto to LA. Lisa even convinced ground staff to let us into the American Airlines lounge in LA for free food & internet. If you give them a big enough sob story you can get into any airport lounge in the world (remember she learned a lot about getting what you want using the best story in India!).

An hour later we boarded the new Qantas double decker A380 aircraft bound for Melbourne, Australia. Four hours later we were still taxiing around the runway while Qantas said they were working on a problem with the main landing gear that would not allow it to be retracted once airborne. Shortly after that they pulled in to a gate to allow “engineers” on board to fix the problem. To our dismay these engineers carried guns and LAPD badges and removed 3 passengers. Another hour later waiting for the “landing gear” problem to be fixed while they unloaded the prisoner baggage and we were finally off. No problem they said, we would make up a couple hours in the air plus we had a few extra hours in Melbourne to catch our flight to Perth. About an hour before landing they said “Ummmm, we have another problem.  Melbourne won’t let us land because of strong winds so we are being redirected to Sydney but don’t worry we’ll put you on connecting flights to your final destination”. What they failed to mention was if they would include our luggage on the connecting flights. And… they followed through by not sending us our luggage for a full 48 hours.

Worst flight connections ever but at least the A380 is pretty cool. Heaps of legroom and hundred of movies on your wide screen in-seat entertainment unit. That is, if you can distract yourself from the drama unfolding in the aisle.

Lisa - “We’re taking too much stuff”

Brad - “No, it’s fine”

Lisa - “Seriously, my backpack won’t shut”

Brad - “No, it’s fine”

Lisa - “It weighs a ton”

Brad - “We’ll hire Sherpas”

Lisa - “Where are we going to find Sherpas in Japan?”

Brad - “Snow monkeys then”

Lisa - “What??!!”

Brad - “Alex told me they ‘re working as waiters in Japan. I’m sure a team of snow monkeys could carry our bags”.

Lisa - PAUSE……“We’re taking too much stuff”.

(Note: Check out “Monkey Waiters” on U-tube)

And so our travel preparations go. No matter how many times we embark on long term travel the same preparation ’stresses’ occur. I worry about bringing too much stuff, about cancelling bills, getting the house packed up, which countries require Visas, what vaccinations we need & what those vaccinations are doing to my body (which by the way is valid considering we were given live vaccines for….count them… 8 deadly diseases –Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Typoid, Cholera, Hep A, Hep B, Japanes Enchipilitus, Rabies). In other words, pre-travel I worry a lot. Of course, worry is not a new thing for me :)  But reducing your life to 10 kg on your back requires a process of elimination. Gradually as the trip progresses, so too will the elimination of my worries.

Brad on the other hand kept telling me how great everything would be. He researched electronics stores in Tokyo, WWII wreck diving in Micronesia, street food he will eat in India and work regulations of native monkeys in various countries. Even more important, how to say ‘monkey’ in every country we will visit.

Japan - “Saru”

Thailand - “Ling”

The lesson from this is that travel requires balance. Preparation & planning balanced with fun & spontaneity. Awareness of word issues balanced with openness to new cultures & ideas.  12 year old backpack filled with life essentials balanced with a plane ticket & the willingness to hit the road.

I think we’re ready.

But are the monkeys?