When I travel this upcoming weekend, I will not be alone. 5 million Californians (that's more than half of Sweden's population!) will hit the road. It's Memorial Weekend, one of few "long" weekends in this country. Most of them will go by car. But many by air. So I won't be alone...
They're already warning of long lines through security. Great... I wonder if you have to remove the shoes of a 10 month old??
Oh, well. SAS has now confirmed that I'm seated next to my kids. Very nice of them (although for +$4000 you would think that seats next to each other would be included in the price and not after fighting, calling, whining and working hard...).
Now we need to see if there are any SAS flights on Saturday. The SAS strike is getting closer and will start on Friday if negotiations are not effective. That means no Swedish domestic SAS flights, hardly no European SAS flights. They claim that the US and other international flights won't be effected...
I have to focus on the smell of lilacs to get me through the weekend...
9 comments:
I am sure you have to do the "shoe-thing". I think it looks very comical with all these people taking off their shoes. A good time to have socks that are clean and have no holes. Good that you finally got seats next to each other. Hope that the strike stays in Europe.
Hihi, en burk med syrendoft att hyperventilera i kanske kan behövas vid nåt tillfälle för att liksom repa mod och komma ihåg belöningen som väntar efter den lååånga resan :)
Jag måste bara säga jag tycker du är otroligt strong och en riktig förebild som reser en så lång resa med två små barn. Vaddå, inget val kanske du säger, det är sånt man måste vänja sig vid när man bort långt borta.
Men jag säger ändå bara en sak: du är min idol. Verkligen. För det är absolut inte självklart mammor/pappor vågar utan istället väntar många år...
Jag har så många kompisar som inte vågar resa så långt med småbarn, som är rädda för kaoset och att inte klara av det. Jag har berättat om dig, kanske jag repat mod hos nån så de inser det visst går och att de vågar komma hit och hälsa på med sina småttingar.
Som sagt, du är min idol och om/när jag själv får egna barn som jag ska resa med och är rädd för att våga då ska jag tänka på dig. Vilken supermorsa du är JaCal!
En riktig förebild, och det är uppriktigt menat!
Oh of course, ten-month olds are the worst kind of terrorists! ha ha!
Seriously though, keep your chin up and yes...think of the lilacs!!
You are soooo lucky to spend so long in your home country. We'll be thinking of you and hoping for the best!
Såg att Chicago, New York och Peking skall flygas som vanligt på fredag.
Ska be mina syrener att hejda sig i blomningen en aning. I går kändes det som någon slags "peak" -det doftade så man fick ont i huvudet...
Jag hoppas verkligen att din resa blir så bra som den bara kan bli. Det är bara att hoppas på det bästa att SAS strejken inte påverkar de internationella flighterna. Bra att ha något att fokusera på som syrendoft.
((Hugs)) You are so brave! I avoid traveling on US holiday weekends - and our entire state's population is about 5 million, so I cannot imagine so many people moving about! I am in awe that you are tackling this!
JaCal, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that SAS keeps flying across the Atlantic.
Also, excuse my foul language, but this whole thing with not having guaranteed seats next to your kids is absolutely f-ing ridiculous!! Almost two years ago, I travelled alone to Sweden with my kids, the youngest one was 8 months, the other two were 2 and 4 years. When I booked the tickets I made sure that we had seats next to each other and I made sure that I had it in writing - it was on the itinerary.
First flight, to Chicago, was fine. But in Chicago they told me that we don't have seats next to each other. "Yes we do," I said and showed them the magic paper. "No, you don't," they persisted. "Your seats have been changed."
Then followed half an hour of discussing, pleading, begging and finally, more or less yelling. In the end I simply said something to the effect that, well, you know what, then you're going to have to take responsibility for my two older ones. If I have to sit tio aisles down from them with a baby in my lap, I sure can't do it. I can't keep them entertained, I can't stop them from kicking the seats in front of them, I can't help them balance their food trays, and I can't make them stop fighting, whining, or crying or doing any of the million little things kids on a long flights tend to do. So either the flight crew are going to have to do all that, or you put me in a seat next to them.
In the end I got the seats, but if you're not guaranteed to sit next to your small children, how on earth are you supposed to be able to fly alone with them??? And are there not saftey issues - who will help them with gas masks if we need them? Or putting on life jackets? Or simply keep them from running around in the aisles, making everyone's life a misery?
I'm sorry about this insanely long comment, but it makes me furious every time I think about it. And good job for finally getting the seats you should have had in the first place!
LYCKLIG RESA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Du ska se att allt, allt kommer att gå bra!
Snart är ni i Sthlm som är som vackrast denna tiden på året!
Ings historia ovan är vidrig! jag fattar inte att SAS kan vara så "thick-headed". Otroligt!
Ser fram emot tills vi ska fika i Sthlm!!! OCH jag ser fram att läsa en flitigt skriven Sverige-blogg ;-)
KRAM!!!
Anne-Marie - yes, sigh... you would think that the shoe thing would be over... I always travel with shoes that are easy to kick off...
Anne - ja, får kanske ha på mig någon syrén parfym... TACK för dina snälla ord. Tror inte alls jag är någon supermamma *rodnar* - men jag sträcker lite på mig och känner mig lite starkare inför resan. Det är ju en del av vår vardag som utlandssvenskar - men den sämre delen av den... Det går alldeles utmärkt att flyga med barn - men ingen ska säga att det inte är skitjobbigt rent ut sagt. Men man får ju belöning när man kommer fram. Och ju större desto enklare... Hoppas dina vänner känner sig uppmanade att komma och hälsa på dig - trots långa flygresor... Kram!!
Miranda - yes... they're worst than terrorists... I'm sure my fellow passenger thought that on my last flight...
Baltazar - va?! Blommar de redan! NEEJ! Jag ska ju sitta i din trädgård och lukta på syréner!! Säg åt dem att sluta bums! Jo, SAS säger att det ska funka med det internationella - vi får väl hoppas att det stämmer...
Desirée - ja, och att det inte utbryter "sympatistrejker"... för det är ju SAS personal som ska ta emot på Arlanda...
IsleDance - yes, my plan was to travel yesterday, but the tickets would have been $1000 more (combined). I usually never go near an airport on a holiday... it's going to be crazy. All though most travel tomorrow, Friday (I hope)...
Ing - what kan I say more than YES, been there... and it makes me CRAZY!! We didn't get seats together when we went on our honeymoon... and didn't even care when we told them it would be nice to sit together having got married a few hours earlier.. And it's not that it's easy to organize a seat swap with a tired 10 month old and a 3,5 year old, and there are never any flight attendants around when you need them. It's absolutely crazy. What other service for that amount of money can you buy with such a lousy system... We'll see how it will turn out... my seats are "confirmed" which in SAS language means I have seats on that plane, where is up to them to decide... Ugh.
Annika - tack... jo, förhoppningsvis har jag väl tagit ut stress och meck i förväg.. Ja, jag ser fram emot Stockholm - måtte det bara vara hyfsat fint och inte bara regn och kallt. Ja, det ska bli kul att fika och japp - hoppas mamma har flyttat bredbandet så jag kan rapportera snabbt och smidigt om mina funderingar om Stockholm...
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