The Gift That Keeps on Giving

My husband did something he has never done before.  For Christmas he surprised me with an airline ticket.  He has never made travel plans for me without my input and I was happily surprised!  Since our daughter moved to Berlin, we both knew that we would visit her at some point in the year.  I had no idea it would be so soon!  The trip was scheduled for January 23, 2020, almost one month after Christmas.  It was the perfect thing to look forward to in a month that really needs a silver lining.

The time flew by and as I packed my bag on the 22nd my excitement grew!  I got a text message from my husband and it said he could not check me in for the flight and I would have to check myself in or call the magic hotline.  (personal disclaimer, I usually take care of my own travel details. Control issues...what control issues?)  I sat down at my computer, brought my flight up and clicked "check-in".  It said I would have to check in at the airport. Hmm.  Luckily, due to his many travels, we have access to the "super-special-we-love-you-because-you-are-never-home" line.  I called and even they could not check me in.  She said I would just have to check in at the airport.  Meanwhile, I got an email from the airline with an attachment that said, the country I was visiting required a valid passport (check) and the passport had to be valid for at least 3 months past my travel dates (hmm, let me look).  Travel dates Jan. 23-29, passport expiration date April 21, 2020.  Missed it by that much!  Let the scrambling begin!

All packed and nowhere to go!

Our evening of scrambling determined, between the passport office website, the "super special one gazillion mile" airline help line and our better judgment that the only place I was going on January 23 was to get a new passport photo taken at the drug store.  I made an appointment at the (expedited) passport office, determined that our daughter and her husband were home the next weekend, rescheduled our flights for exactly one week later, cancelled our sweet Airbnb and sent up a wish and a prayer.

Older and slightly frustrated Lisa on the left is saying,
"I was supposed to be on a flight to Berlin right now". 
At least I hope I don't end up with the same greenish-orange hair 
I've had for the last 10 years!

The price of having an almost valid passport:
-My "crack of dawn" passport appointment on Tuesday, Jan. 28 went smoothly and expensively. 
-Add to the expedited fee the $20 I unwittingly donated the the parking lot "attendant" who I credit with a smooth scam technique that caught me way off guard.  I guess he needed it more than I did.
-I was initially told I would only get $28 back from my original Airbnb booking unless he was able to re-book after my last minute cancellation.  Thank you to the person/people who enjoyed Berlin last weekend and got me half of my money refunded! 
-I booked a new place, near my daughter, with a generous cancellation policy!  I am learning!
-Finally getting to visit your daughter and her husband in their new home...priceless.
TJ and I have had more than one laugh that this has been the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Today, one week later, I picked up my brand new, shiny passport. I STILL can't check-in for my flight online but am confident they will do it at the airport when they see my valid documentation!  If all goes well, I will be on a flight to Berlin tomorrow, the 29th, only one week later than originally scheduled.

My passport expiration date always seemed so far off.  I mean it was all the way in 2020!  I took a walk down memory lane when I looked back over all of those pages and all of those stamps.  I only had 2 clean pages left...life goals!   Ten years ago I got that passport in April 2010, right after we moved back to Houston from Toronto.  It has been a very active 10 years on the travel front.  I am so thankful for all of it!  My hope is that I run out of pages to stamp before January 2030!  Can someone remind me in September of 2029 I need to get a new passport?  I will be a bit more forgetful by then I imagine!

I also realized that I may not have checked my passport before our annual migration to Canada in May and would have been up sh*t's creek with an expired passport if this had not happened.  So, thank you for the Christmas gift, honey... and the new passport!