As I lugged my two heavy suitcases and two personal bags I laughed to myself as I realized how ridiculous I must look. I resembled a pack mule. I breezed through checkin and security. (Let this be a reminder to you if you travel to definitely look into TSA PreCheck!). I dined by myself which was quite humbling. Alone with my thoughts, I recalled the quick side-hug from Annicakes as she left for school. Lex engulfed me in a full on bear hug for an eternity. My kids are so different. Ed and I had a quick embrace as he attempted to squelch the anxiety welling in me as I was ready to walk off into the terminal on my own journey. My journey. This is my journey that I can only hope that going in with low expectations is life-changing nonetheless.
I chose to fly Lufthansa to Bangalore. Why? There was only one connection which seemed to be less stressful for me. I booked in economy and the fare, with a preferred seat on all flights, was about $1700 usd. It was slightly higher than if I would have opted for an additional stop.
I grabbed some lunch and played it safe with a grilled chicken sandwich. I’m already feeling off (woke up with a cold so I’ve been taking cold meds to try and hold off the symptoms). I glanced at my phone, still 2 hours to burn. Might as well shop! I picked up a few necessities-a large bottle of water, an Almond Joy candy bar, and a SpongeBob SquarePants word search. Priorities.
The boarding process was a cluster. We started boarding late. They didn’t announce it had started and went straight to group 2. I was the last group to board and like the last 20 people too.
So while at the gate there was this older woman with a horribly annoying voice. Guess who I was sitting by. She ended up being very sweet. Now the ladies sitting behind me, they wouldn’t shut up on this flight. The nerve of me to slightly recline my seat too. Honestly, and I truly mean this, have never been on a flight (domestic or international) where anyone has asked before reclining their seat. Is that a thing? Well it was with the woman behind me. I moved my seat back up. Still, no leg room in economy for this 5’2 girl.
I barely slept even with sleeping pills. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. I watched the majority of The Notebook. Yeah, never watched it before.
The food and beverages in economy were quite good. Dinner was delicious. Lettuce and quinoa salad with ranch dressing, a roll with butter, cheese and crackers, chicken in some kind of sauce with white rice and mixed veggies, and a salted caramel brownie.
Breakfast was a smaller offering but also good. It was some sort of cold grain. Maybe chia? No idea but it was sweetened along with a lemon cranberry muffin.
We landed 40 minutes late because of “catering” issues in St. Louis. Deplaning went surprisingly fast. I exited the gate area, hiked, took a bus, hiked some more, but the pot of gold was waiting for me at the end near my gate: the business class lounge.
I made it to Frankfurt! At this point I’m halfway through my journey to get to India and will continue with a new post.
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