The Egypt trip is 15 days, 18 hours, 12 min and 19 seconds away. And yes I'm counting. Preparing for this trip has taken a ton of planning that all started back in January. We have always want to go to Egypt, so we have been stocking up the FF miles so when the opportunity arises we would be ready. Most airlines open up the FF seats 11 months in advance to the day so if you want seats you need to be ready and I was. January 18th I was on line waiting for the Eastern time to tick over to 12:00 AM.. By 1:00 AM I have booked flight using my FF miles to get the complete family to Houston and one ticket for me from Houston to Cairo and return. Once this was done then I purchase 3 more ticket to include the family on the same flights. Oh Yea... WE ARE GOING to EGYPT... Now we just need to pay off the tickets that I booked and save money for the tours.. That would take another 11 months of eating bean and rice but hey we are going to Egypt even if we have no $$.... Food is cheap in Egypt so starving is not likely..
As we get closer to the date the number of thing that need to done start to mount.
- Student cards for the kids... There are big discounts if you have international student cards..
- Shots for everyone.. For some of us this was 7 shots at one time.. Ask Ti about this she passed out in the doctors office.. She will never live this one down.
- We have layovers in Houston both ways and in London returning. Hotels bookings, Car rentals etc.
- Seating is always an issue and this would continue to be a challenge all the way to the end. The airlines changing the plane style and would dump the seats more than once. We are all on the same plane.. But I'm not always next to the family because our seats kept getting dumped.
- Grace's Mom heard about the trip and decide to jump on for the ride... Ok Norm the travel agent... Book more flight and set up more seats... it will be a great time with her, as she is a hang loose mother in law who goes with the flow.. We did not tell her about the ballon ride. Guess I'm really testing the go with the flow concept.
- Oh Kyle's passport needs to be renewed and my passport has no more blank pages...Quick trip to the local college and a few more $ and that is taken care of.
- Tours.. Who do you book with.. You know no one in Egypt, and no one you know has ever been to Egypt... Well you get on the Internet for hours every night and figure out where you want to go and how much you have to spend.. (0) at the moment. Then check every posting to see if they have riped anyone off. Yes there are always a few people who canceled at the last min and can not understand why they can not get a 100% refund... Come on the tour companies have expenses too.. Plan better next time. Once this is done you start the dialog with the company. I picked a tour then (I will post later) started adding days and events to make it more interesting. Ok now I have over done it because we cannot afford the tours it just invented. Try again with more walking and less transportation. Book cheaper hotels and figure how to do more on your own... Ok after a month of this you finally have a tour that you can live with. Will they show up at the Airport to pick us up... Hope so but never know for sure. But hey we are going to Egypt. As with every trip there is some risk.. But I'm used to fixing problem so I will deal with them as they come along.
- Ok so what to wear... What is acceptable in a middle eastern country. Yes the ladies have to cover up the shoulder and wear pants that cover the knees. We live in Hawaii so long pants for the ladies is not something we stock or want to stock... Thank you goodwill and savers. And yes we will be giving the stuff back when we return,.
- The kids... How much school will they miss and what will the school say if we pull them out to go to Egypt. 9 day total.. not so bad. 6 Month in advance we start working with the school. You know they need to have good grades so the school does not blame you for the failure of your kids education or something like that or call CPS on you for taking them to Egypt. Off to the counselors office to check on grades and yes Kyle needs a priority adjustment. A few more meeting with teachers and he is back on track again. Ti is jamming but will be away just before finals. Yes bummer she will have to study on the Cruise on the Nile.. I know everyone is feeling sorry for her...NOT. I hope they have Internet on the ship that will make it much easier.
- Luggage.. We travel light so we can change our minds quick. Everyone has one square rolling carry-on. Pack what you like kids because you will be carrying it. This has always worked well for us because it make it real and only the important thing end up on the vacation. yes back to goodwill and savers. Why spend a lot because it gets damage and most of the time at least one luggage does not survive. Still need a computer backpack case. We might have to purchase this if one does not show up soon. Savers please provide.
- The house.. Who will watch the house when we are gone. Yes thank you Mom and Dad for wanting a Hawaiian vacation at just the same time we are leaving.. If you know our house and how crazy full of action the place is then maybe you can understand why they would want a vacation when we are not here. I totally understand.
- Back up plan. What if our credit card does not work... Picked up another credit card from a different company.. Yes we need to test it before we leave. And yes we will call them and tell them we are going to Egypt and yes they will shut it down on the first transaction that will require a call to get it connected again. How do you call them from Egypt. Great question. Set up a skype account so all you need is a Internet connection. How do you tip (Baksheesh) in Egypt when you just arrived. yes the porter or driver would love US$$... Money exchange in the airport in Hawaii or London should get us going. Baksheesh is expected for everything so small bills are hard to come by because everyone hordes them. Only the tourist end up over tipping because the can not find small bills. What happens if the tour operator does not pick us up.. I have researched a hostel that will do airport pickups. I can book my own tours as I have research every place we want to go. What if the computer gets taken. Back up copies of all the air flights, Tours emails, Health card, Passports,Rental car, Hotel information in a number of places including at home... yes Mom and Dad can rescue us as a last ditch effort. I'm sure I missed something as I always do but hey we can adapt on the fly.
- Kids.. .Yes there is always a worry you will loose them. You need to plan on loosing them and prepare them to get back to the hotel. Money for taxi the address and yes cell phones.. We purchase two every trip of this nature. One of the kids and one of us.. Better to educate them and not need it.. What would they do if you didn't and the unthinkable happened.
- More later as the time counts down.
