To begin, I have never been so exhausted in my entire life. Having a baby is nothing compared to the exhaustion of moving your family around the world. I only wish that was an exaggeration! I was so excited when I found out that each person traveling was allowed two 70 pound suitcases and I aimed to pack every pound. In fact, embarrassingly, we came
pretty darn close. This was a luxury until I realized that we would be hauling them EVERYWHERE!! We had an overnight layover in Seattle and hauled those bags all over the place, back to baggage check, picked up again in Korea, through customs, down a long sidewalk to the busses, put them on the bus, took them off the bus, rolled them up a hill, rolled them down a hill, and up to the 6th floor of a hotel. I have never held so much disdained for anything in my life. By the end of the trip, we decided there was absolutely nothing of value in the luggage and we should have dumped them in the Seattle pacific! They sell clothes in Korea!
I will never again be a heavy packer. I am broken of that dirty habit.
After the flight and layover in Japan, we landed on Osan Airforce Base and went through military customs.
I'm not really certain how we ended up from customs at the airbase to the hotel on the Army base, but somewhere along the line I boarded a bus and got off at the right place.
The Army decided it would be a great idea to make us check in for our flights at 2 am in Seattle when they don't even take off until 8 am. So, add the normal travel rigors with little sleep and a cranky toddler and you have one foggy momma. The best part is that the Army/Airforce wanted us all to sit through a couple of information briefings after being awake for 48 hours (I find it impossible to sleep sitting upright, although we were on a plane with 300 young soldiers and most them slept the whole time, only waking to eat. I could have smacked them!) We were given information on customs and a lot of other things--I had a hard time listening after that, since a nice Airman kindly suggested that myself and a seriously uninterested-in-what-the-military-had-to-say Emmalyn stand in the back! Haha!
While this trip was no luxury vacation, I am exceedingly thankful at how smooth things went for us. We had no trouble at all and Emmalyn was a trooper! We have mostly seen the back of our eyelids since arriving in South Korea, but the Army base is beautiful and the accommodations are first class. We are gaining new information on our life here and will share the exciting parts soon! The USO is offering discounted weekend trips around the area for the next 90 days and we are sure to find some adventure soon! Keep us in your prayers, because there are a lot of things that still need to be settled. We miss home already, but understand this us home for now.
God Bless,
Amy
Thank you for this! We will be on a similar trip in about 2 months, except I'll be traveling alone w/ a 6 and 8 year old since hubs is going by himself this weekend. I'm not sure what to do about their luggage while we are hanging in Seatle. Was there somewhere to check it or are their baggage carts I can snag?
ReplyDeleteHi Sonya! I am sorry I didn't get back with you sooner. I saw many mothers traveling with their children alone and I feel that I could do it. You will be just fine since your children are a little bit older than a lot that I saw. That means helpers! YAH! When you get to Seattle, you will want to pick-up your baggage and head upstairs to the mezzanine level. The elevator will let you know which level, but I believe it is 2. From there you will walk down a hallway to the USO. There wont be much for you all there other than a few couches and some snacks and maybe some toys they will like, but since it is the middle of the night, most likely you will be like us and just feel like relaxing. There will be carts that you can rent and the USO has a luggage drop off room down the hall. They will tell you it is a long hallway, more like an ETERNAL hallway, but it is a great place to store the luggage. When you feel like you have walked too far, keep walking. When you check-in for your flight at 2 am, be sure to ask where the family line will be. You do not want to wait in the main line with all the single soldiers. Families traveling have first privileges and you will want to be in that one. I hope this helps, let me know if you have anymore questions.
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