Starting the year off right!

Well hello again my friends. It has been a while……a long while! 2013 just slipped away without  any international travel or passport stamps to show for it. Although my absence from the travel scene may have seemed odd, I was actually very busy laying the foundation for future travel plans and goals. A year ago this week I quit my job in Ontario and without any plan, left and went to Alberta to join the many east coasters to work in  the oil related industry. A huge risk but it paid off in the end. I have my “foot in the door” so to speak on being able to find the balance of working and taking time off to travel. A year later, here I am, 2nd week into the year and I am writing my first new blog from a balcony in Singapore. 

Although I made it here safe and sound this morning, it was not an easy task to get here this time. It started with me leaving Monday evening (in Canada) to catch my flight which would have taken me from Toronto, to Chicago, then on to Tokyo and finally here. It did not work out well. As many are you are aware, Toronto Airport became a mess Monday evening while trying to clean up from a heavy snow fall and the onslaught of abnormally cold temperatures…..yes even for Canada! I believe it was after the fourth delay that they finally boarded our plane bound for Chicago. Once on board, we were informed that we were waiting for the fuel truck to fuel up the plane. Not a huge deal but a little odd since we were already on board. 2 hours later. we were informed that the fuel truck was no longer operating and the flight was cancelled. I will spare you the language that spilled from my lips since any of you who know me, can already imagine. From there, it only got worst, not only was I going to miss my connection in Chicago but the baggage handlers had stopped working because of the cold temps. My first impression of that was that I had just left Alberta where working in -40 and beyond was normal and these guys stop at -25! However thats neither here not there at this point. The consequences of the baggage handlers deciding to stop working was that we ended up waiting a couple hours for the bags to come back inside where we could collect them. I will not bore you with all the happenings but needless to say, the airport was a mess. Thousands of stranded people with no place to go. It is in that sense that I was lucky, I had 2 parents who were willing to drive back to pick me up at 6 in the morning and bring me home. From there I went through the process of making a claim for my airline ticket etc etc and rebooked myself on another flight for friday morning. As of now, I have purchased to tickets, the 2nd much more expensive than the first to get over here. Hopefully I will be reimbursed when I get back to Canada………if I go back! ha. At least yesterdays flights went well. I flew directly from Toronto to Shanghai China which was a mind numbing 15 hours, then had a 6 hour lay over, then the final leg, a quick 5.5 hour flight to Singapore. I made in one piece and already enjoying the temps. I will write again soon and keep you all updated on my adventures in Asia.

Cheers!

“The world is vast and meant for wandering”