Like I've done before, this is a final recap of our trip that includes the random stats I tracked.
What you may notice about our travel - and this is no shade to anyone who either refuses to pay for anything more than a basic fare or others who refuse to fly anything less than business or first class - but we were really not too particular about flights beyond always trying to fly on aircraft where there are pairs of seats so we don't have to sit with anyone else. When that's not possible, we're happy to deal with someone sitting between us in a row of three if it means a direct flight or a better price or it just works best for our travel schedule. We're just not very snobby when it comes to flights! Of course business-class seats are amazing and when they work for our schedule or within our budget, we'll happily book them, but they are not a "must" for us. While a 14-hour flight from D.C. to Tokyo in economy-class seats might not have been luxurious, it was perfectly fine and got us where we needed to be - and I guess that sums up our feelings about flights.
Hotels, on the other hand, are a different story. When it's a quick trip or a one-night stay in the U.S., we're also not snobby and have no issue with a no-frills hotel, but when we're traveling outside of the country, we're a little more choosy. The location is always a major factor in our decision, since we almost typically want to stay downtown and close to public transportation, so that usually leads to some of the fancier hotel chains. As the years have gone on and we've traveled more and more, I've come to really appreciate nicer hotels that offer lounges and breakfast and such. Because we tend to take longer trips and do a lot of things on those trips, it's such a gift to have somewhere lovely to rest or enjoy down time. I feel like this trip really showcased that, because every hotel we stayed at was amazing!
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| our hotel keys from the trip (the key from our Disney Cruise not pictured) |
Anyone who knows us is well aware that C does the trip planning and I happily go along for the ride. I was so proud that last year, I was the one who booked both our safari and voyage to Antarctica (although C still worked out all of the logistics in terms of flights and hotels for those trips)! For this trip to Asia, I booked the Disneyland Hotels and figured out options for park tickets, but again, C did the heavy lifting and booked everything else. He is also the one who handles all of the legal paperwork for us - the visas and immigration forms - and the one who makes sure we understand the rules and regulations for each place we visit. This is no small undertaking, because not only does each country have its own policies, but some countries, including one on this trip, are extremely strict. What may appear to be a carefree, smooth, and seamless trip is the result of hours upon hours of research and meticulous planning! He is the absolute best and I'm able to be in a blissful state of mild ignorance because of all of his hard work!
The only major negative we encountered was the weather. It was very hot and humid everywhere we went, and we had some days of very heavy rain! However, that's what you get in July and since July is the only time of year I'm able to take a four-week-long trip, we just dealt with it via raincoats and umbrellas and lots of sunscreen!
On the upside, neither of us got sick, which is always a concern when traveling anywhere...airports, cars, hotels, restaurants, metros, theme parks, etc. bring with them countless germs and neither of us had any issues whatsoever. One health thing that did happen was that I got several bug bites, two of which were very severe and caused a large section of my left calf to turn bright red, itchy, and hot to the touch. At first I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, but it got worse and worse over several days and finally I texted my dad halfway around the world asking for medical advice and what kind of medication I should look for! He gave me some suggestions and we found a pharmacy in Hong Kong and over the course of the following week, my leg healed. Thankfully it didn't impact my ability to walk or anything, and I was able to keep it medicated and covered up as the infection (or whatever it was!) slowly improved.
One thing I wanted to share was that we were blown away by how many people very kindly tried to speak English to us. We made no assumptions about English being spoken or understood in any place aside from Singapore (it's an official language there) and we were ready to communicate by way of google translate and hand gestures. We had hoped that perhaps some staff members at the each of the hotels would understand a little English (and they absolutely did), given that Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are major international cities. I also thought that the Disney cast members at each of the three Disneyland Hotels would understand some English because of people like us who visit the parks from English-speaking countries. We had no issues in Tokyo or Hong Kong, but the cast member we checked in with at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel did not speak English and both we and she were frustrated and she finally led us over to the concierge desk where there were cast members who could help us, so in the end every worked out just fine! But in terms of regular, non-tourism-industry-employees, we were so pleasantly surprised by how often people chatted with us in English - in lines at the Disney parks, in cars, at various places on the numerous tours we took, and so on! We were truly so touched that people tried to make us feel welcome or helped us out when we were clearly not understanding something (how to order or how to pay or how to use a machine of some sort)! It's amazing how kind and helpful most people are and how a simple smile or gesture can override language barriers to understanding!
Hotels: 22
Avalanche had a great time summer camp with C's mom and dad and we are so incredibly grateful to them for keeping him for an entire month! While he's a very easy-going dog, it's still a lot to care for, walk, and feed a fluffy 70-pound dog, and put up with his occasional sass!
For now, it's back to work and more planning for future travel!
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