Surprise surprise! I’m still in the USA!

The past 20hrs have certainly been a lesson in patience! Thank goodness for travel toiletries and snacks! Y’all know I always have snacks, and they surely saved a few lives today, or yesterday? Wait, what day is it?

My flight route yesterday should have been Orlando à Newarkà Zurich à Nairobi à Dar es Salaam, putting me in Dar at 2p.m. EST today. Unfortunately my very first flight out of Orlando to Newark was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight to Zurich.  So when I missed my connection, after several calls and desk agent visits United booked me on a flight out of JFK on Turkish Air through Istanbul; waited 2hrs to locate my bags and taxi’d 1hr to JFK- thrilled be getting out that night on Turkish Air. When I arrived at JFK, Turksh Air had no record my flight change or a ticket for me.  Unfortunately United does not fly out of JFK, so no desk agent to help…. I had to call the cust service #at 11p.m. –  turns out they forgot to “confirm” the flight but promised they’d book me on the next flight out on Friday through S. Africa.  All the agent desks were closed so there was no getting in the terminals to rest, I took an Uber to a hotel and checked in around 1a.m. Up a 5a.m. and attempted to check into my next flight, but couldn’t locate a reservation online so I hightailed it back to JFK, knowing I had a small window to make this happen and get my bags checked!  Tried to check in at S. Africa Airways and once again, the airline had no record of my flight change and no ticket for me. Le sigh. Here we go again! Another hour phone call to United, and finally I’ve got a ticket, I’m through security, and officially waiting to board!  If all goes well I should make it by 7a.m. tomorrow.  Hooray!!

On the upside, after an incredibly long day I got a warm shower, a soft pillow for a couple hours, and free warm continental breakfast 🙂 It could have been much worse. Honestly, I don’t know how people travel with large families/groups – kudos to y’all! #NoThanks

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention there are a few lessons to be learned here- United is the worst, snacks are the best, and you catch more flies with honey. Everyone is trying, be patient with others and yourself. #TanzaniaOrBust