May 23, 2009 We were in better spirits when we got up the next morning. On Thursday, we were both grouchy and unhappy, Christi from lack of sleep and Eric from being sick. A solid night of deep sleep was definitely what the doctor ordered. Once in a better mood, we realized the delay may be a blessing in disguise for Eric. Yes, it looked bad for Eric to miss work, but then again, maybe showing up sick and jet lagged would have been worse in the long run. There were some new people at the company that Eric would be meeting for the first time. Sniffly, sleepy and “out of it” was probably not the first impression he wanted to give.

After Thursday’s debacle, we were paranoid about missing the flight. We got up very early and made sure we arrived at the airport hours before the flight. In the early morning, there are not many people in the airport, so we breezed through security in no time. The woman who had been denied the hotel was already there. She told us that after she was ejected from the hotel, she became hysterical and called the American Embassy in Paris. The American Embassy put her in touch with Delta. Delta said they had no knowledge of the situation and paid for a hotel for her. We can’t believe Delta lied to the American Embassy. They were very aware of the situation.

We were pretty pleased when we boarded the flight to find that it was only 1/3 full. Yay! Christi claimed a row of 5 seats and stretched out and slept for most of the flight. Eric had 2 seats to himself. It was awesome. Maybe this was another blessing in disguise. We are assuming the flight last night was fuller. Needless to say, the flight over was pretty darn good.

When we boarded the plane in Atlanta, we specifically asked when boarding closed. Several minutes after boarding was supposed to be closed, passengers were still drizzling in here and there. We were annoyed. The guy from Air France had lied to us. To add insult to injury, the stewardess made an announcement that they were holding the plane for a couple of people. Grrr”¦.

The flight back was uneventful. We were dismayed when we arrived in San Diego to find out that our luggage was left in Atlanta. Sigh. We went straight home and crashed. Traveling wears you out. And it doesn’t seem to matter what mode of travel it is, it all wears you out.

Fortunately, our luggage came on a later flight the same day, so we didn’t have to live without it too long.

This morning Christi woke up at 0230, her body thinking it was time to rise and shine. Another good thing about boat travel is that you don’t have to deal with time zone changes. She was grouchy and irritable all day, and took a 5 hour nap. Eric did better with readjusting to San Diego’s time, but he was off kilter, too.

Christi talked with one of her friends who works for a domestic airline in the afternoon. She was complaining about the absurd behavior of the airline. Why would they take half the group and not the whole group? Why would they cut someone off by literally one second? Why would they pay for six hotel rooms when they could have not paid for any? Why were they so strict on closing boarding in Paris but not Atlanta? He told her that the airlines’ policy is to lie and say that boarding is closed when the reality is there are no seats left. If they disclosed the seats are oversold, then the airline is required to pay for the hotel. But if they make you think you missed the flight, they are off the hook for the hotel. The last guy on probably got the last seat, which is why they picked such an arbitrary moment to stop the boarding. By lying, they saved on nine hotel rooms. He despises that policy and hates it every time he has to lie to customers. Interesting. Well, in all honesty, being on an empty flight was probably worth the cost of the hotel. A full flight would have not been fun.

In the evening we went to a party hosted by some acquaintances of ours, friends of friends. This couple has also come back from traveling the world, but they did it the conventional way, using planes and trains and cars instead of a boat. It was nice to talk to them, because they really understood the traveling lifestyle that seemed to confound many people we have talked to recently. We had a nice time, but being so jetlagged, were just too tired to stay long.

Despite being back in San Diego, we still feel like we are in global trip mode. We have not settled into any routine yet. So while we are back at the dock in San Diego, it really does not feel like we are home yet. It just feels like another stop. It is one of the reasons the blog is still going on. Does a moment of closure come? Stay tuned.