The Joys of Travel

Greetings from Qatar... and welcome to our blog!!! Grab a cup of coffee and have a seat. We hope you enjoy these first few (lengthy) posts!

Our journey started off with a bit of a rough start, but we didn't let it get us down! We got to the airport expecting to check two suitcases each at no cost and to pay for one  each. Unbeknownst to us, British Airways changed their policy (and according to the gentleman at the counter it's been changed for quite some time...woops). BA International flights only allow one checked bag at no cost which I find completely absurd for an international flight. We were also informed that 4 of our 6 suitcases were overweight (please take note that those luggage scales that you can buy may not be completely accurate!). So we proceeded to move to the side where we rearranged our bags while the whole line was able to gaze at our personals. We attempted to distribute the weight of our bags more evenly. We also added as much of our stuff as possible to the carry-ons and ran a bag of things out to Mick who was waiting patiently to see if we were able to get through with our massive load of belongings. Six checked bags later (including one 6ft carpet and one golf bag stuffed to the brim with loads of other items) and $400 out of pocket... we were proceeding through security to our gate.

We had a brief stopover at London Heathrow airport this time which consisted mostly of long lines in security. It didn't help that Kris left liquids in his bag, which we found out is a big no no and extended our waiting time by another half hour. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for Kris to get a long awaited British bacon sandwich before we arrived at our final destination in the land of no pork! Thank goodness he was able to snag some of his British creature comforts - Ribena, a black-current drink, a handful of British sweeties (which I've also become quite fond of), and an old fashioned British newspaper - or else the stop in London would have been a total waste! 

As I previously mentioned we weren't able to get the direct flight from DC because we booked our flights a bit late. So for all those coming to visit (and I'm hoping that's A LOT of you) make a valiant effort to get on the direct flight. It makes a huge difference. Although no matter which flight you end up on, there are a few things to remember:

1) There are ear plugs and an eye mask in the little pack that Qatar Airways provides...

2) You may need the ear plugs because there tend to be a handful of children on the plane that don't seem to have ever been disciplined.

3) If your unfortunate enough to have children sitting behind you....you'll have to turn around and give the whole family the evil eye so the child stops kicking the back of your seat! And don't worry, if they don't speak English I'm pretty sure the Evil Eye is recognizable to all nationalities.

4) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY....Don't get on the plane without a heavy dose of sedatives in your pocket, in which case #1, 2 & 3 won't matter =)

There are definitely a few positive notes about the flight as well...

1) Your flight starts off with a selection of hard candy and nice hot towel to clean your hands and face!

2) Ben and Jerry's ice cream is at your disposal during the entire flight

3) There's an endless selection of movies and TV shows to watch if the sedatives haven't kicked in yet (on your personal TV screen located on the back of the seat in front of you)

4) You also have video games to stimulate your mind

5) And coming soon, online shopping and the internet will be available for all (the in-flight advances are really quite amazing)

We eventually landed down safely in Qatar on Sunday night around 7pm (12pm EST).

The last time I landed in Qatar Kris was kind enough to have a greeter meet me directly off of the airplane and escort me to a lounge where they handled the details of my visa.  This time with my husband at my side, we did not have the same luxury experience. After a lengthy bus ride to get from the plane into the airport, we realized there must have been multiple planes that landed from India within minutes of ours touching down. Usually when we land from the Washington flight there is not a soul to be seen when we go through immigration. This time was quite a different experience. The lines were bumper to bumper (Literally! The men were lined up so close to one another that the hair on their heads had to be tickling the noses of the men standing behind them. There is absolutely no concept of "your personal space" or "your bubble".) After we got our visa's we were greeted by Kate and Ken, who filled both cars and proceeded off to the new Taylor palace in the desert.