Weekend Blitz

All Nippon Airways Flight NH 913 Tokyo-NRT to Yangon-RGN Dept 11:45am –> Arrv: 5:15pm Boeing 767-300

Getting to the airport from the Radisson Narita (thanks for the free stay, Orbitz Orbucks!) was easy although it took a bit longer than expected. Nothing too outrageous, we just needed to plan for a bit more time than the 16 mins that Google Maps driving directions quoted. The Radisson only runs shuttles every 45-60 mins, so you might find yourself spending a lot more time at the airport than you wanted OR cutting it too close. Once we arrived at the airport, airport security boarded the shuttle bus to confirm that we had our passports and to do a general security [...]

Disclaimer: I can sometimes write with an air of sarcasm, so please do not be put off by this! This trip was a throughly fantastic experience and we are glad that we have the memories from this train ride.

After taking a trip to the Myanmar Railways Booking Office a few days prior to book our tickets, it was departure day and we caught a cab to the Yangon Central Railway. Due to the traffic, car travel is only marginally faster than walking and, if it weren’t for our bags and the excruciating heat, we would have used the latter option this day. We made it to the station around 4:15pm, about 45 mins prior to departure.

The train station, like most in the [...]

When faced with the decision on how to get around from city to city in Myanmar, the train seemed like a solid choice. On this trip, the only one like it in recent memory, we were doing our best to ditch the standard “Weekend Blitz” type of travel that we’ve come to embrace, feeling like we’re going at 110% all of the time and trying to cram 25 hours into every day. For this trip, we had time on our side and a greater desire to jump into the local culture and see how everyday life is lived for the Burmese.

So, intent on taking the train while in Myanmar, we settled on the Yangon-Mandalay route. The times were appropriate for taking it overnight which [...]

Our first international flight of our first journey felt like it might never arrive when we booked it a few months ago, but, like all things time related, it was here in a flash. Our first segment, from Chicago-ORD to Tokyo-TYO was merely a stopover on our way to Yangon, Myanmar-RGN. Because ANA has only 1 daily flight to Yangon (around 11am), there’s no international arrival from the US that would allow us to catch it.

As we headed to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, we were musing that this was actually both of our first west-bound trip across the Pacific Ocean. We have flown Hong Kong to Chicago and Tokyo to Newark before, but never the opposite direction. The best [...]

After a wonderful few very sunny and warm days in Bordeaux (more on the Bordeaux trip here: Walking Tour of Bordeaux, France), we headed north to the region of Pays de la Loire to visit my sister, Leslie.

BOOKING

We purchased our tickets at the Bordeaux train station, aka Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, about an hour before departure. We made sure to skip booking way in advance using a USA-specific site such as Rail Europe (read more about the best way to book a French train ticket in advance here: How-to: Booking French Trains (RailEurope vs SNCF)).

We were able to book our tickets for 37.30 euros each (~$46.43 USD); in contrast, the RailEurope version of the [...]

Fresh off of multiple amazing flights (Lufthansa Boeing 747 First Class and Thai Airways A380 Royal First Class), numerous world class lounge experiences (Lufthansa First Class Lounge – New York and Lufthansa First Class Lounge – Frankfurt) and, most recently, a full spa and massage experience at the Bangkok lounge (Thai Airways Royal First Lounge and Royal Orchid Spa – Bangkok), we had been traveling for about 54 hours so far and were getting ready to reach our (first) final destination of Bali, Indonesia. That being said, we weren’t entirely “over it” by this point, but getting pretty close, so, when the time came to board, we were more than ready to embark on our [...]

Our first flight of the trip was Delta flight # 1543 from Charleston-CHS to Atlanta-ATL; Delta Gold Medallion status doesn’t often get me too much, but in this case it did get me an upgrade on the short, 41 minute flight. The only issue is that McCown, for some reason, wasn’t grouped with me for the upgrade pool so I ran over to the gate counter and tried my best to get an additional upgrade. We almost had one of these situations on our hands: Damnit Delta, why are you trying screw me?!

The gate agent was nice enough to add McCown to the list…here’s a note we had jotted down mid-flight:

Well, off to a good start. When leaving Charleston, we both [...]