I almost skip my way into Tokyo Haneda Airport on my second to last day abroad. I have enjoyed my time in Europe and Asia immensely. However, I cannot wait to get home, hug my family and friends, sleep in my own bed, and just plain old sleep! I first needed to get through two more days of travel though to get there.

Passenger after Passenger comes in carrying bag after bag of duty free. Some even bring on 2-3 bags PLUS their own carry ons. What ever happened to the 1 carry on plus a personal item maximum? My first day of travel started early. After a rough night of sleep on an airport bench I made my way through check in and security before grabbing a seat to wait for my already one hour delayed flight departing for Beijing. Once on the plane we were delayed another forty minutes due to weather. Once we finally took to the air we made a smooth trip into Beijing. We disembarked the plane and took a short bus ride over to the terminal. You would think all I would have to do once getting to the terminal would be to find my next gate right? WRONG! Instead I had to go through the 24 hours layover line to get my boarding card stamped then go down stairs and then go through customs to once again get my boarding card stamped before going through security. Just to get to the rest of the international terminal. Part way through security I am getting a pat down and scan because I set the electronic scanner off. Perplexed by the metal clips in my bra the proceeded to drag me all over the security area; eventually taking me over to a private booth to search more. By this time I was starting to get really aggravated with them as they would not explain the problem to me and only spoke in Chinese. After pulling up my shirt and undoing the top part of my bra they were satisfied that there was nothing of danger to the rest of the airport on me and let me go. I am so grateful I had a four hour layover to accommodate my late flight and the tedious and violating transfer process in Beijing. I could not wait to get onto my flight to Vancouver!

Once boarded onto my flight to Vancouver it was time to sit back and relax as much as possible. It was about to be a very long flight across the pacific. Of course like basically every flight in and out of Beijing we left the terminal late. The flight went as smoothly as it could possibly go considering the length, amount of tired people, and mediocre food. Amazingly we arrived into Vancouver early. After we disembarked I made a beeline for customs and luckily got through quickly. (the bonus of being on an international flight sometimes) After it was a LONG wait for our bags to arrive.  Once mine came around I grabbed it and made my way to the Air Canada section of the airport to drop it off and find some lunch (ya for Timmys!!!!!) and wait to board my puddle jumper flight to the Island!

Apparently I could not catch a break when it came to my flights. My final flight to Victoria was late as well but fortunately not majorly. For once I got a window seat and got to watch the beautiful place I call home go by as we flew across the ocean. Once landed in Victoria I made it off the plan as fast as my tired and sore legs to take me through the airport and into the arms of my Dad and brother. While we waited for my luggage I quickly changed into some fresh clothes that my Dad brought and changed my shoes. Then it was off to pick up my Grandma and head for home.

I arrived home shortly after 7pm on the 23rd of June. That resulted in a total of 38.5hours in transit from the time I left my Tokyo hostel to the time I walked in the door at home. The trip around the world was a once in a lift time adventure. It is one that I will never forget and will hold many great memories to share in the future. When is the next adventure? I don’t know and for now I am just so happy to be home.

Dream, Believe, Imagine, Achieve,

Meredith