Round the World

RTW – 22-24 Sep 2008
A three-week escape from the business life I have put into a relaxed mode was not so simple to get on hold. In this case, I had to walk away and hope for the best. Issues had been easy to work out with cell phones and Internet access, but Africa would be far removed from such satellites.
My great itinerary suffered from the push to get off the ground by September twenty-third. Visa requirements put Zanzibar out of reach when I found Tanzania added limitations and required a four day processing time. Ghana was a two-day process, and I had a five-day window in Washington DC. Additional passport pages were necessary to accommodate visas. After only two years, many Asian travels filled up my latest passport. I put things in the hands of an agent in DC, knowing everything had to happen without any delays. Sure enough, late Thursday, the agent called to say Ghanaian Embassy had not finished and they were closed on Friday. The timing was now to have it completed on Monday, and FedEx could deliver by 10:30 Tuesday – I needed to leave for the airport by noon.
No worries, Northwest flight 11 made record time with a new route through Russia, and Tokyo was only eleven hours away. Upon arrival, we were alerted that the connecting flight to Shanghai was delayed by mechanical problems. They held about twenty of us aside and sent us off to a nearby hotel. The initial twelve-hour delay became twenty, and the aspect of missing a day’s work could cripple my progress in China and beyond. I am not surprised this should happen, as this was my third time in five years to spend a night in Narita because of the Northwest hub timing. They adorned us with travel credit vouchers for our inconvenience, but that meant very little to me at the time.
The checked baggage stayed in the airport system.
For two days before leaving the States, I had laid my to-go clothing atop my bed, trying to make do with a carry-on and backpack while looking to avoid lost luggage because of so many plane transfers. Three weeks is a long time, and I was not expecting laundry service most of the way. So at the last minute, I put everything and more into my oversized roller bag. Like, who am I trying to kid, I’m really not a backpacker anymore? My first night showed me what lost luggage would be like using a tiny hotel toothbrush, but it was sort of a plus to get an extra day out of the clothing I wore.