5 Flights, 9 Days

We've had an atypical stretch this past week or so . . . 5 flights in 9 days!

We've actually taken deceptively few flights these past six months, believe it or not! 27 flight segments across 20 countries. All things considered, not that many! In many cases, we've opted to travel intra-country and inter-country via trains, ferries and buses (instead of flights) which has made for some really memorable, unique ways to see countries.

It was a recent run of short-haul flights through Southeast Asia:

• Phu Quoc island, Vietnam -> Bangkok, Thailand

• Bangkok, Thailand -> Penang, Malaysia

• Penang, Malaysia -> Langkawi island, Malaysia

• Langkawi, Malaysia -> Penang, Malaysia

• Penang, Malaysia -> Singapore

All the time in & out of airports led to these observations/reflections:

• Paige HAS to be front & center in the action of all-things-airport! She cannot physically be anywhere else but inches away from the action :) Examples: When the baggage is being weighed & tagged (we had to check our luggage on most of these short flights/small airplanes), Paige insists on lifting the luggage up onto the belt. A few times she's been able to help the check-in attendant and scan our checked luggage, much to her delight. Her airport FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) also manifests itself at the baggage claim carousel. She cannot resist standing right up next to the conveyor belt (just ahead of the "do not cross" line) to be the first to spot our luggage. Inevitably she also lunges forward and grabs the bags off the belt, in spite of our warnings not to (baggage claim is an area rife for getting zonked on the head by some fellow passenger not paying attention to little people).

• The girls continue to travel incredibly well. They take every step of air travel in stride, from the taxi to the airport, to security checks, to immigration lines, to boarding wait times. They know what to expect and are ready to spring into action with each step of the process. These little travel pros are making us proud! We are a well oiled airport travel machine, and that makes for pretty chill airport experiences.

• Luggage trolleys are a 7 and 8 year old's best friend :) The girls have so much fun wheeling each other around on them while we wait for luggage! Sadie especially enjoys the rides. Pretty darn cute.

• Airport lounges are KEY! Before the trip we upgraded our AMEX to Platinum level. A bunch of intriguing/helpful benefits came along with that, most notably a year's membership for each of us to Priority Pass. Our Priority Pass membership provides us access to airport lounges all around the world, irrespective of which airline we're traveling. 9.5 out of 10 airports we've flown through this year have had some Priority Pass lounge affiliation that we've been able to use. It has been a total travel game changer! We arrive to the airport hours before necessary so that we can log a school and/or trip planning session (free WiFi), as well as get a hearty meal in our tummies. Priority Pass is the unsung hero of our travels :) The girls walk into each lounge with such self confidence (maybe a bit too much), making themselves comfortable and not skipping a beat.

A few other fun/memorable visuals from this past sequence of flights:

Next flight . . . Singapore to Bali, Indonesia on Friday!