(T-1) The Last Day

Well, tomorrow we head out. I'd love to say that we're all ready to go, but I suspect that the packing will be completed when we load the suitcases in the car to head to the airport. However, I think I'm pretty much done with that, including weighing both the checked bag and the carry on to ensure that they're both under the airline limit.

Many of the last-minute items have been taken care of at this point. The phones have all been rejiggered so we won't get any avoidable calls on our cells while we're in international roaming territory. The batteries are all charged. The car service to and from the airport in the US, and the car rental in Europe, have all been confirmed. Some time this afternoon I expect to get a check-in email from Swiss Air, and I also expect delivery today of our mobile hotspot.

Mobile hotspot, 2014

At the last minute I realized that a call to our banks & credit card companies was in order, so that all of our attempts to spend money or hit an ATM wouldn't be rejected.

The to-do list for tomorrow is pretty short. So far.

The weekend was busy with family stuff, so we actually didn't do that much other than churn the packing and visit CVS a couple of times. We did get to see all of the kids and grandkids, resulting in (surprisingly) tears from one about not being able to see Grandma for a couple of weeks. Sweet!

Birds on a wire: at least someone will miss us, May 2014

Our flight tomorrow is at about 6:00pm, and arrives in Zurich for our transfer at 8:00am Thursday local time, which is 2:00am EDT. So we plan to sleep on the plane, which is always less than satisfying. When I used to travel for business - often on this LX17 flight, as it happens - my rule was when the wheels go up, I go to sleep. Using the miracles of modern pharmaceuticals to help, of course. If I was lucky I got a solid six hours, then awoke and had breakfast in the middle of the night while feeling really draggy from the crappy sleep, dehydration and the medication. And who's really hungry when they wake up at 1:00? I'm hoping that I can do that well since I'm out of practice, as it were.

Assuming all goes well we'll have a two hour layover for our one hour flight to Slovenia. And then a one hour drive to the first hotel, assuming I don't get lost. And can stay awake. And aren't too nauseous from breakfast. And then we can have fun!

Update: the mobile hotspot was waiting when I got home this evening, along with two batteries and a big ol' charger. No way of telling if or how it works until we get to Europe.

Update 2: I checked on the Lufthansa web site (they own Swiss Air), which showed our reservations and invited me to checkin. When I tried, it then told me it couldn't find my reservation (repeatedly) and invited me call customer service. When I tried, I sat on hold listening to bad music and an announcement every 30 seconds that they'd be right with me. For 45 minutes, which is where I gave up. Presumably it will work at the airport.

 

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans