I love to travel. And by that I mean, I love to travel in the broad sense of the word: I love to visit places, see interesting sights, hear different languages, experience different climates, and of course visiting people I haven't seen in a while. But I hate traveling, the necessary evil that comes with the wonderful things mentioned above. You know, the getting up early to make the plane, the lines at the airport, plane food (and even worse, plane bathroom), the lack of room to sleep comfortably on a plane (unless you are lucky enough to be flying business or first class - then the above is all moot) waiting to get through customs, praying your suitcases made the trip...then having to drive to where ever you'll be staying, often stuck in traffic, the jet lag.... In short, traveling sucks.
I was looking forward to my trip to Canada and Poland so much but knowing what I know about traveling, I was terrified about the traveling part, especially because I was going to have to do it while taking care of Kubes - alone. Last time, when we made the trip over here, at least I had Jordan. And Kubes was so much younger then - he couldn't do much more than hold his head up at the time, but at nine months he was thisclose to crawling and was as wriggly and squirmy as a puppy.
But what was I to do? I put on a brave face, told myself a hundred times that I would be fine (I thought if I said it enough times I would will it to be fine) and off I went with Kubes in a backpack (a special one for carrying babies in NOT an actual backpack, which is what someone - not mentioning any names - thought when I told them...right, I just stuffed him into my Jansport, not closing the zippers all the way. I cracked up when she asked me about it with a horrified look on her face) and my one carry-on over my shoulder.
Me with Kubes right after landing in TO - this is what the backpack looked likeI have to admit that the flight from Brisbane to LA was good - I didn't get a bassinet, like I had hoped BUT the nice people at Quantas blocked the seat next to me, so at least we had a bit of room. However, I was exhausted and soaked with sweat by the time I boarded the plane because running through an airport with a 20 lb baby on your back isn't easy. Neither is going through the security screening (because I had to take it off, take Kubies out of it even though he had just fallen asleep and started crying, then put it on the belt to be scanned, take it out and put Kubes back in and the pack back on my back) then finding my gate, which of course is the one furthest away and manouevering through the plane. Luckily for me, Kubes was just as tired and fell asleep almost right away. I took the opportunity to watch the "Sex and the City" movie, which I had been dying to see but never got the chance, and Kubes was nice enough to sleep through the entire thing and the meal so when he woke up I was happy to play with him. All in all, the flight was great, though I didn't get much sleep myself.
The flight to Toronto from LA was pretty uneventful but I had the misfortune to rip like half of my nail off on my right hand ring finger (it got caught in the belt loop of my jeans when I was adjusting them) and I had to run through the terminal looking for a store that sold band-aids before I passed out from the bleeding (ok, the bleeding wasn't that bad, but for some reason I always get queasy when I see my own blood).
The one great result of the journey over to Toronto is that I lost 2 or 3 pounds - I swear. Not only from lugging Kubes around on my back between the terminals (in LA I actually had to walk outside to the terminal of my connecting flight), standing in line at at security checks and stuff, but I also had little time to eat. After finally buying a band-aid for my finger, all I had time for before boarding my TO bound flight was a frappacino from Starbucks to cool me down - I stupidly forgot to buy myself a snack, forgetting that you have to pay for food on the flight and I refused to pay $9 for a crappy sandwich. Plus I was just too tired to eat and slept most of the way. So by the time I landed in Toronto I hadn't eatten in like 12 hours. It was great.
I have to mention here that traveling through the US and LA in general is quite an experience nowadays. For example, I had to take Kubus' shoes off and put them through the X-ray machine. I honestly thought the guy was kidding, especially since Kubus' shoes are soft baby-type ones. Right, because there are explosives in a 10 month olds shoes. Also, we were informed on our flight to LA that the department of Homeland Security requested that there be no congregating of groups bigger than 2 in any part of the plane. Crazy, huh? In LA it was also really clear which of the airport employees were really out-of-work actors, hoping that a movie director or producer will be around, because of the way they, well, acted around the travellers. One guy, a passport checking guy, would make loud and "witty" comments about each of the traveller's photos - when he got to me, he was like "Whoa, you look MEAN, girl!" (referring to my passport photo, not the actual me - I don't blame him though, because it sort of looks like a mug-shot). And one of the security check guys was doing a loud and enthusiastic speech about having your passport and boarding pass ready when going through...I could hear him 3 rows over.
Now here is where I would write about my time in Canada and Poland, but to be honest, the whole trip is a bit of a blur. I had so much to do and people to see and even though I remember a lot I'm not sure of the order. One gem of a memory that comes to mind is when Kubes took a poo in this mini-mall in Poland but when I took him to the bathroom to change him, I discovered that clearly the mall was planned by a man because there were NO changing tables anywhere. So my mom and I tried to change him next to the sink - which wasn't easy because the space was very narrow - and led to a portion of his poo falling onto the floor. Luckily we managed to find that little nugget and dispose of it before anyone else walked into the bathroom. In general I had such a good time, especially in Poland where I got to take a bunch of bubble baths and naps while my mom looked after Kubus....oh the naps...I miss them so much....
My return trip to Australia was a bit of a night-mare, flight wise. Flying from Warsaw to Toronto totally sucked because even though I did manage to get a bassinet (in spite of being rudely told by the check-in guy that it would be impossible because I didn't reserve one, which I tried to do earlier but was told I couldn't because you can't reserve them and that anyway, Kubus was too old) I was stuck in the very middle in the middle seat section, right between Coffeebreath McSnoresreallyloud and Fatty von Badbreath. So when I tried to sleep I was screwed either way I faced, because both had horrible breath, not to mention that the fat lady next to me hogged the arm rest and the snoring guy's snoring was SO loud that I couldn't sleep. Of course that is when I realized that I forgot to charge my iPod before I left, so I didn't even have anything to drown out the noise. It was hell. To top it all off, once I finally landed in Canada, my uncle decided to take a "short-cut" though an area that was under construction, so a drive that normally takes 40 min ended up taking 2 hours, leaving me totally wiped when I got home to Newmarket.
The flight from Toronto to LA was the best flight of all - Kubus slept the entire flight, and it was a really empty flight so we got a whole row to ourselves. The only problem was that because he was so well rested he didn't want to sleep much on the flight from LA to Brisbane - he slept maybe 4 of the 13 hour flight at 20 min intervals througout the flight. When we landed in Bribane (at 6AM) I was hoping that we would get through the immigration and customs quickly but of course I was one of the last people to get all my bags. I thought I saw it right at the beginning but the crowd of people wouldn't let me get through fast enough to snatch it (seriously, something happens to people at the baggage carousels after long flights - its dog-eat-dog and having a baby is just your tough luck because people won't help you if it means potentially not grabbing their own bag - bastards). I was annoyed at the thought of waiting for it to go all the way around but was more annoyed when I realized it wasn't coming - I waited and waited and started imaging the worst, because this was my bag with all the stuff I bought while on my trip. I almost started crying because I just knew that someone had stolen it or taken it by mistake and that I would never see it again because no one in their right mind would return a suit-case full of awesome new things (including a lot of Lancome and Clinique skin care, MAC and YSL makeup, and a work wardrobe from Zara). Bastard Australians. My only consolation was that I had had the foresight to pack my new Tory Burch and Coach shoes in my carry-on bag. Then, just as I was about to go to the claims area, I saw my Samsonite with the red ribbon (yes, I know, very original, but its my parent's suitcase that I borrowed from them and I couldn't be bothered to take it off) coming around on the carousel again. I breathed a sigh of relief (I no longer was cursing all Australians and the stupid tourists to hell) and went on to customs (where I had declared some food, but luckily they just asked what I had) and I was free to go.
I have to admit, that I was really nervous about seeing Jordan. Not because I had spent so much money on shoes (because we don't have to tell husbands everything, particularly when we are in charge of all the finances - what they don't know about a few hundred dollars missing from the bank account won't hurt them) but because I was scared that Kubus wouldn't recognize his daddy and that it would break his heart (his words, not mine, every time we discussed this over the phone). But luckily, LUCKILY, for Jordan's heart, Kubus DID recognize him, or at least, he seemed to because he went to Jordan with no fuss at all and even seemed happy to see him. Then, when we got home I was able to shower, change and eat breakfast with out Kubus throwing a fit (which he would do sometimes when he realized I wasn't around). So alls well that ends well.
Anyway, I shall stop here because this is getting too long - I will be amazed if anyone finishes this post. I promise to update it more frequently from now on.
