Odds and Ends – Airports, Transfers & Flying With Kids

 Since starting this trip December 17^th, I figure we have been on almost 20 flights through Honolulu, Seattle, Orlando, Miami, Lima, Cusco, Lima, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Auckland, Sydney, Singapore, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing… and not one piece of lost luggage (and I’m knocking on wood here).

 Lauren and Katie now make these airport transfers almost effortlessly. It has taken them awhile to learn how to make their time in airports easier.  In the beginning, they were weighted down by all their “fun” belongings, which they insisted on bringing with them on the plane.  They could barely carry their backpacks through the terminals.  Katie, for example: four stuffed animals, portable DVD player, Walkman with headphones, case of DVDs, case of music CDs, deck of cards, travel journals (one for drawing and one for words) coloring book, crayons, pens and colored pencils, candy, gum, mints, small checkers game, Rubix Cube, Gameboy and games – and I know I am missing a few things.  Eventually I made them realize that you put into checked luggage the items you really don’t plan on using on the plane.  Now, they have a bit of leg room and their backpacks are lighter for our treks through airports.

 Customs and immigration on arrival has been challenging for us all.  Usually we are exhausted, and the lines are very long.  Our flights tend to arrive at terrible hours.  We have to fill out arrival cards with all of our information before we get into line.  Sometimes they give them to us on the plane and Todd fills them out.  Katie and Lauren have become very good at signing their names.  More and more we are working together as a team and tempers are less frayed.  One of the hardest parts of traveling is being tired and hungry and not being entirely sure when we will get to a bed or find a meal.

 The Gameboys have been great.  Todd was against us bringing them, but I said please, since I am the least patient of the family and knew they would give us a reprieve if traveling got tough.  There have been many times when we have had to wait, for flights, cars, tours to start, you name it and the girls always have entertainment.  This got even better for them when they found the “151 Games in One” for Gameboy at the black market Penang, Malaysia.  Unfortunately, not all the games were in English and not all were complete versions.  Lauren now brings her Gameboy with her to test the games before she buys, much to the amusement of the vendors. 

 I don’t mind the time spent on the games, since both girls are reading as well.  Lauren has always been an avid reader and Katie is tackling Lemmony Snicket and the Series of Unfortunate Events, something she never would have read at home.  Lauren has just finished Siddhartha (a novel about the life of Buddha) as her required reading from Mom, and The DaVinci Code as her fun book.  Then we had to buy the Truth Behind the DaVinci Code, to find out the facts.  Books are expensive to purchase in English, but as my friends know, this does not stop me.  My reading list?  A few of the books I have tackled so far: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Baggage by Emily Barr, Down Under by Bill Bryson, Eucalyptus by Murray Bail, Calcutta by Simon Winchester, Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, Lies and Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken, and of course my usual assortment of mystery novels, especially those by Donna Leon, a new favorite.  One of my favorite parts of travel is that I have time to read. 

 That’s all for now.

 Cheryl

February 22, 2005