The trip of a lifetime. Matt and I, we were going on the trip of a lifetime. That’s how it all started, anyway. We began our day at 5:00 a.m., showering and packing last minute travel supplies and sunscreen. The kids slept soundly in our beds, as they had the whole week. Their mama couldn’t stand the thought of the next two weeks without them, so I cuddled with them every last second I could.
They awoke around 6:15, so we fixed the last breakfast of the week and readied their school supplies and bag for Nonni’s. I got lots of teary kisses (just me crying–they were pumped about the weeks to come with grandmamas and grandaddy’s), and we were out the door by 6:45. Our itinerary was sorta crazy, starting in Montgomery, Alabama, then stopping through Atlanta, Montreal, and Paris before landing in Venice 16 hours later.
The first two flights were rather uneventful, and despite my dread of the 7 hour flight, it was perfectly normal, too. We had only 1 hour to get from our plane to our next gate to Venice, though, and our luck finally ran out. When I say ran out, I mean it hit the strongest wall imaginable and shriveled up to nothing. I have to say, I”m not a complainer in travel circumstances, but the folks at ole’ Air France were quite difficult. We talked to 2 or 3 people, who all assured us we were doing fine on time…we were going to make our last flight.
That was also before we had to sprint one mile to our gate. The staff had not printed our boarding passes yet, and we were escorted out of the security line and back to ticketing, all with 25 minutes to spare. Things just went downhill from that point forward.
We went back and forth, “no, you need to head to customer service…I’m sorry the flight is already checked in.” “you’re not checked in, you know.” well, yes, at this point, we’re gathering that. “head on over to the electronic kiosk and print your pass.” “oh, that didn’t work, head to customer service.” “OOOhhh, looks like you’re not checked in.” Really?? We hadn’t noticed.
We watched our plane to Venice clear the runway about 20 yards away from us, having arrived with plenty of enough time to spare. Yuck. Oh well, we felt like our luck had been too good to catch so many perfectly normal flights, anyway. We happily grabbed a Coke and a snack & waited a few hours to catch the next flight to Venice.
We boarded the plane, and caught a little more head-knocking-the-side-of-the-plane-and-the-seat-in-front-of-you zzz’s. Giddy with excitement when the plane landed, we all but skipped to baggage claim. Matt had bought me some new luggage, as mine was falling apart, and I knew within minutes it just wasn’t coming.
Okay, frustrating, sure. Trip ruined? No. Our ship wasn’t going to leave until lunchtime the following day, so we would just have our bag delivered to the ship terminal in Venice.
All we needed to do was hand over our passports, and all would be on its way….oh. my. word. (insert other terrible words/thoughts/desperation here) Matt couldn’t find his passport.
Mind you, we take groups of 30 kids to Honduras every other year, and haven’t lost a passport. Not one.
Within a few minutes it was clear, though. He had no passport.
A sickening feeling began to crawl its way through me…
We were not going on the trip of a lifetime, after all.
To be continued…
Oh, I’m so sorry that it didn’t turn out like you planned! I look forward to reading the rest! Well, it’ll definitely be a trip you’ll never forget!!!!
WOW, Horrible, can’t believe you left us hanging like that! I am so sorry though, cuz that sounds really not fun at ALL!
Oh my…surely this has a wonderful conclusion…hope so, new friend! From The Purple Lamb in Dothan/June Kilgore
Oh, Shaunna!!! I am sooooo sorry! Please, if there is any way that we can help you, don’t hesitate to let us know. We are living in Northern Spain (San Sebastian)–which isn’t terribly far from Italy 🙂 Wishing you all the best, hang in there <3
Geat to have you back! Looking forward to the rest of the story!
don’t leave us hanging like this!!!
oh my goodness- well, you have mastered the cliff hanger! seriously- well written, felt like i was completely in your shoes and imagining what I would do in your situation. Can’t wait for the rest of the story. I hope you are running with this writing talent of yours!
What?! No!! You can’t stop there! I’m hanging on the edge of my seat……
I am sorry….gosh, that horrible sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach! Yikes…
Nancy
I feel like we’re all standing there watching that baggage carousel spinning around with no more bags coming off of it! Hurry back with the rest of the story!
I’m sorry you had to go through so much! Love the photo. I am hopeful that all is well and things turned out and you are having that trip of a lifetime “memories” are what count and look your already Paris right? Can’t wait for the next blog 😉
You can’t just leave it at that! I’m dying to know what happened! OMG
To be continued….? No, that is not fair!
You are just teasing us….I hate “to be continued” TV shows, UGH! Waiting impatiently… 🙂
~Kim
need to know if you went!! travel is frustrating! my luggage has been lost twice, luckily once on the home side but still being left with no makeup etc.!
Oh No!!! Hopefully this all has a wonderful ending. Traveling is frustrating and I’m sorry this has happened to yall.
Oh Shaunna…..I am retired from the airlines….I feel your pain! How did Matt get all the way to Europe without a passport????? Hope the rest of the story is less painful.
Janet xox
The Empty Nest
never mind…just read part II :->
oh my goodness….i am sure my language would be a tad stronger than omg……i can see this may really turn into the trip from hades……i surely hope you were able to continue and that the rest of the trip is more like heaven……sigh
Oh, man! Sorry to read that. I’m going to assume you made it to Venice based solely on the picture alone (although I have no idea if that’s actually Venice.)…at least I hope you did!
I’m so sorry! Are you there now? I wish you were so we could all be sending you tons of emotional and mental support! How terrible!!
Oh my goodness! As I read through your post my hand clamped my head and the words ‘oh no, oh my goodness’ kept on repeating. Plllease….it had to get better!
I inserted some words and they were not very nice.
~Bliss~
Oh, this sounds terrible! I hope there were some good things through it all.
We’re headed for Canada tomorrow and my hubs can’t find his green card which gives him reentry into the USA. What a time to discover it’s gone, right on the eve of our trip – but we’re driving so we have time, if we need it, with no real deadlines until next Friday.
okay girlie….chapter two pronto.
we need to know how this finishes! 🙂
Trip without drama? Unheard of! Hoping for a great ending!
I am one of those people who have to touch their passport several times during the flight over just to make sure it is still where I put it….then after a while I relax and enjoy the trip! I know that feeling you are talking about though, it’s not great. We did not appreciate the Paris airport, but had heard that Heathrow in London was the worst, so we felt lucky when our trip to Beirut took us through Paris. Listen very carefully to the announcements, even though you won’t be able to understand what they are saying, they may tell you that they have changed your gate. If everyone at your gate gets up and leaves, find someone who can speak English and find out what the heck is going on! We almost missed our flight and we had over an hour extra time to kill! Can’t wait to hear the rest of the story!
Oh.My.Word! I hope all turned out to be okay. Looking forward to reading the rest of your “adventure”. One day you will be able to look back at it and realize it was all worth it.
As you can tell, I am just catching up on your blog news! It has been quite a busy start to the summer! I had no idea of all your travel woes! I have some great European travel woes to share as well. However, the whole “European-experience” thing is soooo wonderful, it is quite easy to forget the whole “European-woes” thing!!! About to read part II & I have a feeling all turned out wonderfully! 🙂
Thank you, Cindy! We are sooo happy it turned out well! I read your comment on the porch–you just call me and I’d love to come help anytime! Anything for our fave teacher! 🙂
Hey Shauna! I am starting to follow your blog girl! I must say it is FANTASTIC! I love the stories…Can’t wait to read more! Lisa G. had always told me how great you were back in college days. It’s so cool to see where God has taken you. Hope you continue to do well and I am proud to see pics of Matt and be like, “IT’S MATT! IT’s MATT! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!” (Call me a goob, but I do think it’s neat-o) If you ever even get a spare sec, (which I highly doubt you do busy lady), run on over to my blog and get a laugh… Interior design is my passion. Sadly, we are far from family and friends and Lance travels A LOT, so I can’t do much of it, so needless to say I am living vicariously through you girl! Keep it up! LOVE!
-Bri
Girl!! I have spent the last 1.5 hrs reading so many of your posts, loving all of them, but especially this trip!! Hubs and I take a big kid-free trip every year, so reading this is like being on one! We’ve been to Athens and Santorini (yep, walked those donkey poop steps bc I didn’t have the heart to ride said donkey), but would love to see Croatia! Can’t wait for more updates. And Ohmygosh, the passport drama made me sick to my stomach!! Xoxox