It was time for a change. Scott and I both knew it. He’d been running a million miles per hour at work, and I’d been homeschooling the kids. While everything was going quite well, we both realized at almost the exact moment that we really don’t have that much more time with the kids (when they would want to be with us full time). Since we both waited until we were a little older than the norm to have kids, time seemed to be running out for us to be able to keep up with them on world travels anyway. We decided it was time to go. Our family of four was heading to Asia to travel, learn about various cultures, volunteer where possible, and continue the kids’ educations.
We actively planned for about six months. We would rent out our house for pennies on the dollar to a nice family who would, in return, agree to love our dog and cat and occasionally drive our vehicles. Keali would rehome her sweet hamster Puzzles with our friend Maja. Scott would wind down his law practice in order to take the sabbatical that the travels would need, and we would just go.
It finally arrived. For ten days prior to leaving, we adjusted our time to help accommodate the 14 hour time change we were facing, as well as to make it slightly easier to sleep during the 18 hours of flight time. We left Texas on February 1. We flew from Houston to San Francisco (on a Dreamliner!). After a quick hour layover, we flew onto to our first stop on a double-decker.
It was our first time to fly on the second level which made it a little more fun. The pilots were extremely nice and allowed the kids to check out the cabin.
As to be expected now of United Airlines, the cabin crew was surly and very unpleasant throughout the flight. We made it a game to be extra nice. It made the time go by a little quicker.
We finally made it. Our first stop: Taiwan. We landed on the evening oFebruary 2 after crossing the international date line.