How an 8hr flight turned into 21hrs on a plane.

Home Sweet Home was a Real Journey

If you follow me on Twitter, you may already know a little bit about my adventure as I was able to quickly report my events there, but I thought those of you here on PeakD might enjoy re-living the adventure with me. All and all, it took nearly two days to complete the last leg of my journey when I had purchased a direct flight that should have taken only a few hours. Let's go through the story together while I enjoy my view now (as seen in the above picture).

All seemed well two days ago, when I knew I would be home soon. We had a wonderful experience with Hive account@hopehumanitarian, and if you missed those posts, I'll be sharing more, but you can start here if you missed my posts on the refugee camps and good work being done there.

Now, Let's Travel Back in Time...

Buckle up, make sure your seats are in their upright position and all tray tables up, we're going on quite a trip!!

You see....

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1470921911370756097

- jarvie

After the longest flight in history, to make things even more fun they selected me for further inspection but I don't have the pleasure of doing that yet because... again no bags.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1470927140803817473

- jarvie

Poor Decisions Made By Delta

You see, what happened was, after they de-iced our plane and had such difficulty taking off in the first place, the hours logged by the Delta flight crew had exceeded the amount they were allowed to work. We were diverted to Minnesota rather than the direct flight I originally booked, and after already being nearly 30 hours in airports coming from Uganda, you can imagine how exhausting the experience was.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1470947790650064896

- jarvie

When you've been waiting for hours and hours for a flight, every inch of movement made on a plane feels like a small victory at this point.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1470962366024228868

- jarvie

Just When the Nightmare Seemed Over...

We found ourselves stuck again, waiting to get to the airport gate to deplane.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471004234023727105

- jarvie

Nearly half an hour later, we started moving again, but once we arrived, we were still stuck due to a broken jetway (or passenger boarding bridge). Since they cut our entertainment, I enjoyed the view of the blizzard from my tiny window (a much different view than what Uganda afforded me just a few days previously! Be sure to stay tuned for some posts sharing those moments!)

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471017573550473218

- jarvie

Then, as you see above, while I've nearly escaped, the lights shut down and the adventure continues.

A First Time for Everything

I wonder what traveling at Christmas will be like for people? The travel season hasn't even arrived yet and everything continues to break down in this disorganized system. Let's hope they can get organized in the next couple of weeks or they will have some seriously unhappy travelers.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471020260442587136

- jarvie

After a broken baggage carousel, we waited nearly an hour again to collect our things - ironically arriving much quicker than the people can apparently. I was happy though because my Samsung locater device (something I highly recommend by the way) told me my luggage had indeed arrived. I just couldn't get to it.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471025818050580481

- jarvie

Next, the airport's sliding glass doors opened to a raging blizzard. I imagined the drive would be difficult and yet, it was the easiest part of the whole experience and that's saying something with whiteout conditions.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471055192187555849

- jarvie

What did I do when I got home? You can imagine - I slept - for FOURTEEN HOURS! I missed a work meeting, but just look at my view now.

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471269790228508674

- jarvie

Would I Do This Again?

Well, I'd hope I wouldn't have the same experience as far as the flight goes, but sometimes these adventures just happen, but would I do the trip again? Yes!

https://twitter.com/jarvie/status/1471363227057639429

- jarvie

Be safe to those who will travel this holiday season! You might want to plan on some delays. Ha!