The Window Seat: Around the World

My latest trip is underway. I am due to stay in Taichung, Taiwan for two weeks, then make a quick stop in Germany for a couple of days on the way back home. That means I'll be circling the globe during this trip, the third time I've done so, going around either one way or the other. It takes me through Bangkok and across the northern border of India, Pakistan, and across Afghanistan. Maybe this time I will catch a glimpse of Mt. Everest, despite those flight attendants who make you keep your window shades down during the middle of the trip.

When Shawn and I were in Japan just a few weeks ago, we had a typhoon and an earthquake. Even though the typhoon was weak in Tokyo, the earthquake made up for it. So far this trip has picked up right where the last one left off - with plenty of excitement. I got a great seat on the flight to Osaka, Japan (If you need help selecting good seats on a flight, go to SeatGuru) and had a pleasant start from Detroit after an hour delay. After arriving in Osaka, the announcement was made that a hydraulic leak on Engine 2 had to be repaired. During the additional four hour delay, I decided to check the weather on the internet. That's when saw that another typhoon was bearing down on southern Japan, and was almost blocking the route to Taiwan. Despite possibly sealing my fate of having to take vacations by land for the rest of my life, I called Lisa to let her know how I was doing. My thoughts at the time: "Let me see, I'm about to board a flight on a plane where an engine repair was just made, over water, at night, with a category 4 typhoon approaching."

We finally left Osaka around midnight, I think. Needless to say nothing went wrong, aside from some turbulence. We arrived in Taipei around 2am, and I managed to get a 90 minute taxi ride straight to Taichung that Northwest paid for ($110). I got into my hotel room at 4am, 28 hours after leaving home.